To build it, however, two densely populated blocks fallen on hard times had to be razed, few of whose inhabitants could afford to join. Moses ensured that a public housing complex was erected next door - in part, the play suggested, because of the Save Our Homes campaign led by an activist teacher and mother of five who lived in the "blighted" zone. And once the dust had settled, the play proposed, life had improved for most people in the neighborhood - whether long-standing inhabitants relocated to the Grant Houses (in apartments each with its own kitchen and bathroom), or the mainly new ones who took up residence in Morningside Gardens (with community spaces such as the one in which we were enjoying the play!). Mmmmaybe.
I tried to find some images online of the happenings and of what came before. The scene at top shows Barnard President Millicent McIntosh posing during the construction of the Gardens (left) and Grant Houses (right), in 1955, the 125 St IRT station is visible in the background. In the middle an admirably integrated community at Amsterdam and La Salle in 1946. Next are some images of 124th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, the zone replaced by the Gardens, from 1927. And to unsettle things even further, it seems that there was an "Indian Spring" flowing here before, shown here in 1897.
