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Gladys Gonzalez

Oral history interview conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel

September 12, 2014

Call number: 2015.011.08

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0:00 - Introduction and move from Fort Greene to East New York in 1959

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4:17 - Third Puerto Rican family in a White neighborhood

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6:22 - Changes in the neighborhood and Brooklyn today

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9:22 - Fixing up home and establishing community garden on Ashford Street

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15:04 - PS 4 teachers help at the garden and share food and recipes

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20:53 - Ethnic and racial identity

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22:02 - East New York as desirable place to live

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24:06 - Her family and East New York in the 1960s

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26:33 - Neighbors keeping the block safe and clean

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27:51 - Family businesses in East New York

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33:14 - Sale of family businesses and rental properties as neighborhood declines

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39:18 - Neighbors leave as crime increases

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42:36 - Vacant properties and crack cocaine epidemic

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43:49 - Rising property values and growing up in Fort Greene

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48:07 - Father moves from Puerto Rico to New York City and meets her mother

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53:05 - Family passes as White and parent’s work in factories

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57:25 - Homes of her neighbors burned down and her family staying in East New York

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61:26 - Police Athletic League and local sports/recreation

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63:06 - School years at PS 108 and race relations

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65:34 - Interracial marriages of family

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66:38 - Racism at George Gershwin Junior High and transfer to JHS 64

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72:46 - Thomas Jefferson High School and leaving school to take care of mother

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75:32 - Education and careers of children

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79:51 - Taking care of her nephews

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81:06 - Siblings and staying in East New York to take care of family home

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84:05 - Husband’s battle with cancer

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86:53 - Neighborhood revitalization, relations with neighbors, and Mayor de Blasio

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89:47 - Fear of gangs and hope to grow community gardens with PS 4

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93:36 - Cooking from the garden and Puerto Rican cuisine

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95:58 - Lack of police in the neighborhood and stop and frisk

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98:35 - Problems in other parts of East New York

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99:59 - Conclusion

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Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Gladys Gonzalez
Gladys (Roldan) Gonzalez was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953. Her father was born in Puerto Rico and her mother (also of Puerto Rican descent) was born in Spain. Gonzalez was one of nine siblings in the family. In 1959, her parents purchased a home and moved their family from the Fort Greene neighborhood to the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. She attended PS 108, George Gershwin Junior High School, JHS 64, and Thomas Jefferson High School. In 1989, Gonzalez cofounded PS 4 Paradise Garden. The garden was established on vacant lots near her home, which were the result of fires in the neighborhood during the 1980s. She married and had two children.

In the interview, Gladys Gonzalez discusses moving from the Fort Greene neighborhood to the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, life in East New York in the 1960s, establishing community gardens on her block, her school years and race relations at George Gershwin Junior High School, the effect of drugs and crime on the community, and her optimism regarding the future of the neighborhood. The interview was conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel at Gonzalez'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

Gonzalez, Gladys, Oral history interview conducted by Sarita Daftary-Steel, September 12, 2014, Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories, 2015.011.08; Brooklyn Historical Society.

People

  • George Gershwin J.H.S. 166 (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
  • Gonzalez, Gladys
  • P.S. 108 (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
  • P.S. 4K Paradise Garden (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
  • P.S. K004 (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
  • Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)

Topics

  • Business enterprises
  • Community gardens
  • Crime
  • Drug abuse
  • Police-community relations
  • Public schools
  • Puerto Ricans
  • Race relations

Places

  • Ashford Street (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
  • Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
  • East New York (New York, N.Y.)
  • Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.)

Finding Aid

Sarita Daftary-Steel collection of East New York oral histories