By Lisa Kitchens
The Eco-History of The Albany Houses
Get to know the park!
Where you are right now is part of Lenapehoking, which is the Lenape name for the Lenape homeland (this includes all of NYC). Albany Houses sit on the original homeland of the Munsee Lenape Nation. They have lived on and stewarded this land for thousands of years. In the 17th century, during the colonization of America, European settlers inhumanely forced them out of their homeland leaving them displaced across the country. While reparations are still needed, over the years some Lenape people have moved back to their homeland and live here in NYC.
In 1636, the Dutch established this area of Brooklyn, but it wasn’t officially known as Bedford Stuyvesant until much later. Over the years, this neighborhood has seen a lot of history! In the mid-1800s Weeksville, one of the earliest free Black communities in the nation, was established right here in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. In the mid-1900s during the Great Migration, the area became home to Black men and women moving from the South and the West Indies. By the 1960s it was known as Brooklyn’s own “Little Harlem.”
Albany Houses came to the neighborhood in the early 1950s. In response to the housing shortage in the city, Albany Houses was built as a public housing project providing affordable housing to the residents. Over the years, Albany Houses has seen a lot of changes in the neighborhood, and through it all, have remained a cornerstone of the Bed-Stuy community for over 70 years!
About Us. (2019, December 27). Albany Houses. https://albanyhouses.us/about-us/
Alexander, O., & Alexander, O. (2025, February 16). Bedford Stuyvesant, New York (1636- ). BlackPast.Org. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/bedford-stuyvesant-new-york-1636/