Reading #21       Co-op History/Discussion Club       March 13, 2011

[The following excerpt is taken from pages 19-22 of the masters thesis 
written by Howard Kaplan in 1959. Kaplan's whole thesis is Part III of the 
"75th Anniversary Story of a Coo-op: The First 75 Years". This section 
adds information about the doubling of the size of the Amalgamated Co-op 
when 4 new buildings were added in 1949-1951.]

               The Middle Generation Buildings

The Decision to Expand 

There was never any doubt in Kazan's mind that the Amalgamated was going 
to expand, when possible, as he accumulated land during the war. He felt 
that low cost housing was the cause to be advanced and not the mere 
securing of one project. However, leaflets were circulated in the area 
which urged stockholders not to risk their investments on a new venture 
but to maintain the status quo. At a "showdown' stockholders meeting, 
Kazan and his plans for expansion were given a 212 to 26 vote of 
confidence and authorization. Authorized stock was raised to 32,000 units.

The initial plan was to include the closing of Gale Place as a street, and 
the construction of seven buildings of 715 apartments and 2,500 rooms. 
Land costs were estimated at $499,000 for 304,500 square feet of land. 
Improvements were to cost $6,018,500. This would require $4,800,000 in 
mortgage money in addition to $1,419,000 of existing liability. Such an 
arrangement would conform to the 1939 Public Housing Law, which required 
only 20% equity. No final arrangements for this financing had as yet been 
made.

Expansion, 1947 - 1951 

Plans for postwar expansion were revised and submitted to the Commissioner 
of Housing on October 14, 1948. They provided for the addition of four 
tall buildings, which would accommodate 733 families. These structures and 
the 1946 Eleventh Building required the raising of $5,081,000 in debt 
financing. . . .

The Commissioner's approval and a thirty-year municipal tax exemption on 
improvements were secured in advance of the extension's construction. The 
$8,000,000 cost of the additions exceeded original estimates because of 
general inflation, which caused building costs to rise. In what he frankly 
refers to as a "blunder", Kazan arranged for separate construction 
contracts for each building in the hope that costs would fall. He seemed 
correct in 1949 but the Korean War sent prices upward in 1950.

The city held a public hearing and rejected the Amalgamated's two major 
requests for public condemnation of private lands. Appearing in opposition 
were a group of Gale Place property owners who prevented this street from 
being closed, and the Van Cortlandt Jewish Center, an orthodox 
congregation in the neighborhood. The synagogue had also campaigned 
against stockholder approval of the extension.

It seems that the Amalgamated sought to utilize public condemnation 
proceedings against the synagogue, which was located between the projected 
13th and 14th buildings. The synagogue demanded what Kazan felt to be an 
exorbitant price for its property. Upon this request to the city Board of 
Estimate, a synagogue official sent letters to Comptroller Lazarus 
Josephs, and the Commissioner of Housing, which branded the Amalgamated 
administration, which meant Kazan, as a "Godless group ... that will not 
tolerate religious gatherings in our midst". Josephs, a religious Jew, 
told Kazan to renegotiate the matter without eminent domain. When the 
synagogue refused to compromise, Kazan built around it. The result was an 
eyesore between two new buildings and the religious body having to procure 
expensive new property for its projected rebuilding. The author of the 
letter was also a resident of the Amalgamated. He was offered a hearing by 
the House Committee, which invited him to a meeting in order to "demand an 
explanation and retraction of the scurrilous lies and misstatements in 
that letter". He did not appear.

An additional $500,000 was raised in 1951 by the issuance of $300.000 at 3 
1/2% and $200,000 of 2 l/2% debentures in order to meet the increased cost 
of construction. Stockholders were asked to invest $650 per room while the 
original 1947 plan had only called for S600. In 1956, the equity of all 
new residents of the old buildings was raised to $600 per room in order to 
increase the amount of capital available to the corporation.

What the Money Created 

The four new buildings were completed in September 1949 (#14), May 1950 
(#8), April 1951 (#13) and July 1951 (#12). They added 733 units to the 
previous 702 to bring the Amalgamated to its present total [in 1959 before 
Buildings 1-5 were replaced by Towers I and II] of 1435. All are modern 
and fireproof in construction and forsake the Tudor design of the older 
buildings. Three are twelve stories high while Building 12 has 9 floors. 
All have red brick exteriors, landscaped gardens, balconies or terraces, 
and penthouses. Land coverage in all cases is under 50%.

A garage for 200 cars was built in the rear of Building 8. Originally 
slated to be a cooperative, it is now leased to a private party who sells 
space to individuals. Also, A.H. Consumers Society Inc. built a 
supermarket with adjoining stores to service the expanded community and 
leased this to Bronx Consumers Corp. which is composed of residents of the 
area's three related cooperatives, Amalgamated, Mutual, and Park 
Reservoir. All cannot use A.H. Consumers Society Inc. because the latter's 
reserve fund is attributable to Amalgamated contributions alone.

All structures used A.H. Consumers Society Inc. as a construction 
corporation. This was approved by the Division of Housing although it 
reduced that agency's regulation of construction details. All land, with 
one exception, was purchased without the use of eminent domain although 
Amalgamated officials realize that without the threat of public 
condemnation, many purchases would have been impossible or expensive to 
arrange, as was the case with the synagogue.

A turning over of the houses to a new managerial group was begun with the 
1947 hiring of Harold Ostroff. Ostroff and another younger man, Sol 
Shaviro, today handle the everyday administration of the three Bronx 
cooperatives. Sons of pioneer cooperators, both reflect Kazan's desire to 
leave the development in the hand of practically experienced young men 
with roots in the "old Amalgamated".

For Whom It Was Created 

The new apartments rented at a monthly $15 per room. This was within the 
range of many cooperators who were given preference in transferring to 
them. They were, however, required to invest an extra $150 per room. Many 
of the entrants into new and old buildings alike at this time were friends 
and relatives of former residents. The author estimates that the age and 
ethnology of these people were comparable to the original 303 families. 
They differed only in that they represented a cross section of middle 
class Jewish New Yorkers twenty-two years later. Their professions were 
more white collar; their incomes were higher, some of them being quite 
wealthy; their politics were less collectivist though still quite liberal; 
and their births were generally native. In addition to contributions to 
the reserve fund for ten years, each newcomer had to purchase one share of 
A.H. Consumer stock at $10.

The affect of this influx upon the community was not profound. Younger in 
age than the persons who greeted them, they were distributed rather evenly 
throughout the community so that no rifts were able to develop. In effect, 
a more balanced population was achieved so that an even number of old, 
productive, and young people are residents today. In this way, the 
Amalgamated avoided the eventuality of a dying generation causing 
excessive vacancies or turnover in a short span of years. The result is in 
keeping with city and regional planner Maurice Rotival's concept of an 
ideal three-generation community.
 
The new buildings face outward and so does the community. They represent 
an end to any fear of engulfment, or desire to set up a distinct 
cooperative island. The Amalgamated has reached its natural boundaries and 
is thus secure against being affected by any blight that may develop on 
the other side of the park, reservoir, or Van Cortland hill upon which the 
project is built. With this has come a decline in the feeling of being an 
"Amalgamated person" and a rise in community participation by cooperators 
qua individuals.

No serious opposition to Kazan's leadership is likely to develop among the 
new people so long as the financial structure of the buildings stays sound 
and unoppresive. Their interest in the cooperative is far more economic 
than it is political. This can be seen in the large turnouts at meetings 
where monetary matters, such as rentals, are discussed, and vice-versa. It 
indicates that a cooperative needs emotional involvement in times of 
economic stress but not during prosperity. 
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