Harlem in Disorder: A Spatial History of How Racial Violence Changed in 1935Main MenuREAD ME: Help Navigating This BookIntroductionOn the StreetsIn the CourtsUnder InvestigationThe Mayor's Commission on Conditions in HarlemOver TimeEventsSourcesStephen Robertsona1bf8804093bc01e94a0485d9f3510bb8508e3bfStanford University Press
Harry Schwartz's laundry, 87 West 128th Street, c. 1939-1941.
1media/nynyma_rec0040_1_01726_0001_thumb.jpg2024-06-03T13:22:48+00:00Stephen Robertsona1bf8804093bc01e94a0485d9f3510bb8508e3bf12Harry Schwartz's laundry is at the rear of the building on the corner, where a sign reading "Laundry" extends over the street. Source: DOF: Manhattan 1940s Tax Photos (New York City Municipal Archives).plain2024-06-03T13:23:03+00:00nynyma_rec0040_1_01726_000120180323123445+0000Stephen Robertsona1bf8804093bc01e94a0485d9f3510bb8508e3bf
12023-04-21T18:39:15+00:00Harry Schwartz's laundry looted15plain2024-06-03T13:24:19+00:00A 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
