Our Marcy History

It all started when…

The Marcy Houses Memorial Scholarship Fund honors the memory of our family members who have passed on. In so many ways, the Marcy Projects (as it was called back in the day) are foundational to our family story. In the winter of 1949, Booker T and Ina Louise Johnson with their first three children moved into a brand new apartment on the third floor of 123 Nostrand Avenue. They were the first family to live in that apartment and they were extremely proud. While there, our family grew up with a community of many families. The Pittmans lived in the apartment next to ours. The Sosos lived upstairs. The Whaleys were on the first floor. The Turners on the 6th floor. The Hunters on the fifth.

Eventually, Ina and Booker T. expanded our family to include not only three, but ten children. Having outgrown our third-floor residence, we moved into a double apartment on the first floor at 101 Nostrand Avenue. If the Johnson kids were outside, we had enough to form teams and get the competition going in games like punch ball, red light green light, Ringalerio, Skelly, and handball. Of course, there were also the jump rope games, “… Nickel or a dime be on time 1-2-3!” And, let’s not talk about the joy in running through a fire hydrant turned on at full throttle! Ina and Booker T. ran a tight ship, ensuring that each of their ten children received a quality education and a faith-based foundation. But, in the Marcy Projects, their kids also knew how to have fun.

A generation later, in 1967, we left the Marcy and moved to an area near what was once referred to as Stuyvesant Heights. Our new home was a brownstone on Decatur Street and we’ve lived there for over 50 years. Even though decades have passed and our family has grown to include many great grandchildren, we’ve never forgotten the deep roots planted in The Marcy and often drive by with a wistful look. 

Yes we’ve moved on and the generations have produced veterans, nurses, a doctor, other health care professionals, teachers, a banker, a stock broker, college administrator, parole officer, lawyers, legal secretaries, a landscape architect, contractor, firewoman, event planner, and entrepreneurs. We’ve pursued higher education and advanced degrees at private and public colleges including the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Brooklyn College, Medgar Evers College, Hunter College, the City College of New York and the City University Graduate Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Louisiana State University, SUNY Empire State College, University of Michigan, Rutgers University, North Carolina Central University, Georgia State University, University of the District of Columbia, and Lincoln University and at private ones as well including Sarah Lawrence, C.W. Post College of Long Island University, the University of Pennsylvania, Smith College, Temple University, Yale University and Mercer University.

And now we’ve created the Marcy Houses Memorial Scholarship Fund because we feel so strongly that whether it’s a trade school, a community college, or a major university, education plays an enormously important role in improving our lot in life.

We are thankful to a village called The Marcy. It’s because of that Village that our family would like to give other Marcy residents the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.