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

Jack Stern's store looted

Jack Stern's store at 348 Lenox Avenue was looted during the disorder. There are no details of those events other than the amount of the owner's claim for losses: $308.72. Two other businesses at the same address were also looted and appear among those whose owners made claims for losses, Michael D'Agostino's food market and a store owned by Sam Apuzzo. The business in the neighboring building to the south, Young's Hardware at 346 Lenox Avenue was also looted, although Young was not among those identified as suing for damages.

The only evidence of the looting is the store's appearance in a list of the first twenty white business-owners suing the city for damages based on the failure of police to protect their stores published in the New York Sun. By the time the city Comptroller heard testimony from those bringing suit, 106 owners had sought damages. Stern is not among those whose testimony appeared in newspaper stories about that proceeding, nor does he appear in any of the trials to test the claims. No one among those arrested for looting was identified as taking goods from this store.

The claim for $308.72 in losses is one of the smaller claims reported in the press, well below the median claim of $733. The city lost the test cases, so Stern likely was awarded some amount of damages, but based on those case it was likely only a small proportion. It is not clear if he was able to remain in business. The MCCH business survey does include a white-owned food market at 348 Lenox Avenue in the second half of 1935, suggesting that D'Agostino may have reopened after the disorder, but not another business that could have been operated by Stern. The Tax Department photograph of the address in 1939-1941 also shows a market, with a beauty parlor and a business that cannot be identified.

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