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so odd to see Daniel Libeskind given any prominence. he claims that his experience in the amalgamated gave him an understanding that architecture is about people, not buildings. his architecture is so cold and sterile, sharp, unfriendly. he must have been blindfolded all those years. he may be famous, but represent the amalgamated he does not. so many better people to interview, though of course, many of the best are no longer with us, Joanne Lukomnik for one, though her mother, Mary Lukomnik died just this year, still living in her Amalgamated apartment - that would have been over 60 years there.
The previous comment about the Levittown housing projects raises an interesting comparison. Unlike the explicit open housing policy of the Coops, Levittown, according to a PBS documentary a few years ago, excluded African American veterans and their families who sought to move in. Allegedly, the Levitt sales staff made certain that the post-war suburb was a new Northern segregated neighborhood.
The Coop workers were ahead of the curve promoting human rights. Ironically, had the Soviet Union taken socialism along the Scandinavian route to great social services and freedom, many of America's best civil rights reforms might have happened decades earlier. The US workers understood human rights, including racial and gender equality, and sadly were deceived into thinking that Soviet communism would promote those principles.
If nothing else, the film made it possible for me to share and better explain my childhood to my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren. For that I am grateful.
A last note. In my day (all through the 30s+), you did NOT play in the gardens. They were to be seen and loved and left untouched.
I sould have mentioned in my prior posting that it's my opinion, for what it's worth to the group that will read it, that the Levitt Brothers did more to provide "workers' housing" than any of the groups shown in this documentary, including the United Housing Foundation! It was the Levitt model that provided upward mobility and created real wealth for hundreds of thousands of working people in contrast to the "limited profit" model of the fruition of these groups, "Mitchell-Lama."
I have seen the At Home in Utopia movie. It was a nostalgic period of my life that was presented, but I have some comments. I will preface them by saying that I have to believe that you had a paucity of information about life in the Coops, so you did the best that you could with what you had.
Life in the Coops was a much richer experience for all that I have known there, than the political slant that was presented in the movie. After seeing the movie, I would be led to believe that everyone in the Coops was a Communist. Far from it. Only a small number of people there were Communists, and the majority took advantage of the life style that the Coops afforded. They went to work in the morning, came home dead tired, had their supper and went to bed not too long after that. There were activities for the young that were far more dominant than political activities. There was the Chess Club. The Novi Mir club for the elderly. There was the Science club, of which Julius Lugovay was a member. There was the Radio club where the latest radio techniques were worked with. I belonged to club that made a shop where all kinds of things were built. A group of youngsters started a weight lifting club. At one time the Coops had it's own Kindergarten so that parents would have a place to leave their children when all had to go to work. You did not mention the Freiheit Gesang Farien, which was a chorus that used to meet in the gym and give concerts. All this in addition to the social clubs that you depicted. You forgot to mention the Cafeteria that made it convenient to have a supper, when parents were away, of the local barber where haircuts were available.
All this contributed to a richness of life there, that was far more dominant than the political scene that you depicted. To some politics was very important. This was often expressed by vehement discussions on Sunday mornings in front of the Coops Store on Allerton ave. It was like a miniature Hyde Park Corner. There, many different ideas were promulgated and not all of them were Communist. I believe that the theme of a Workers Cooperative, should have been the dominant one presented. The approach taken by Daniel Liebskin about the the Amalgamated houses, would have more accurately depicted life in the Coops. It was thought of as a haven for the workers, not so much a fortress for the Communists. In that vein, the Paul Robeson concert should have been much briefer, and the story of Camp Nishgedieget expanded. That was a place that was taken advantage of by many in the Coops, whatever their political thoughts, for a brief summer vacation at affordable prices. Many will remember the line of limousines on Allerton Ave. waiting to take people up to camp on the weekends. Boris's father was one of those drivers. Two trips a day. That was another hard life.
I suppose that I could go on, but I wish to finish on the note that life was made as rich as possible for the parents and the children, when the Depression made life intolerable in many other places.
