John Jay McKelvey (May 24 1863 – October 19 1947) was an American author, attorney, and preservationist who set precedents in case law to stave off urban development of his Spuyten Duyvil community in The Bronx. The neighborhood had long been an enclave for the wealthy, and as the city grew around them residents of the neighborhood joined McKelvey in fighting threats to their park residence district. McKelvey used realty buyouts to protectively develop in such way that would save his picturesque tranquility. In the 20s he would bend so far as to develop idyllic garden apartment buildings like his visionary Villa Charlotte Brontë. Critics suggested that McKelvey's vision was driven by profit and oblivious to the needs of a growing city, although his projects also included the development of the Henry Hudson Monument and Edgehill Terraces.



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