The Rise and Fall of St Albans: Queens' Lost Neighborhood of the Stars

The Rise and Fall of St Albans: Queens' Lost Neighborhood of the Stars Addisleigh Park, a quiet corner of Saint Albans, Queens, was built in the 1920s and 1930s with deeds meant to keep African American families out forever. Within a decade it was home to Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Jackie Robinson, Fats Waller and W. E. B. Du Bois. This documentary walks the Tudor-lined blocks and tells the story of how that happened. It covers the court battles over racial covenants, the 1948 Supreme Court ruling that ended them, and the everyday neighborhood life that followed: Basie’s backyard pool open to local kids, his basement model railroad, a living-room wedding for an 83-year-old Du Bois, and barbecues where anyone could stop by. You’ll also hear what really changed after the stars moved on, why the houses never fell, and how the city came to protect them as a landmark district in 2011. The story ends under the Linden Boulevard railroad bridge, where the faces of the neighborhood’s greats are painted on the wall. Sources: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, Addisleigh Park Historic District Designation Report (2011) Jane Cowan, Historic Districts Council, Addisleigh Park: Enclave of Greats in African-American History (2008) Maxine Gordon, Historic Districts Council, Addisleigh Park Preliminary Report (2008) Brownstoner, Queenswalk: Addisleigh Park series The New York Times, Somini Sengupta (1998) Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies, Count Basie Family Papers Jackie Robinson Museum, Jackie Robinson’s Addisleigh Park Queens Chronicle, I Have Often Walked series PRRAC, Bryan Greene, This Green and Pleasant Land NYC Parks, Roy Wilkins Park History NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, Addisleigh Park Historic District Markers (2025)