Bob Fastovsky
I grew up a mile and a quarter east of the Coops on the 2500 block of Young Avenue between Mace and Allerton Aves. The film give the impression that those in the surrounding area admired the Coops. Such was NOT the case, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. It was ALWAYS pointed out as a nest of Communists and the American Labor Party candidates it supported were always defeated. (Yes, Leo Isaacson was elected to Congress in 1948 but the Coops was not in his district and his election had more to do with Truman's reluctance to support the creation of Israel than Isaacson's association with Communists). I do remember Sam Nessin and his friends' attempt to infiltrate the Democrat Party but he voluntarily agreed, as I remember, to cancel his enrollment in the Democrat Party when a nephew brought suit. During the 1960s, when I was active in Bronx politics, the Coops was an election district of its own within the Ninth Assembly District of Bronx County. It was not split up at all, as the film has it.
One of my most humorous memories of the White Plains Road subway line was seeing residents of the Coops reading the newspaper "Freiheit" on the subway. The would fold it into a roll so that other Yiddish speakers could not make out what they were reading. We ALL did, (even the non-Yiddish readers) and we all would have great laughs when discussing it.
What is the result of the efforts of the residents of the Coops and those who thought like them? Look at the Bronx of the 1970s and 1980s. Deteriorated housing stock due to the inability of landlords to make necessary repairs because of rent control and high crime due to the reluctance of police to do their jobs as their jobs should be done. Of all the boroughs, The Bronx was made particularly unattractive to aspiring middle class people due, in no small part, to the policies advocated by the Coops types and made into Democrat Party policy by the political system. Not for nothing did Norman Thomas decide not to run for President again by 1944--the Democrats are today's socialists.
The best that can be said about the Coops is that the Yiddish Book Collection at Andover, MA now has the Yiddish books that were stored there after the library they maintained closed for lack of interest.
I lived in the Coops from birth to graduation from CCNY in 1949, with only a brief interruption. I've seen the film twice now and get new jogs of memory each time. Some of the comments on this site get one salient feature of the Coops not quite right. The courtyards were beautiful; I recall goldfish in the pool in front of our building; Mr Lugovoy performed heroic landscaping service. But the courtyards were only rarely used for any communal activity. Quite the contrary! We had a security officer. Most of the time it was Tony, who would patrol the grounds and strenuously enforce a non-loitering regime. Though he was an equal opportunity "enforcer", the burden fell most heavily on the kids, whom he would firmly "encourage" to move on. In any case, the narrow pathways were not really conducive to activities other than access. The basement clubs, Yiddish school and library are another story. It was a great place to grow up in and I think the film captures that aspect quite well.
I grew up in the coops and moved there at 11 in 1988. When I graduated from CCHS in 1994, I was surprised to be awarded monetarily by the coops. Along with this award, I was given a book, which I still have today, depicting the coops history. I had no idea! I always wished more people were aware of the coops greatness. And now with AT HOME IN UTOPIA they will be. Thank you so much for making this film.
Kudos!
Kate
Though I lived across the street, in 1959, a neighbor and I took Yiddish lessons in the Co-ops basement with an esteemed teacher, Zelig Zipper. The two of us were the only beginners that year and we sang rousing Socialist songs in a chorus of three.
Loved this interesting part of American history. I hope it is repeated so my parents can watch it. Had a grandma who worked in the gament industry and helped to organize unions.
In school and college I loved, and took, every history course I found. All those efforts never yielded the sort of education programs such as this provide, and I don't suppose they could have embodied the entire history of this country or the world, else we never would have graduated. Programs like this help to fill in the gaps in such important ways. Most importantly by broadening our understanding and eliminating prejudice. What a marvelous job you've done with this film!
I was however disappointed that the film credits did not seem to include all the music played, and was most interested in learning the names of the classical pieces that accompanied different segments. Can anyone enlighten me?
Editors note:
Music credits for AT HOME IN UTOPIA can be found here:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/athomeinutopia/credits.html
My family moved into the Coops in early 1932 and I lived there until 1962. The grounds were unbelievable. The 2 square block were surrounded by 3 foot high hedges. The interior court yards had similar hedges. Between the hedges and the buildings were lush green lawns. On these lawns were beautiful assorted flower beds and trees. All this was maintained by one man, Mr Lugovoy. He mowed the grass with an 18 inch hand push mowere. Then he raked the clippings, loaded them into a whell-barrow and disposed of it. He clipped the hedges with hand sheers and disposed of those clippings. He planted and maintained those beautiful flower beds and trees. He did this all alone. He did a years work in a week.
