Olivette Thompson, ”who lives with eight of her nine children in a public housing project has led a moneyless group in a successful fight to gain control of a multimillion-dollar development and provide apartments for middle-income families in the Fort Greene neighborhood.” – New York Times Sunday, April 14, 1968
Described as a “founding visionary”, Thompson (1919-2003) galvanized community members to purchase the Wallabout Houses from the Navy in order to meet the needs of neighbors who had to move out of the projects due to rising incomes. With small financial commitments from future shareholder/residents, the building was purchased at a cost of $875,000, with looming renovation costs. The Navy Yard Housing Development (aka The Eagle Building) became the first housing cooperative of its kind in the US.
