History of Park Slope

The previous thread made me think that a lot of people don't know PS's history - so here's a little

The late-1800s and early 1900s are considered Park Slope’s heyday. It was a time of mansions, horse-drawn carriages, private clubs and elegant manners in the North Slope, and bustling industrial business in the South Slope. But politics were not always ideal and egalitarian in this new neighborhood. As the Great Migration swept through the nation and Brooklyn grew from a village of 3,000 in 1810 to America’s fourth largest industrial city at the turn of the century, political action was frequently rooted in exclusionary attitudes. These attitudes were expressed in subtle ways, as well as in prejudiced policy-making. When Peter Lefferts’ decendent James Lefferts divided up his family’s farm, he carefully drew up deeds ensuring that only fine homes would be built in what was to be Lefferts Manor. The famed Montauk Club opened it membership to only a privileged few. In Prospect Park, Olmsted’s democratic dream was disgraced when the park became the scene of immigrant arrests. And, sadly the Brooklyn School Board banned foreign languages from its schools’ curricula for fear that immigrants were taking over and preventing Americans from receiving good English educations.

Over the next fifty years and into the 1950s, the days of grandeur passed while prejudice against outsiders and the poor did not. As the Great Depression seized America, the need to employ the jobless gave birth to the Federal Housing Administration, which created jobs by building new homes. After World War II ended and the GI Bill made housing more affordable for soldiers returning to their families, the suburbs grew and redlining in Park Slope began. The federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation worked with banks and insurance programs to devalue urban housing. The government mapped Brooklyn’s sixty-six neighborhoods in order to locate the residence of every black, Latino, Jewish and "foreign born white." Residential ratings were based on these maps and provided to banks. If an area was marked red, mortgage lenders often refused to make loans on its properties.

Because of these policies, Park Slope, with its large immigrant population, soon saw rapid change below Seventh Avenue. Owners abandoned their homes and businesses, landlords neglected tenants, residents saw their properties’ values significantly decrease, and large homes were turned into rooming houses and smaller apartments. By 1960, Park Slope was fast changing from a desirable place to live into an example of “urban decline.”

It was in 1960 that a terrible disaster, a plane crash, took place on Sterling Place and Seventh Avenue and moved Park Slopers to action. The crash had killed 135 people, damaged many buildings, and drawn neighbors together in a moment that called for heroism.

The neighborhood was devastated. In response, the government planned an “urban renewal” in which it would level the area and construct monolithic, high-rise housing projects. Galvanized by tragedy and threatened by the government’s plans, residents came together to form organizations such as the Park Slope Civic Council, the Brownstone Revival Coalition and the Park Slope Betterment Committee. These organizations helped to secure landmark status for many local buildings, recruited buyers to the neighborhood through house tours and workshops, and molded the Park Slope that we know today.

A new Park Slope with a new sense of community began to develop. Throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s, brownstones came back into style. New families and populations started moving into the area, creating both tensions and fresh activist outlets.

In 1973, for example, the Park Slope Food Co-op introduced itself to the neighborhood. This is the largest wholly member-owned and operated food coop in the country. Activism is encouraged through supporting local farms, carefully selecting producers and products for their environmental records, recycling, providing healthy foods at low prices, and opening up membership to all interested participants.

One year later, in the midst of the 1970s feminist movement and Vietnam protests, the Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts organization was founded. It later became the Center for Anti-Violence Education in 1989 with a mission to be a “catalyst for change in the lives of women, teen women, children, and other communities especially affected by violence.” It offers programs ranging from violence prevention courses to self-defense classes, and has demonstrated at homeless shelters, community centers, colleges, neighborhood street fairs, political marches, and cultural events.

Another very active group, the Fifth Avenue Committee, formed in 1977. As Park Slope’s popularity has grown over the last three decades, the committee has fought the displacement of longtime low-income tenants. Its work includes rehabilitating dilapidated or abandoned buildings for affordable housing, providing job opportunities for unemployed residents, organizing the local population and workers, and providing educational opportunities.