The Vanguard Community Center helped all who wanted with various clubs; sports, social, science, metal and woodworking, weightlifting, boat building, reading, a marvelous library, a gym, theater, Yiddish school and so much more. Across the street was Bronx Park and on many a weekend, the residents would hold picnics there with organized games for the kids, music and dancing. I remember camp fires on the foundation. I recall Woody Guthry and Leadbelly, Pete Seeger singing there and in the Auditorium. The strong friendships that we made 75 plus years ago still exists and many of see each other regularly. No other place on our Earth was ever like the Coops.
Avante Populo,
Ruby Davidson
Greystone said: "During the big postwar housing boom in New York, many apartment complexes followed The Coops model of having outdoor courtyard space in the middle of the community."
Those other complexes were sterile in comparison to the Coops in the Bronx! I grew up in Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan in the 50s, and though it was nice in some ways to have trees, ivy and lawns, it was extremely different from being able to collectively make decisions about planting your own gardens, as well as all other aspects of community life. I've revisited ST as an adult and feel very depressed just after being there for an hour. Nothing natural about over-pruned trees and hundreds of metres of ground ivy.
I remember the street life on the Lower East Side in the 50s and early 60s, just before the push-carts on the sidewalks disappeared. My grandmothers both continued to live there so we'd visit their tiny apartments often. It doesn't surprise me that this is where the wonderful spirit of The Coop was born.
I really enjoyed tonight's Independent Lens. I'd never heard of the Coop and my inner child looked on with envy at the liveliness of the families there. My parents grew up in the Lower East Side tenements and they were just happy to get out, which I can understand. It wasn't' until I was 17 that I discovered left politics and how much more rich life could be when it's a bit messy due to cooperation with all of humanity and fairness for all. Kudos to all involved in "At Home In Utopia"!
I haven't yet gotten to see the show. But I must add comments to Eugene Schwartz. I also lived in Section F, 2758 BPE and went to P.S. 96 with my brother Sid and my parents in an apartment with a living room, one bedroom and a kitchen. Both my parents worked and for quite a while we rented out the living room. Our economic situation was no great but we got very much accomplished and it was a wonderful place with many close friends, with great opportunities for education with beautiful gardens, and great facilities in the Park and in the playground across the street.
Per the question of the location, I believe they are located at Allerton Ave at Bronx Park East. The Allerton Ave station (IRT #2 train) is about three blocks away.
You may also view the complex from both an aerial view and a street view from www.googlemaps.com and take a "virtual stroll" around the block. The streetview is a bit fuzzy, but you can change the angle of view and clearly see the handsome Tudor decoration on the building.
During the big postwar housing boom in New York, many apartment complexes followed The Coops model of having outdoor courtyard space in the middle of the community. This was an intentional change so that children could play safely there instead of the streets shared with traffic. Also, it was to provide a park like setting where people could relax instead of older way of sitting on one's stoop or fire escape.
The residents of The Coops mentioned their courtyards as a major asset of the community and a big improvement over the tenements they left behind.
But ironically, many social and urban advocates later criticized that approach as too sterile; they disliked the "superblock" approach championed by builders like Robert Moses. They felt that the old style front stoops and small stores gave a community life and spirit while the new courtyards were dead.
Which approach is better?
Filmmaker response:
These courtyard buildings began to appear in the 1920s, as an antidote to the tenement style – which itself was an antidote to the way poor people had been housed even earlier. At the time, these courtyard/garden apartments were very economical to build, and yet they allowed much better light and air circulation in the apartments themselves, they avoided long impersonal hallways, and yes, they provided central areas for gardens and for children to play off the street. The cooperatives built in the Bronx during the 1920s followed this model in another important way too: for the most part they were walk-ups, which meant they could be no more than five stories high by law. This gave them a certain intimacy and human scale. In the 1950s the approach evolved to a “tower in the park” approach; the buildings themselves became quite monumental; they were many stories high and housed many more people. They included features like elevators and central air conditioning – wonderful new luxuries in affordable housing – but they lost their intimate, communal scale. So, in turn, I’d ask you: which is better?
