| Chapter 3.4: Increasing Community Parameters | |||||
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Chapters
1. Symbolism, Self and Urban Environment
2. Self Selection and Urban Decay
3. Woodland to City Neighborhood: 300 Years of Change
4. Invasion and Succession
5. Micrological Aspects of Urban Problems
6. Stigma and Self-Image in the Inner City |
A new neighborhood group emerged on the local scene in 1969--The Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens Neighborhood Association Incorporated. It was formed by a small group of people with ideals and goals similar to those of the Lefferts Manor Association (in fact, most of the founders of the group were residents of the Manor),but it was an organization with contemporary design and more comprehensive interests. The original members strongly felt that racial integration of the community could be accomplished without destruction of the neighborhood, and in fact worked to publicize the "positive" aspects of integrated community life, an enormous challenge, given the climate of the times. The new organization claimed to represent a much larger collection of people, more varied interests, and a larger geographic area than the Lefferts Manor. The area it carved out for itself included the Lefferts Manor, much to the dismay of older, more conservative residents and the Manor Association as well. The Manor has never wished to involve itself with "outsiders". The new group took a more activist position in regard to neighborhood problems, and was better able to capture the interest of city newspapers in their coverage of local events and issues. The Manor continued to be highlighted as a special place, but now only as a part of a wider community entity.
Both the continuation of some of the ideals of the Lefferts Manor and the blurring of its distinct social and geographic boundaries can be seen in the following newspapers story about Prospect-Lefferts-Gardens:
February 27, 1974 - A FINE NEIGHBORHOOD IN PROSPECT The third reason for the decline of publicly visible actions of the Lefferts Manor Association to defend the sanctity of the community via the courts is the result of local population changes. To say that the Association has maintained the same degree of past vigilance would be false. Concomitant with the influx of large numbers of nonwhite families in the 1960s, older and prominent white members of the Manor did relax their defenses, highlighting the racial aspects of community definitions and the social stigma of nonwhite groups. Also, the decade of the 1960s was framed by civil rights movements, during which "restrictive" covenants and "neighbor-hood preservation" groups were seen by liberal-minded publics and political authorities as immoral, if not illegal, racial barriers. The effect of this attitude on the courts was to eliminate both real and imagined racial discrimination. Subsequently many city neighborhoods, defended by social class hurdles, were quickly integrated, and the flight of the white middle class out of the city was accelerated. Liberal-minded Manorites, for example, found it unpalatable to defend their special community against non-elite, mainly black invaders. Black Manorites had even greater conflicts of conscience; defending the exclusiveness of the Manor was seen as a "racist" activity. So, for the most part blacks avoided the Association and did not openly support legal actions against violators of the covenant lest they appear to be "Uncle Toms". Despite the decrease in visibility, the continuity of the goals of the Lefferts Manor Association is reflected here in two pieces of literature. The first, in 1938, lauded the decision of the City Planning Commission which ruled against apartment house construction in the Manor. In the decision, A.A. Berle Jr., Commission Chairman, stated: "There has been considerable feeling in the Commission that there should be some areas of the city in which individuals having the means can buy homes with some assurance that the development of the district would continue to be that of private, single-family dwellings". To celebrate, the Association published a brochure, detailing the history of the Manor, and distributed it to all members. The following "Message from the President" captures the symbolic as well as the practical importance of the restrictive covenant:
The people of the Lefferts Manor live in a unique community. Here as if it were an island, is a tract of land covered with homes, surrounded but unaffected by the changing conditions to which other land occupied by trade, business and multiple dwellings is subject.... It is unusual to have a situation such as this in a great city like New York. This city, with its cosmopolitan population, its active industries, its commercial enterprises, is in a constant state of flux. Real estate values change with the changing uses of property--the moving of retail centers, and the inflow of other types of people. All owners of real property and all those who invest in mortgages, are affected by these changes must be aware of them. To occupy a home in an area stable in character and destined to remain so throughout the years is indeed a privilege.7 The brochure also included copies of the covenant and an outline of the general form of the courts' restraining orders in legal battles concerning violations of the restrictive covenant. The second Lefferts Manor Association document, published in 1971 and distributed since then to new residents describes the goals of the organization and solicits membership in the organization, which had slowly decreased. The Association cited as its immediate aims: "preventing the commercial use of any Manor property, bringing people together for their mutual acquaintance and enjoyment, improving the general upkeep of the area, maintaining the one-family covenant and protecting members' investment in the community".
In 1960 the Lefferts Manor area was zoned "one-family only" by the New York City Planning Commission. The designation was requested by the Lefferts Manor Association, as it was engaged then in constant litigation over the covenant. The zoning ordinance has added strength to the community's defense which at that time was beginning to waver. Since that time the Association has paid for the making of signs which loudly proclaim the zoning ordinance, and has had them hung from the street lamps in the Manor. The Manor Association continues today to bring violators of the one-family, noncommercial covenant to court. However, blatant violations are not in evidence. The Association has since 1971 forced several commercial activities to cease in Manor homes and the simple threat of prosecution has eliminated some Abuses of the community territory. Violations come to light when property is sold, as the violation must be removed before title to the property can be transferred. During the fifty-year history of the Lefferts Manor as a completed community, the Manor Association and community members in general have fought many battles against their "enemies". The defensive position of the Manor can be organized into four categories as follows:
Similarly, the "enemies" of the exclusive character of the Manor have respectively four offensive arguments which they use to undermine the special nature of the community.
All these defensive and offensive postures have been used since the Manor was established, in the courts, in public statements and in private arguments. More and more, however, the integrity of the Lefferts Manor is threatened by forces which cannot be thwarted by historical and communal values. Mortgage and insurance red-lining, the general economic decline of the city as a whole and the pervasiveness of the feeling that city living, per se, is undesirable are the issues that have at present the greatest impact on the future of the Manor and other stable inner city neighborhoods. Housing abandonment, property tax arrears, street crime, arson and frustration are a few of the manifestations of these problems which will be discussed in later chapters. The following "Message from the President" of the Lefferts Manor Association in 1978 indicates both similarities and differences with the Presidential Message of 1938. The rapid changes which occurred in the 1970s have left their mark on the Association which now must reluctantly recognize that the well-being of this middle-class "island" depends more and more on the stability of surrounding, less affluent areas. The last paragraph of the message, however, emphasizes the classic Manorite independence.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT LEFFERTS MANOR VOICE (Autumn 1978)
Notes to Chapter 6. Peter Frieberg, "A Fine Neighborhood in Prospect," New York Post, February 27, 1974. 7. Lefferts Manor Brochure (Brooklyn, NY: Lefferts Manor Association, 1938). 8. "Your Key to the Lefferts Manor Association" (Brooklyn: Lefferts Manor Association, n.d.).
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