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Harlem in Disorder: A Spatial History of How Racial Violence Changed in 1935

Harry Schwartz's laundry looted

A laundry at 87 West 128th Street, in the building on the northeast corner of Lenox Avenue and 128th Street, was looted sometime during the disorder. The only mention of the looting was in a New York Herald Tribune story about the successful suit for damages from the city brought by the storeowner Harry Schwartz. He was named as one of seven claimants in a proceeding in the New York Supreme Court in March 1936, with his business and its address reported. No one arrested for looting was identified as having taken merchandise from his laundry.



Schwartz was one of 106 white business owners who brought suit against the city, only a small number of who were named in newspaper stories. Several of those who were identified had businesses located in the blocks of Lenox Avenue immediately surrounding Schwartz's store. The New York Supreme Court heard claims for larger amounts of damages, over $1,000, so the looting of Schwartz's laundry must have involved the theft of significant amounts of clothing and damage to the store fixtures. The story did not mention the amount of damages the jury awarded him.

A white-owned laundry was still operating at this address in the second half of 1935, when the MCCH conducted its business survey. The Tax Department photograph taken between 1939 and 1941 showed a laundry still at this location in photograph, suggesting that Schwartz was able to remain in business

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