It was named after Bronx assemblyman and judge Lester W. Patterson.

[3] It was completed on December 31, 1950[1] and named after judge Lester Patterson (1893–1947).

[5][6] Tenants of the development in the 1950s were a diverse mix of people from the South, Caribbean, and Puerto Rico.

[8] By the late 1960s, tenants felt that policing was inadequate in the development and an increase in muggings and burglaries due to drugs being found on the site and went on strike by withholding rent from the agency.

NYCHA took the tenants to court and the judge sided with the agency citing state law that lack of police presence wasn't a violation that tenants could withhold rent for.