A pair of Brooklyn politicians joined forces Monday to pressure the city’s landmarks commission to recognize baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s East Flatbush home as a historic landmark.
The top story of the two-bedroom house on Tilden Avenue was the home Robinson and wife Rachel rented during his first few years with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In dispute is whether they lived there in 1947, when Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, earning Rookie of the Year honors as well, as the first black player in the major leagues.
Regardless, US Sen. Charles Schumer and City Councilman Jumaane Williams said the home, already listed on the National Register of Historic places, deserves the protections a city landmark designation would afford — most importantly, preventing the building from being torn down.
Schumer said he had chills standing outside the house at 5224 Tilden Ave., just thinking about how much Robinson affected New York and the nation.
“When I came up and looked at the house, I had shivers down my spine because Jackie Robinson was such an icon in America,” he said. “This area had a history of racial tension. This house has such recognition, such meaning to America, to our history, the good and the bad.
“We need this home as a living memorial to what Jackie and so many others did.”
Schumer said the city Landmarks Preservation Commission had “factually incorrect” information – that Robinson lived in the house between April 1948 and May 1949, and therefore the house does not sufficiently commemorate his life work.
Schumer said that research indicates, however, that Robinson and his family lived in the house between 1947 and 1949.
“There was a grave error made,” said Williams. “They have an opportunity to fix that.”
Robinson chose the quaint house because it was close to Ebbets Field, the home of the Dodgers. But in moving there, Williams said he “broke the race barrier” in what was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.
“Today, we still have a lot of racial and ethnic tensions. We still have a lot of those same issues and I believe that story is really what New York City is about, is really what America is about,” the councilman said.
Tonya Wheelock, whose great aunt Eleanor Palin owned the home during Robinson’s tenure, said Palin used to always tell a story about meeting the Hall of Famer for the first time.
Palin, who passed away just last week, was outside gardening in 1947 when Branch Rickey, Dodger’s owner, was searching for a place for Robinson to live. She was cautious about letting Robinson live there, but then she saw what he could do with a bat.
“[Robinson] came and my uncle pitched the ball to him and he hit that ball all the way down to Church Avenue and [Palin] said, ‘I guess we have a winner, come on in.’”
The Palin family no longer owns the home, which is currently deserted, but hopes the commission rethinks its decision.
“We do agree at this point we want this to be a landmark for everyone to enjoy,” Palin said, adding that they hope to see it become a museum.