Haley’s ‘X’-home gets ‘plaqued’
BY GABE HERMAN
Village Preservation dedicated a
historic plaque last week to mark
the former Grove St. home and
studio of famed author Alex Haley.
During the 1960s, Haley had a basement
apartment at 92 Grove St., between
Waverly Place and W. Fourth St.
It was there that he conducted more
than 50 interviews with Malcolm X,
starting in 1963. These sessions would
eventually lead to Haley’s fi rst book,
the 1965 classic “The Autobiography of
Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley.”
Haley would go on to write “Roots:
The Saga of an American Family.” The
1976 book would earn him the Pulitzer
Prize the following year.
At the May 15 dedication ceremony
just outside the building, Harry Bubbins,
Village Preservation special projects
director, said the plaque was part
of the organization’s year-long celebrations
of the 50th anniversary of Greenwich
Village’s designation as a historic
district.
In noting Village Preservation’s role
in celebrating the history of Greenwich
Village, Bubbins said, “Few places are
as important as 92 Grove St., where the
historic meeting of the minds took place
between Alex Haley and Malcolm X.”
Ilyasah Shabazz, a daughter of Malcolm
X and Dr. Betty Shabazz, was at
the ceremony and noted that Malcolm
X’s 94th birthday was coming up on
May 19. She called the autobiography
an extraordinary book.
“I’m so happy to be here on behalf of
my fi ve sisters,” she said. “Alex Haley
played an immeasurable role in helping
the world to create a more accurate portrait
of who my father really was. ‘The
Autobiography of Malcolm X’ continues
to tell that important story, and inspire
change.
“I’ve always been proud to be my father’s
daughter,” Shabazz added. “I will
always strive to walk in his footsteps
and become the best person that I can,
From left, Harry Bubbins, Andrea Blackstone and her son Tyler, Ilyasah
Shabazz, Zaheer Ali and Brian Jones.
and I invite you to do the same.”
Andrea Blackstone, Alex Haley’s
niece, also spoke at the ceremony. A
freelance writer, she started Grove
Street, a literary, lifestyle, business and
entertainment publication.
“I was always fascinated by his ability
to tell stories,” Blackstone said of Haley.
“I myself didn’t initially want to be
a writer, but it’s in my blood. It’s in the
blood of many, to capture stories and
tell history, and violent parts of ourselves.”
She noted this isn’t always comfortable,
but that it’s important to tell
history. “And that’s what Grove Street
represents,” she said.
Malcolm X would arrive for each session
at 92 Grove St. around 9 p.m. or
10 p.m. after a long day, noted Zaheer
Ali, an oral historian at the Brooklyn
Historical Society. The sessions each
lasted two or three hours. Malcolm
would recount the phases of his life,
including witnessing racial violence as
a child, enduring poverty with his family
during the Great Depression, being a
young man in different American cities,
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
and serving time in prison. And there
were the stages of his spiritual journey
and conversions, and dialogues with
other civil rights leaders in the 1950s
and ’60s.
Sometimes Malcolm would scribble
notes during the sessions, Ali said. Other
times he would pace the fl oor, thinking
and refl ecting, teaching and preaching.
And one time he started dancing
the Lindy Hop.
“Alex Haley was an audience of one,
but he was writing for the millions yet
to listen to Malcolm in person — for
generation after generation who continue
to benefi t from the knowledge, the
wisdom, the understanding encoded in
Malcolm’s life story,” Ali said.
Ali called the civil-rights leader’s autobiography
“the story of one man, the
story of a people, and a call to action.
And it was told right here,” he said, of
the Village building.
“This is the place where Malcolm
X remembered his history. This is the
place where Alex Haley recorded our
history,” Ali said, “and so it is fi tting today
in this place with this plaque, that
we both remember and record the great
work that was done here by them both.
This place is more than historic, it’s sacred.”
Brian Jones, associate director of
education at the Schomburg Center for
Research in Black Culture, echoed the
book’s power and continued impact on
millions of lives.
“And I count myself among those millions
who were shaped and infl uenced
by this book,” he said.
Jones recalled being in high school
and not learning about black history,
but only a Eurocentric story of America’s
greatness. A friend gave him Haley’s
Malcolm X autobiography and told
him he needed to read it. Jones recalled
the impact of the book and its searing
indictment of racism as a fundamental
part of the American story.
“What’s undeniable is the power of
this story,” Jones said of the book. “This
is an epic literary event, that has its creation
moment right here.”
The Schomburg Center, a New York
Public Library research library at 515
Malcolm X Blvd., is home to a full manuscript
of the autobiography, including
notes from Haley and Malcolm X. The
center also has one of the book’s chapters
that was not published.
David Seabrook, who has lived at 92
Grove St. for the past 20 years, watched
the ceremony on the sidewalk in front
of his home. He said he had known for
years that Haley lived and worked there,
because it came up in an Internet search
of the address. But he didn’t think there
would ever be a plaque because there is
so much history throughout the whole
neighborhood.
“But now it’s great to have the
plaque,” he said.
This is the 14th plaque installed by
Village Preservation, which has marked
former homes of other artists and writers,
such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lorraine
Hansberry, James Baldwin and
Frank O’Hara.
Grand stops restored to M14A route
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Two Grand St. stops on the M14A
bus route will be restored, according
to the city’s Department
of Transportation.
“We rallied, petitioned and organized
and we won!” tweeted Councilmember
Margaret Chin. “The M14 Grand Street
stops were restored. I want to thank everyone
—especially the seniors — who
marched, went to meetings and raised
their voices to show @MTA the importance
of an accessible bus system for all
NYers. #SaveM14Service.”
The news comes two weeks after 50
seniors marched along Grand St. to
call on the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority to keep the bus route’s
stops on Grand St. Chin marched with
protesters. Councilmember Carlina Rivera
and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein
have also supported the seniors’
efforts.
Earlier this year, the M.T.A. proposed
a plan to switch the M14 to Select
Bus Service and remove three stops
along Grand St., including at Pitt St.,
which would include bypassing a senior
residence and senior center. According
to the M.T.A’s new proposal, the M14A
bus stop at Grand and Pitt Sts. will now
remain.
The M.T.A pitched switching the
service to S.B.S. in hopes that it would
boost the route’s notoriously slow
speed. According to an M.T.A. study,
the M14A/D is the city’s second-most
used bus route — with 27,000 riders
daily — but also its second slowest. Yet
seniors and the disabled felt targeted
since getting rid of any stops makes using
the city’s largely inaccessible public
transit system even harder.
“We arrived at this fi nal compromise
plan through close consultation with
residents, community groups, advocates
and elected offi cials,” an M.T.A.
spokesperson said. “Once the new
route is implemented, we will actively
monitor it to ensure it is providing the
best possible service for our customers,
seeking to balance convenience and
increased speed, which is desperately
needed along this line.”
According to the M.T.A., S.B.S.
would have stops every 675 feet on the
Lower East Side, which is closer than
the systemwide average of 805 feet.
8 May 23, 2019 CNW Schneps Media