Building Blocks, Pt. 1

The sun hits large swaying trees on an exceptionally beautiful Saturday morning in Bedford-Stuyvesant.   

It’s early, and Madison Street between Nostrand and Bedford Avenues slowly begins to stir.

Bikers meander along the street, and a young woman skips down stairs leading to a sidewalk lined with round wooden planters filled with flowers and plush greenery.

The block’s architecture is highly varied, from quintessential Brooklyn row houses, to wood frame Victorians and a few recently constructed homes. The visual diversity of the area is as diverse as the personalities living there.

The block feels part-inner city/part-small town, overall impressing as mostly a peaceful, cared for and attractive block.

But it wasn’t always this way.

“It’s not Park Slope; it’s a block in transition," says homeowner and Ohio native Toya Williford. "[But] I bought in Bed-Stuy, because I love Bed-Stuy.”  

When Williford, program director for Brooklyn Community Foundation and a 38-year-old mother of two, purchased her home six years ago, she witnessed crime and some not-so-neighborly aggression.

One afternoon in broad daylight, “They brought a car in front of the house and stripped it. It was left running, I called the police and the police basically laughed at me and said call when somebody’s being shot,” Williford remembers.

There was a drug house on the block. Contentious teenagers who refused to stop sitting on Williford’s steps threatened her at one point, she says. Litter often dotted the drab sidewalks and streets around her block, and often, she contended with painfully blasting music at all hours.

Madison needed cleaning-up. With a nearly defunct block association in place, Williford joined forces with others on her block to make some real changes. “When you’re a homeowner, you’re invested in the improvement and civility of your block," said Williford.

Slowly, results came-- but not without some infighting, pushes for grant money, police indifference and sensitivities around gentrification.

“You can’t just come in on the block and think you’re going to change everything for your quote-unquote good. It has to be for the good of everyone on the block, and you have to meet them halfway.”

Williford, who grew up in a Cleveland suburb, said she adapted quickly, gave respect and compromised as part of her community organizing. Williford helped form and then became president of the Madison Street #3 Block Association.

No doubt, her role at Brooklyn Community Foundation, the largest community foundation in the borough, was critical in assembling quickly the puzzle pieces needed to complete a bigger, better picture.

"Grants and member dues are keys to success," said Williford and adds, "Grants are fairly simple to access." The block association applied for grants and won!

As a result, many of the Madison Street #3 Block Association’s goals were agreed upon and met: The drug house was raided and boarded up with precision coordination with the block association; the NYPD and several city and state agencies; they received support for sidewalk planters with flowers, trees and other beautifying supplies.

And crime went down, according to Williford.

“I’m not going to say it’s nirvana happening on my block at all," says Williford. "But I think, at the end of the day, people want to come home and enjoy their space. It's about how can we create a collective where you enjoy your space.”

It appears the tireless work of Williford and the Madison Street #3 Block Association gets results. But she warns, “You can’t get complacent, even if some think everything’s been accomplished.”

There are still challenges and changes needed for her block and others in Bed-Stuy. The good news is, she beams, “Nothing I did is new; any block can do this. It’s about coming together over a common goal.”

Note: This story is the first in a three-part series on building a block association