Today marks the anniversary of the Fair housing Act. Enacted in 1968, it was a landmark piece of legislation that provided equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin. In honor of the act, let’s take a look at a lawsuit that addressed discrimination in Addisleigh Park in the 1930s and 1940s. The Addisleigh Park Historic District in Queens consists of approximately 422 buildings including freestanding houses constructed largely between the 1910s and 1930s. Initially a white neighborhood, residents instituted a series of restrictive covenants based on race and ethnicity to prevent African American’s from moving into the neighborhood in the late 1930s to early 1940s. In 1939, when one homeowner attempted to sell their home to a prospective African American buyer, the neighbors filed a lawsuit attempting to uphold the covenants. The neighbors won the first of these lawsuits, but in the 1940s they decided to again file suit, this time against Ms. Rubin, who was looking to sell her home to Samuel Richardson, an African American. Ms. Rubin argued that the covenants violated the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection under the law. While initially unsuccessful, in 1948 the New York Court of Appeals heard the case and invalidated restrictive covenants in New York State. This decision ended a powerful form of racial discrimination in housing, and Addisleigh Park would go on to become a synonym for black affluence and elegance. Photos: (1) LPC (2) Historic Districts Council (3) Curbed
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 15:00:01 +0000
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