LCBA Historical Timeline

Lincoln Civic Block Association Timeline:

  • 1956: The Lincoln Civic Block Association was founded.

  • 1968: Lincoln Civic Block Association becomes incorporated as a 501(c)(3).

  • 1981: Lincoln Civic Block Association purchased 284 New York Avenue.

  • 1985: Lincoln Civic Block Association earned the “Model Block” designation for some blocks.

  • 2011: Lincoln Civic Block Association building 284 New York Avenue gains landmark designation as part of Crown Heights North Historic District II Designation. 

  • 2018: Lincoln Civic Block Association placed on the winner’s podium for the Greenest Block in Brooklyn Competition for the first time. 

Contextual Timeline: 

  • 1938: Directed by New-Deal Era policy and informed by mortgage lender practices, Home Owners’ Loan Corporation published Brooklyn’s redlining maps. 

  • 1962: The Brooklyn chapter of Congress of Racial Equality conducted Operation Clean Sweep on September 15.

  • 1968: The Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned discrimination in sale or rental of housing. 

  • 1975: New York State removes a four-year ban on blockbusting from Crown Heights. 

  • 1976: NYC Housing Commissioner Roger Starr proposed “planned shrinkage” as a solution to deal with NYC’s financial woes.

  • 1977: New York City experienced a blackout July 13-14. 

  • 1978: Local businessman and civic leader Arthur Miller is choked to death by police, leading to protests along Nostrand Avenue. 

  • 1985: The crack epidemic strikes New York City. 

  • 1991: The Crown Heights Riots occurred south of Eastern Parkway August 19-21. 

  • 1993: Mayor David Dinkins oversaw a reversal in rising crime rates over the last 36 months of his term, a trend that continued during the tenures of Mayors Giuliani, Bloomberg, and de Blasio. 

  • 2020: COVID-19 strikes New York City.