When we moved in there were only a handful of families, the other 2 buildings were closed, no one lived there yet. In the very beginning I don't remember there being black people there. I recall some Cuban families, native Americans , filipino, and Puerto Ricans. Then sometime later a large black family moved into the first floor. It became a mixed race community. From what I remember the residents back then had jobs. Most people worked back then. There was a postal worker, social workers, a nurse, factory workers, truck drivers, a maintenance man, others. Every one worked. Eventually most of those nice families moved out, some moved to other states. I missed my friends terribly. Never heard from them again. Someone delivered milk in bottles to your door. He stopped delivering cause it was being stolen and people stopped paying. A carnival with rides came once a year for a week or two. An older lady in hot pants would dance with her dogs, it was funny. It stopped coming when they were burglarized. The community center had parties and weddings. The area had a couple of playgrounds, a basketball court, it was nice and clean, peaceful. People sat on the benches at night, lots of old people around. It was a safe place. Then in the mid 70s drugs started being sold openly across the street. That's when it stopped being a good place to live. It was cheap but many of the people who moved in didn't work, used and sold drugs. Crime became a serious issue. You could no longer sit on the benches at night or someone would throw something out a window. I mostly remember how some neighbors, mostly addicts died. Lots of deaths there. I can only imagine what it's like to live there now.

Hi which building did you live at. You mentioned a large black family moved in on the first floor. If that was at 185 Nevins, you might be talking about the Bell family who lived at apartment 1J by the elevators. The kids I remember from that family are Valerie, Melvin, and fat Kevin. You mentioned a postal worker, well by some coincidence my father was a letter carrier. In your video I noticed the play grounds are a little different. The playground at the 1:28 mark on the right used to have monkey bars and a sand box. The one at 1:42 on the left just before the basketball court had a sprinkler which cooled the kids during summer. As kids we played a popular tag game called Cocolevio and we used the entire complex. I also had friends who lived on the upper floors and the window views were nice, I used to look south where I can see the subway trains crossing the Smith-9th street viaduct.

@@mohamad-ms2pb Melvin was mean and nasty, Kevin was more pleasant. Later a large latino family moved in. They had LOTS of kids, lol! Mom stayed home dad worked. Do you recall the carnival that came around once a year? Or about the company which brought bottled milk to your door? The muslims who delivered their newspapers? The celebrations at the community center? Remember the filipino and cuban families? The parents had different vocations. People worked back then and after a few years they wisely moved away, some to other states. I had friends who I never saw again. Then drugs took over. A lot of junkies Od"d and died or died of Aids later when it came upon the scene. Crime and drug use is rampant. I've been told most folks don't work. Last question do you remember Palisades Park?

@@LeL-q9e I don't remember the carnival too well but I do remember the milk man leaving glass bottles of milk at the door. My family never really took part in any activities at the community center but my mother did participate in a community food gathering of people bringing in dishes from different ethnicities. My mother prepared rice and lentils with caramelized onions which is middle eastern. There I had mac n cheese and greens for the first time along with Latino and Italian dishes

@@LeL-q9e Oh I do remember Palisades.

Wait, I lived there too

Whats your recollection of that building, the people and that time.

He was a Clown.