Letter Commending Federal and Local Groups Participating in an Urban Renewal Project in New York City.

[Released October 14, 1965. Dated October 11, 1965] Dear Commissioner Brownstein:

The rehabilitation of the first building of the 114th street project in New York is a significant achievement.

It is a forerunner of other successes throughout the Nation in our aggressive attack on poverty.

This is an attack from which we cannot turn back, for to do so would be to condemn thousands of our fellow citizens to lives of degradation and despair. We cannot tolerate poverty in good conscience or in the interest of the future growth and prosperity of our great Nation.

In this specific project it is gratifying to note the cohesiveness of our effort to reach a common goal: the Housing and Home Finance Agency, the Federal Housing Administration and the Office of Economic Opportunity for the Federal Government; the City of New York under the leadership of Mayor Robert Wagner, and the City's Rent and Rehabilitation Administration and Poverty Operations Board; the Frederick W. Richmond Foundation and Carol W. Haussamen Foundation; the members of the 114th Street Block Association and their president, Curtis McFarley, and the professionals and craftsmen whose ability and skills made this achievement possible.

Please convey my gratitude and best wishes to them. Unity in purpose and effort holds the key to our future successes.

Sincerely,

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

[Mr. P. N. Brownstein, Commissioner, Federal Housing Administration, Washington, D.C.]