SPONGE & THE RACE RIOTS OF 1965
Material collected and contributed by Jack Magat
( click here to see Jack and friends in the Sixties.)

---

The legacy for racial division in the ENY Projects can be found in the turf wars of the New Lots Boys, circa 1942.




By 1965, with integration hitting the ENY Projects, the descendants of the New Lots Boys had spawned the SPONGE movement, for the "Society for the Prevention of Negroes Getting Everything." Up until that point, Linden Boulevard had been a hard and fast dividing line between the races. Some ENY residents took issue when the line was crossed. "I am Jim Crow and I shall live forever," the ENY segregationists declared.





In July 1965, SPONGE leader Sandy "Reb" McMenemon was invited to attend a meeting convened by Mayor John Lindsay. He accepted the invitation. With a handshake, McMenemon agreed to end the East New York race riots of 1965.




It wasn't long before personal troubles began to overtake SPONGE leader James "Sandy" McMenemon and his brother John, known in the projects as the infamous Johnny Reb. Note the newspaper headline, below. The hegemony of SPONGE rapidly declined as integration moved forward and the ENY Projects stood poised to enter the decade of "peace and love" along with the rest of New York.



As to the real story of Sandy Reb and Johnny Reb, one must defer to those who were there. Memories and renditions are published in the various bulletin boards and messaging centers, live and archived, on the ENY Projects web site. Here's one version of the story. If you want more, check out the Archives.

[Home | Messaging Center | Chat | Lost&Found | Webmaster ]

Produced and designed by Pam Weintraub