Towards the end of the 1950′s the Clearance Committee, a group backed by wealthy land developers and headed by Robert Moses lead an effort to clear the area around Lincoln Center and the 59th street D-stop of these tenement. The excuse used at the time was that these housing units were of too poor quality for even the city’s poorest residents to call home. However, there is no records that these housing units are any worse than poor tenements in other parts of the city. In all likelihood, the “minimum standard” proposed by Robert Moses was an excuse to clear the tenements in the area for developers. On September 23, 1962 the Lincoln Center opened with its first show attended by John F. Kennedy. Over the next 50 years the area would gentrify very quickly and dramatically. Today, the 59th street D-stop has the highest median income on the entire D-line.