By the way, you might want to take a look at a book called “A History of Housing in New York City “by Richard Plunz. He looks at the evolution of thinking of what makes good housing in New York. There’s quite a lot on the Bronx Jewish labor housing cooperatives.
WOW.............Wonderful........Sent chilly up my spine..........Wish my MOTHER " HELEN RIVKIN " MY AUNTS "CHARLOTT RIVKIN" LILLY & WILLIE RIVKIN ( Decendents of IKE & BESSIE RIVKIN ) Was still alive to see this................!!!!!
This was a very interesting documentary.
As others stated, it would've been of interest to learn more how the community evolved in the 1950s and onward. When did it cease to be a Jewish community? When did it cease to be a politically-passionate community (that is, when did the Communists move away, pass on, or lost interest in the movement?)
I was very surprised--and saddened--that during WW II the community voted to sell out rather than accept a reasonable increase in rent that reflected the increased costs of the time. Had they retained ownership they probably would've protected or even enhanced the value of their original investment bonds; and that could've helped the original residents as they grew old.
I was curious as to how the "nuts and bolts" of the community functioned from that point onward under different ownership and management. How did rents and fees of that community compare to others nearby? When did the community stop selecting residents for an ethnic and ideological fit and basically be open to anyone?
I'm curious as to when the special social services such as the library and youth clubs closed down. Did it happen gradually or suddenly?
Likewise, I was curious how major maintenance issues--like a new roof, heating, boilers, or other major repairs--were handled by the co-operative management as well as by later owners and manangers. As buildings age they need routine and special repairs and rennovations. These aren't cheap nor easily done by volunteer labor. I can't help but wonder if their social passions meant that even routine maintenance decisions sparked vigorous debate invoking competing socialist ideologies. (Which occurs to this day on some co-op and condo boards.)
I also enjoyed this documentary because it gave us a peek at city life in that area.
Filmmaker response:
I have ideas about some of your questions – and maybe you’ll hear from people who lived in the Coops during the times you’re curious about.
My sense is, from all the interviews we did, that things evolved gradually. As you can imagine, this group of people were extremely well organized and militant, and so for some years the Tenants’ Association was able to keep all the communal spaces operating, and even to control who moved it – which is why they were able to push for more African Americans to move in after World War Two even though they no longer owned the building. But gradually, as the first generation aged and the more militant people from the second generation moved away, political commitment in the Coops seems to have become a characteristic of some of the people there, rather than of the community as a whole. My impression is that during the late 1960s and the 1970s there was a noticeable decline in the Coops: the communal spaces, including the library, were no longer used much; the basements, which housed all the communal spaces (and the roof!,where people liked to hang out too!) were no longer safe places to socialize; and the new owners – there were a series of owners – didn’t maintain the buildings well. Drugs and crime became real problems during the 1970s. (See John Bachtell’s comments below for a feeling of what it was like to live there later on.)
But the Coops actually had economic troubles even before the Great Depression, because from a financial point of view the people who were managing it weren’t savvy. It was undercapitalized, and some people I spoke with think that even if the residents had accepted the increase in rent so that they could have gotten a new mortgage, it might not have survived as a cooperative. In its earliest years, the Coops housed cooperative stores in the basement: a grocery store, a meat market, a barber shop, a cafeteria where the children could come and eat lunch and not pay – just sign their names and their parents would pay when they could. As the Great Depression proceeded, these cooperative ventures failed one after another. But while they existed they made a big difference in people’s understanding of the nature and extent of their cooperative community.
A wonderful documentary about a great experiment.
I noticed there was a very brief glimpse of a share of the cooperative stock which either belonged to or was signed by "N. London." Was he the Noah London who was the labor reporter for the Freiheit? Does anyone know whether he lived at the Coop and, if so, for how long? Is he in one of the photos on this website?
