RFK Jr.: How Restoration Plaza Uplifted The Black Community In Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn

In the 1960s, Bedford-Stuyvesant was New York City’s largest non-white community. An 85-percent black Brooklyn neighborhood where poverty was widespread, housing dilapidated, and few residents finished high school. In response, my father spearheaded the creation of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, which brought private enterprises together with local leadership to renovate the area’s urban core, focusing on housing, the arts, and small businesses. The guiding idea was my father’s belief that solutions to a community’s problems should come from within that community. After he died, I joined Bed-Stuy’s board and can say proudly that if you look at Fulton Street in the heart of Bed-Stuy today, you’ll see a vibrant, flourishing culture and business community.

It was great to take a walk with my Urban Community Advisor Tramell Thompson through his neighborhood.