A 'count' and 'godfather' once called Jamaica, Queens home. Here's a look at a plan to revitalize it.

William Scarborough, who grew up in Jamaica, Queens, fondly remembers a moment from his youth when he and other kids were allowed to swim in the pool of one of the neighborhood’s celebrity residents: jazz icon William James “Count” Basie.

The area, particularly Addisleigh Park, where Scarborough lives, drew many of the country’s foremost performers, such as Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and “Godfather of Soul” James Brown, earning it the title of “Black New York’s Gold Coast.”

But the former state lawmaker, who is about 80 years old – he won’t divulge his exact age – says he watched over the many decades as predominantly Black Jamaica fell prey to neglect and environmental racism. Residents of the densely populated area, which ranges from a bustling downtown district to suburban calm, now