Evening star., 1944-01-14
Attempt 10 Sway
zoning Group Laid
To Mrs. Roosevelt
Congress Heights Leader
Criticizes Column on
Low-Cost Housing

j. Louis Goldman. president of the
Congress Heights Citizens Associa-
ton, at meeting last night, de-
clared that Mrs. Roosevelt, in her
newspaper column MY Day" of
January 5, attempted to influence
the District Zoning Commission in
its action on petitions relating to
areas in Bradbury Heights, where a
loW-cost housing project for negroes
had been proposed.
Brlefng the progress of the Dis
trlct hearings on low-cost housing
and rezoning in the Bradbury and
Congress Heights areas to prevent
mass construction of apartment
houses, the association president
protested that the "opposition's view
that the associations stand against
loW-cost housing and mass apart
ment projects was due to racial
prejudice was "damnable lie"
On her January column. as
published in the Washington
Daily News, Mrs. Roosevelt de-
clared: I'm Bradbury Heights
there is opposition to the erection
OF apartments on an undeveloped
site which is in the center of a
Negro residential district. Most
recent obstacles to the building
of the 744 units in these two
areas are petitions presented to
the zoning commissioner asking
for rezoning of special sections of
these areas. This rezoning will
affect the building of 744 garden
type apartments by requiring that
in one case singie-family houses
be built, and in the other case
row houses in groups of three or
less be put up. This would raise
the cost of each unit and would
put them beyond the means of
colored war workers.
Hits Low Cost Housing"
'Low-cost housing" Mr.. Goldman
exclaimed. there is no such animal.
There is only low cost for the
builders. For the tenants, he ex-
planned, the rent would be $48 to $50
per month for colored people and
from $50 to $50 for whites, adding
that only rental ceilings kept the
rentals down that low.
Quoting from the publication of
the Washington Housing Associa-
ton, which he denounced as 80
prostituted that it has become the
mouthpiece of the left wing group"
Mr.. Goldman said that Mrs. Roose-
welt in an interview had stated that
this Nation had been wrong ever to
Segregate the races, nationalities or
religions.
How, Mr.. Gelbman declared, could
this country ever have become any
thing without the small sections
where immigrants could find their
own people and customs first and
gradually learn our ways.
Criticizes All d. C. Papers.
While Mr.. Goldman at first admit
ted that Washington newspapers
had tried to be fair" in their stories
regarding the public hearings on the
rezoning proposals, he proceeded to
attack each of the local papers for
one or more articles.
Mr.. Gelbman criticized an edito-
rial published in The Star last Mon
day, and said The Star was trying to
carry water loads on both shoul-
ders." He then brought out letter
to the editor published in The Star
on Wednesday under the headline
Differs With Editorial on Reclassi-
fications, a protest against the edi-
torial. After reading both aloud,
Mr.. Goldman complained that in
such instances as this. The Star
tried to hide away such letters as
the one he read, and said he
wouldn't have known what it was
about by the headline.
II think it was a pretty good
answer to the editorial" he said.
In the midst of his attack on So
called members of the opposition,
Mr.. Gelbman told The Star reporter
that he didn't mind being quoted
verbatim, but that he felt The Star
would not do so.
Judge Vincent A. Osterman,