Afterlives of San Juan Hill

In 1958, an emerging Puerto Rican community was displaced from New York City’s Lincoln Square and San Juan Hill neighborhoods to make way for the construction of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Fordham University. Infamously called a “Puerto Rican Slum” and “the worst slum in New York” by the architect of New York’s Urban Renewal Process, Robert Moses, Lincoln Square and San Juan Hill were home to approximately 2,000 Puerto Rican families. Utilizing never-before-seen archival documents made available to CENTRO by the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and other archival materials from that time period, CENTRO’s Data Hub has provided an exhibit, an upcoming in depth report, and additional educational resources about San Juan Hill and the Lincoln Square urban renewal project. Image Source Attributed to NYC Parks’ Archived Collection