Lost Coumminity

The Red Lined “Lost Community”

Benjamin Levister, the father of the Mount Vernon public housing movement in Mount Vernon fought all levels of local segregation. The Depression-era community organizer led the struggle to desegregate elite restaurants and integrate Playland and Westchester County beaches. Outraged by city slum conditions, his Housing Advisory Committee organized an interracial movement, lobbied and held rallies until the city established the Mount Vernon Housing Authority and built low-income housing. He died in 1950 before the completion of the “Site A” housing project consisting of a five 10-story complex. It was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin Levister.