Filmmaker response:
Yes, he was. He never lived in the Coops; he returned to Moscow before the Coops were finished in 1927, to help build the Moscow metro (he was an engineer.) He and his wife Mirl stayed in the Soviet Union. Noah himself was exiled to Siberia and by 1938 was dead. I think the charge against him was, more or less, Jewish nationalism. In any case the person who really knows all about this is John Holmes, who is, I believe, London’s nephew (or grand nephew if there is such a thing,) and is writing a dissertation about him.
Thanks for the wonderful documentary, as a former tenant at 665 Allerton Avenue, but from a later generation of the 50's-60's after the Coop's radicalism had waned somewhat. It would have been interesting to have had another half hour covering Coop developments to the present. I took music lessons from an instructor in the Coops, had many friends there...a real hub of social activity, combined with Zimmerman's Playground across the street. A true, very together community, worth the attention paid.
Filmmaker response:
Yes, as I was working on this film I realized that the present-day evolution of the buildings is just as interesting as the story of their origins! Which is why I brought Yok, Pete, and Julie together to tour the buildings – so that you’d get at least a sense of life there now. But I felt I had to draw the line somewhere, as I wanted to make a film of broadcast length. So I decided to focus on how the original communal impulse played out.
A wonderful, to me very moving documentary. It portrayed the America I fell in love with as a youth in distant Brazil. Good, brave people building a society with love and generosity of spirit. Is it possible to acquire a copy of this film? I would like to show it to friends here and abroad as an example of the best of America. Marcus Mello
Editors note:
DVD copies of AT HOME IN UTOPIA are available from Filmmakers Collaborative
Filmmaker response:
Yes, please visit us at filmmakerscollaborative.org/films/at-home-in-utopia
We are also making a dedicated website for the film, so if you’re interested in seeing our progress and giving us any advice, take a look at www.athomeinutopia.com
Great show! There was a quick clip of the Amalgamated Houses towards the end of the documentary (I lived there for the first seven years of my life), but I was fascinated by the idea of a "worker's fortress" surviving as long as it did. Sadly, whether the "utopian" idea was either Marxist or Social Democratic one(as was the Amalgamated), it is but a bygone part of American social history.
Filmmaker response:
I don’t really agree. I’ve been to the Amalgamated Houses, and they are beautiful, lively, extensive – and still a genuine non-profit cooperative. So it can be done! Even now.
This is a beautiful film of a great piece of American history. Having lived in the "Coops" during the 1980s, the legacy of those great pioneers was all around and imbued the fighting spirit of the Coops Tenants Association during those years which fought management constantly against rent increases and a botched renovation. One can't help but be inspired by the scale of the vision, the vibrancy of the ideals and and the attempts to keep the memory alive. Thanks!
John Bachtell
Chicago, IL
I watched this very special program and cried.It was one big home movie for me, since I was born in the Bronx and lived in the "coops" bordering Allerton ave and Bronx Park East w/ my 2 brothers and my parents until 1974.
The only thing I wished the movie showed were the changes that did happen in the 1960's and 1970's.
I always make it a point to watch Independent Lens on my PBS station in Tampa, but this one movie was very special. Thank You.
Filmmaker response:
Hi Robb – I’m glad the film moved you.
You talk slightly about Amalgaated Housing. If you want to see more about Amalgamated Housing of the Bronx, go to this page and click on the links for the three videos about them:
http://www.amalgamated-bronx.coop/gallery.html
These three videos compose a half hour DVD put out by the Herman Liebman Memoorial Fund seven years ago, when Amalgamated turned 75 and it's sister co-op, Park Reservoir turned 45.
Filmmaker response:
On the DVD for “At Home in Utopia” there are some bonus scenes, including one about the Amalgamated Houses featuring an interview with Ed Yaker, past president of those houses – along with more of the interview with the architect Daniel Libeskind.
I found the program to be fascinating! Although I didn't live in the "coops", my great uncle Max Breiman was one of the founding members. In the group picture, he was in the front row on the left end. He later moved to California, and family legend has it that he ran for governor of California on the Communist ticket in the 1930's.
I did have many friends who grew up in the coops because my grandmother lived in the neighborhood when I was growing up (50's & 60's) ,including Judy Winston, the daughter of Henry Winston. I have wonderful memories of exploring the grounds in the coops, and also of the huge playground across the street.
