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Gary Davidson

Oral history interview conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel

October 06, 2014

Call number: 2015.011.05

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0:00 - Introduction and his family’s history in East New York

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1:53 - Changing neighborhood and stability on his block in the 1960s

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3:55 - White ethnic groups in the area

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5:27 - PS 65 and High School of Art and Design

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6:14 - Gentrification and new immigrants

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7:05 - Latino families move in and planned shrinkage

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9:28 - Growing up in East New York, White flight, and closing businesses

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13:40 - Changes around Logan Street and Liberty Avenue in the early 1970s

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15:24 - Family decides to stay in the neighborhood and support of integrated community

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19:29 - Crack cocaine epidemic

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20:34 - East Brooklyn Churches, community organizing, Nehemiah houses, and revitalization

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27:47 - Racial tensions and cooperation in local schools

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32:18 - His home and community organizing

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35:35 - Light industry in the neighborhood and oppressive police presence

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40:57 - Franklin K. Lane High School, school integration, and racial tensions

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44:20 - Rockefeller drug laws and population reduction

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44:59 - Ignored by Mayor Bloomberg and new immigration

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46:10 - School integration poorly implemented and the need for community organizing

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50:28 - Neighborhood integration in the 1960s, White flight, and real estate interests

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55:05 - Failure of city government, planned shrinkage, and decline of services

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58:50 - Community in the 1980s and crack cocaine epidemic

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63:25 - Violence and police in the neighborhood

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67:08 - Long time neighbor on the block and White flight

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69:57 - Being a White man in East New York

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73:34 - Hopes and fears for the future and conclusion

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Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Gary Davidson
Gary Davidson was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1952 to second-generation German immigrant parents and spent the majority of his life in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. He continues to reside in the neighborhood in the house that his great-grandparents purchased in 1907, on Logan Street, between Liberty Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. Davidson attended PS 65 and the High School of Art and Design, and served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. He is an active member of St. Peter's Lutheran Church and the Green Party.

In the interview, Gary Davidson describes his family's history in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, the effect the city's policy of planned shrinkage in the 1970s, White flight, changes on his block (Logan Street, between Liberty Avenue and Atlantic Avenue), East Brooklyn Churches and community organizing, the crack cocaine epidemic, police oppression, problems with school integration, and the importance of working together as a community despite racial and ethnic differences. The interview was conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel at Davidson's home in East New York.

The collection consists of twenty oral history interviews (with nineteen narrators) conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel with residents (past and present) of the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. The interviews were conducted between January 2014 and February 2015. The project was designed to capture the experiences of East New York residents who lived in the neighborhood during the period when families of color (African American, West Indian, and Puerto Rican) moved in and White families moved out, and the resulting decline of services and quality of life that followed. This process began as early as the 1950s and continued through the rest of the twentieth century. Sarita Daftary-Steel is a community organizer who worked for United Community Centers from 2003 to 2013, most of those years as the East New York Farms! Project Director.

Citation

Davidson, Gary, Oral history interview conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel, October 06, 2014, Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories, 2015.011.05; Brooklyn Historical Society.

People

  • Davidson, Gary
  • East Brooklyn Congregations
  • Franklin K. Lane High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
  • Nehemiah Housing
  • St. Peter's Lutheran Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)

Topics

  • Community activists
  • Community organizing
  • Drug abuse
  • Housing
  • Police-community relations
  • Public schools
  • Race relations
  • Real estate business
  • School integration
  • Urban policy
  • Whites

Places

  • Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
  • East New York (New York, N.Y.)
  • Logan Street (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)

Finding Aid

Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories