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

Sam Lefkowitz's store looted

Sam Lefkowitz's store at 2147 7th Avenue was looted during the disorder. There are no details of those events other than the amount of the owner's claim for losses: $1610.64. Around 9.45 PM, the store windows were broken, and Officer Edward Doran arrested Leroy Brown after allegedly seeing him throw a tailor's dummy through the window of the store, and urge a group of other people to "Go right along and get the other windows." As Doran arrested Brown, the group continued north up 7th Avenue, breaking more store windows. The unclaimed laundry store at 2145 7th Avenue, on the south side of the Lefkowitz's store, also had its window broken; there was no evidence of whether it was also looted. Across 7th Avenue, attacks on store windows began around an hour before Brown's arrest. There was no evidence of when the stores were looted. Lefkowitz's store did not appear to have been looted at the time Brown allegedly broke its windows; looting was not the goal Officer Doran reported allegedly hearing Brown express, so the breaking of the windows is treated here as a separate event.

The only evidence of the looting was the store's appearance in stories about the first twenty white business-owners filing claims for damages  published in the New York Sun, New York World-Telegram, New York American and New York Amsterdam News. By the time the city Comptroller heard testimony from those bringing suit, 106 owners had sought damages. Lefkowitz was not among those whose testimony appeared in newspaper stories about that proceeding, nor did he appear in any of the trials to resolve claims. No one among those arrested for looting was identified as taking goods from this business.

The claim for $1610.64 in losses was above the median claim of $733, one of the just over a third of the claims that was for more than $1000 but well short of the largest claim of $14,125. The city lost the court cases, so Lefkowitz likely was awarded some amount of damages, but based on those case it was only a small proportion. It is not clear if he was able to remain in business. The MCCH business survey did not include a business at 2147 7th Avenue in the second half of 1935. The Tax Department photograph was taken from too far away to identify the businesses at the address in 1939-1941.

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