Bravo to the producers!
I loved the film. I would like to visit The Coops buildings. Can I have the exact location please?
Filmmaker responses:
The buildings – there are three courtayrds – start at the corner of Allerton Avenue and Bronx Park East. You can map quest 2700 Bronx Park East for directions. There’s a subway stop at Allerton too.
This film is a wonderful tribute to the authors of a marvelous American story - our parents. Some of my family were among the original cooperators, and from the age of six in 1931, my mother and I lived as "boarders" renting a room with other families until, by 1936 we were able to get our own kitchenette 2 room apartment in Section F - later 2758 BPE. I went to school at PS 96 and *( and Christopher Columbus HS, roamed Bronx Park, played in the streets, later joined youth clubs, played music, went to summer camp owned by the coops - nurtured by a single mother who could barely pay the rent, and by an extended family of friends and neighbors. It was a paradise in my recall -- and while At Home in Utopia is a true story of the politics, ideals and ideologies that animated the leaders of the coops and influenced the life choices of its children-- not all was poliics -- we were also shaped by the bonds of friendship, community, sense of purpose, and love of life that we found in each other and enjoyed in that neighborhood -- and the freedom to choose our own course that our working class immigrant parents made possible.
--Eugene G. Schwartz (Son of Bella Dovish Schwartz, member Haldane Scientific Society and and Vanguard Music Society - friend of Harry Mazer, Marty Blickstein, David Weber, Julie Lugovoy, Stanley Hilton, Sidney Pfefferberg, Stanley Horowitz and Simon Kleeger -- and many others)
Filmmaker response:
Eugene Schwartz has kept some beautiful materials from those days that were part of an exhibit on the Bronx Jewish labor housing cooperatives mounted by the Museum of the City of New York in 2004/2005.
Well, first off, Communism is a very evil thing. How can you justify showing something like that in a positive way? Now, if it had been just about Jewish immigrants and factory workers, that would have been fine. But Communism? I have a real problem with that and would suggest you don't show that on tv again. Thanks.
I grew up in the coops from mid 50s to the 60s (age 8-16). I eagerly await this film. I have so many great memories of the coops. It was truly a community of many races. I never experienced racism growing up. My friends were many. The connecting roofs served as a place to hang laundry, sunbathe, travel from building to building and be kids. The connecting basements were our haunted houses where all creatures big and small resided. During the sweltering summers most everyone would leave their doors open so we all could catch a breeze. I could go on and on. Being a kid, I wasn't political but knew we had communist neighbors mostly from over hearing adult conversation.
This is not a Utopia. In fact, this is the direction the whole world will be forced to go (if not chose so) by peak oil, climate change and the end of the empire. The Zapatistas in Mexico and the MST in Brazil provide a vivid model of the new communities coming around all over the planet.
Local Collectives that use local food, that self govern (autonomy), self educate, and self rely. Just like the Jewish cooperatives and the Kibbutzes, but in a different century that supports rather than destroy this sustainable, simple and healthy way of life!
Filmmaker response:
But of course the kibbutzim weren’t really self-reliant, nor were the Bronx cooperatives. They were part of a much larger fabric, inevitably.
My family was one of those of color who were "recruited" by the Socialists to move from Jerome Avenue in the South Bronx up to the "Coops" I have the most wonderful memories of going home to the Bronx in the summer to visit and then moving back as an adult for 7 years after college in the 70's. I will see this documentary and look forward to reliving those days. My family lived there for over 60 years. Bravo!!
Richard Harder
Oakland,California
Filmmaker response:
I’m sorry we never spoke, Richard! I would have like to hear your stories.
great to see this documentary! as red diaper babies, my husband and i knew about the coops, but we were unaware of the full history - it was so moving, informative, and, as well, bittersweet. no doubt we were not the only ones to wish our parents were still alive to see it - they would have appreciated it. (will this spirit ever rise again?) thank you for this and ALL your work.
Filmmaker response:
Well, when we’re practical, resourceful, cooperative, well-networked, pro-union, pro-worker, and hopeful – this spirit or something like it always rises again, it seems to me.
