The latest episode of A New York Minute in History podcast tells the story of Ronek Park, a non-discriminatory housing development built in 1950 in the village of North Amityville in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island.
Unlike the many housing developments created in the post-World War Two United States that followed the practice of redlining and did not allow non-white people such as African Americans or Jewish people to buy homes, Ronek Park specifically marketed itself as allowing anyone to purchase a home regardless of race or religious creed.
Mary Cascone, Town of Babylon Historian and Eugene Burnett, Ronek Park resident and former Town of Babylon Police Department Sergeant join the podcast for the discussion.
Click here to listen to the full episode.
For a full list of New York Almanack podcasts announcements click HERE.
Illustration: Ronek Park in Amityville Long Island housing development advert from the New York Amsterdam News, February 18, 1950 (cropped).
Thank you for sharing this history. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein, among other things, flagged the post WWII federally funded housing programs and veterans benefits that were only available to white Americans. Another issue not taught in high school or college in the 1960’s and maybe not even now.