Steingold, Jay.

Jay Steingold was a pioneer of integrated housing and an advocate for human rights. In the 1960s and 1970s, many New York City neighborhoods began experiencing the phenomenon of block-busting and redlining. As a resident of Laurelton, a New York City neighborhood experiencing these problems, Mr. Steingold attempted to stop them and create an integrated neighborhood for everyone.

When Mr. Steingold first came to Laurelton in 1957, the community was predominantly made up of Irish, Italian and Jewish families. In the early 1960s, he noticed a disturbing trend in which real estate agents were block-busting in Laurelton. In 1964 to combat this, he and 25 residents founded the Laurelton Fair Housing Council (LFHC) sponsored by Laurelton Jewish Center with grants from the Fund for the City of New York for creating an experimental housing stabilization program. Furthermore, LFHC participated in a complaint against a block-busting real estate agent and a lawsuit against John P. Lomenzo, the Secretary of State of the State of New York. The documents do not mention when Mr. Steingold stopped working for the LFHC.

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