When speaking with Eric, the store manager of Court Pastry Shop, he particularly described an instance when a Black-American woman had come to the bakery to simply express her gratitude for the kindness and equity she was met with when coming to the store as a young girl with her father prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was unusual to hear that she particularly prioritized the “fairness” she was treated with as I would otherwise assume that race relations were much more assuaged in New York City. Unfortunately, racial integration was not conventional within the broader American landscape in Jim Crow-era America, which is particularly why she cherished her memories at the bakery all the more. In particular, I was curious to know whether the warmth she and her father were met with at Court Pastry Shop may have been anomalous in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn as well.
In an article published by The Brooklyn Daily Eagle on June 22, 1911, the writer indicates that many of the homes in Cobble Hill had originally been occupied by “families of the then well-to-do-class” before the “intrusion” of stores and business. The writer particularly identifies a man who had stolen a “much worn gilt clock of antique design” on Baltic Street (near Court Street) twenty years prior by his race: Black-American. The writer indicates that the clock had been stolen from the apartment upon the deaths of the affluent owners. Aside from the derogatory terminology used by the author in describing the race of the man, the relation of this particular anecdote seemed superfluous to the overall context of the article. Rather, it seemed to serve a symbolic purpose: Parallel to the writer’s description of the cultured, elegant domiciles of elderly inhabitants penetrated by industry and business, the inclusion of the anecdote instead seems to delineate Black-Americans as an intrusive group within the community.
Cobble Hill has in fact historically been a white-concentrated neighborhood. A postcard from 1912 within the Seymour B Durst Old York Library Collection at Columbia University depicts a lively Court Street with towering buildings; the streets are
populous yet orderly. The passerby in particular who are illustrated appear to only be Caucasian. Images also depict the St. Peter’s Hospital Nursing School, which is still located in Cobble Hill now known as the LI College Hospital School of Nursing. The institution is evidently a great source of pride within the community with numerous images depicting graduating students on the Brooklyn Public Library database. Keeping in mind segregation-era practices, solely white women encompass the graduating class in a graduation day ceremony image dated 1938. Moreover, the Dinanda Nooney Collection of the New York Public Library extensively depicts Caucasian residents in Cobble Hill aside from a single image depicting a Black-American man from 1978.
Despite the enduring racial stratification of the neighborhood, as Cobble Hill, Brooklyn was gentrified, the neighborhood had also become increasingly impenetrable for minority-owned businesses. In the 1960s, photo records from the Brooklyn Historical Society depict Court Street with rows of unpretentious storefronts. In a photo taken on 12/31/1958 by John D Morrell, businesses such as the Paras Court Th
eatre, Tuohy’s Cafe, a law office, a stationary store, and a restaurant with a Coca-Cola banner run next to Court Pastry Shop. The street appears particularly crowded at the entrance of the bakery. A daycare, fitness center, clothing boutique, and smoke shop have taken the place of the deeply-rooted businesses. Nonetheless, it is evident that it is not the salient influence of Italian cuisine in Court Pastry Shop which has prompted its enduring success. According to the NYC Department of Records, there were a number of other businesses within the neighborhood that appealed to an Italian demographic including a home decorating goods store pictured in 1983 located on 288 Court Street titled “Oaldi Italia” built in 1
930. A large banner on the upper portion of the building is labeled “Capodimonte”, a traditional Italian porcelain. Unfortunately, in present time, a chain store has taken its place. Another storefront called E. Lauricella and Sons Inc. was established in 1898 according to a photo by John D Morrell; a laundromat has taken its place. Of these small mom and pop shops, only Court Pastry Shop remains in business.
According to the 2015 US Census, 5090 respondents identified as Italian; this is the largest single grouping within Cobble Hill in respect to ancestry. Moreover, 4,284 residents identified as Puerto Rican, while 261 individuals identified as Arab. Although Social Explorer indicates that there were no reported instances of violent crimes in 2015, a newspaper article titled “Pictures Son in Gang Killing as Sissie” from 27 April 1948 on The Brooklyn Daily Eagle describes an instance of juvenile gang violence amongst teenage boys within the neighborhood. The article indicates that those involved in the shooting of an eighteen year old man lived on Kane St, Carroll St, and Dean St (all within proximity of Court Pastry Shop). One of the mothers of the perpetrators is quoted as saying, “They ought to clean up the hoodlums round here,” The writer particularly underscores the Italian roots of the suspect; the father of another suspect is described having one of his sons translate the interview on his behalf. In response to the incident, the chairman of the Brooklyn Borough West Advisory Council underscores the need for implementation of President Truman’s Proclamation on Juvenile Delinquency, which would investigate and create recommendations to communities based on local conditions.
In 1969, an article published by MIT Press indicates that Cobble Hill was being “rehabilitated” by younger families who were beginning to move into a neighborhood of predominantly “older” Italian, Syrian, and Puerto Rican locals. The article also describes the neighborhood as “resurgent”. It is important to recognize that a great deal of such immigrants had arrived to the United States and particularly Cobble Hill in their youth, committing their own vitality to uphold the community. The rhetoric used within such articles is testament to the underlying xenophobic, discriminative sentiment, which mainstream sources would use to undermine the contributions of immigrants, which would stimulate the prosperity of their respective communities.
In a letter preserved by University of Massachusetts Amherst from the Brooklyn Heights Association to W.E.B. Du Bois dated June 9, 1961, the city identifies Cobble Hill as “badly blighted”. Instead, the letter underscores the need to implement an “urban renewal project” in Cobble Hill in order to provide residents with “low cost”, “middle income” housing options. Interestingly on maps provided by NYC OASIS, the white-concentrated blocks in particular have median household incomes that surpass $105,000; this trend in fact encompasses much of Cobble Hill. Instead, neighboring blocks identified as being “communities of color” have median household incomes below $45,000. Whether intentional or not, the efforts of public officials to “rehabilitate” respective communities such as Cobble Hill have only further stratified racial communities both socially and economically.
