Restricted Co-ops: The Gentlemen's Agreement

A discussion of the New York Magazine article, "Restricted Co-ops, the Gentlemen's Agreement," by Nicholas Pileggi from the March 17th, 1969 issue. There is a widespread practice of keeping Jewish people out of the very luxury and most expensive co-op apartments in New York City.

The most restricted co-ops are between 5th Ave and Park Ave between 62nd and 95th street. Between 1/3 and 1/2 of co-ops on the east side of Manhattan are restricted to Jews or have a quota system to keep Jewish people out. These are apartments that cost at least $250,000 each and have maintenance fees of around $3,000 a month.

How do Coops screen out Jewish people? Real estate agents know which buildings do not allow Jewish tenants. The co-op boards let agents know that Jewish people are not welcome. There is a collection of euphemisms that co-op boards use like, a 'distinguished' building, a 'conservative,' 'quiet,' or a 'clubby' building. These are the code words that co-ops use to let agents know Jewish people are not allowed. Some of these restricted co-ops allow a few 'rich Catholics' in, but the tenants are mostly WASPs.

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 151685
Municipal archives id: T4613