The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn This page intentionally left blank T H E Invention O F Brownstone Brooklyn Gentrifi cation and the Search for Authenticity in Postwar New York Suleiman Osman Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2011 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Osman, Suleiman. The invention of brownstone Brooklyn: gentrifi cation and the search for authenticity in postwar New York/Suleiman Osman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-538731-5 1. Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)—History—20th century. 2. Gentrifi cation—New York (State)—Brooklyn—History—20th century. 3. City planning—New York (State)—Brooklyn—History—20th century. 4. Community development—New York (State)—Brooklyn—History— 20th century. I. Title. F129.B7O79 2011 307.3′4160974723—dc22 2010023195 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For my parents This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments i x I ntroduction 3 1 Urban Wilderness 17 2 Concord Village 52 3 The Middle Cityscape of Brooklyn Heights 82 4 The Two Machines in the Garden 119 5 The Highway in the Garden and the Literature of Gentrifi cation 164 6 Inventing Brownstone Brooklyn 189 7 The Neighborhood Movement 233 C onclusion: Brownstone Brooklyn Invented 270 Abbreviations 281 Notes 283 Index 327 vii This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments I would not have been able to complete this book without the generous help of many people. The manuscript began many years ago as a dissertation at Harvard, where I was blessed with wonderful mentors. My primary advisor, Lizabeth Cohen, read countless drafts, wrote pages of astute comments, and spent hours talking with me about the project. She continually encouraged, inspired, and challenged me. Lawrence Buell transformed the way I think about cities, introducing me to a new world of ideas about space and place, geography, and environmental criticism. His wisdom about both scholarly matters and life in general has been invaluable. I could not have completed graduate school, survived my fi rst years of university teaching, and written this book without Bruce Schulman. A brilliant scholar, masterly lecturer, in- sightful editor, and generous mentor, Bruce Schulman embodies the ideal of the teacher-scholar. I cannot thank him enough for all his help. One of the most important things I received in graduate school was a core of brilliant friends on whom I still rely on for guidance: Salamishah Tillet, Dagmawi Woubshet, Hua Hsu, and David Mulrooney. I would additionally like to thank Sonia Lee, Matthew Briones, Michael Kimmage, Kimberly Sims, Heather Lewis, Robert Breugmann, Matthew Lasner, Kevin Burke, Evelyn Hig- ginbotham, Margaret Crawford, Julian Zelizer, Martha Nadell, Sharon Zukin, Becky Nicolaides, and others for reading and commenting on the project at different stages. From the days of being my mentor at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia, Tom Sugrue has generously read and commented on different versions of the project. His insight has been invaluable. My colleagues at the American Studies Department at George Washington University have been wonderfully supportive these past several years: Terry Murphy, James Miller, Kip Kosek, Libby Anker, Phyllis Palmer, Melani McAli- ster, Chad Heap, and John Vlach. Richard Longstreth, Tom Guglielmo, and Elaine Peña generously read and commented on parts of the manuscript. I could not have completed the project without them. The History Depart- ment’s Tyler Anbinder, Richard Stout, and Chris Klemek and the Geography Department’s Elizabeth Chacko and David Rain have provided important feedback about the project as well. Cartographer Nuala Cowan helped design the book’s many maps. ix