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Penn South, officially known as Mutual Redevelopment Houses and formerly Penn Station South, is a limited-equity
on the Penn South website. Accessed:2011-03-10
housing cooperative A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
development located between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and West 23rd and 29th Streets, in the
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
neighborhood of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The complex has 2,820 units in ten 22-story buildings. Penn South is so named because of its location southwest of
New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...
.


History


Planning

Penn South was sponsored by the
International Ladies' Garment Workers Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the Clothing#Gender differentiation, women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest trade union, labor unions in the United States, one of the firs ...
based on a cooperative model promoted by the
United Housing Foundation {{unreferenced, date=September 2019 The United Housing Foundation (UHF) was a real estate investment trust in New York that constructed numerous cooperative housing projects, including Rochdale Village in Queens and Co-op City in the Bronx. Pu ...
. The ILGWU first proposed a
slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
project in Chelsea in early June 1956. Later that month, the New York City government endorsed the Penn Station South project. The New York City Committee on Slum Clearance recommended Penn Station South for federal funding in August 1956. However, local residents opposed the development because its proposed site would displace an estimated 7,500 residents. In response, in mid-1958, the Committee modified the plan so that two churches within the future development's site would be preserved. Ultimately, four churches were saved, including the
Church of the Holy Apostles The Church of the Holy Apostles ( el, , ''Agioi Apostoloi''; tr, Havariyyun Kilisesi), also known as the ''Imperial Polyándreion'' (imperial cemetery), was a Byzantine Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman E ...
, which later became a New York City Landmark and a
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
landmark. The UHF's president,
Abraham Kazan Abraham E. Kazan (1889–1971) is considered the "father of U.S. cooperative housing". Biography Abraham Kazan was born in 1889. Growing up as an eyewitness to appalling tenement conditions, Kazan believed that housing was a vital obstacle for t ...
, later called the preservation a "mistake" because it had prevented Penn South from being developed earlier. The site of Penn Station South was eligible for federal funding under the Title I of the
Housing Act of 1949 The American Housing Act of 1949 () was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fai ...
. The site was slated for demolition in July 1959. Despite this announcement, one developer started renovating three tenement buildings three months before their scheduled demolition date, in the hopes that these buildings would also be granted exemptions from demolition. In early June 1959, the federal government allocated $12 million toward the project. The ILGWU acquired title to the land that June 28 and immediately began relocating residents. Residents who already lived on the land filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the land sale. Groups of residents also organized picket lines and filed affidavits that attested to the hardships caused due to their relocations. In another act of protest, tenants living in the future Penn South site withheld rent payments to the ILGWU, their new landlord. The relocation proceedings were tense: one attorney who represented the protesters received death threats in response to his involvements in the protests. After Manhattan Borough President
Hulan Jack Hulan Edwin Jack (December 29, 1906 – December 19, 1986) was a prominent Saint Lucian-born New York politician who in 1954 became the highest ranking Caribbean American municipal official up until that time, when he was elected Borough Presiden ...
received a report about "harrowing" relocations that were done in preparation for Penn Station South, Mayor
Robert F. Wagner Jr. Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...
instituted new rules for Title I relocations around the city. Some former residents alleged that they had been relocated into tenements. Jack created a Citizens Watchdog Committee to oversee the treatment of residents who were being relocated. However, the committee itself disagreed on whether tenants were being treated unfairly during the relocation process. The committee was disbanded in December 1959 due to an inability to resolve these disagreements. Ultimately, the vast majority of residents moved peacefully. By October 1960, all 2,646 families who had lived on the site had been relocated; they had received bonuses of up to $500, as well as a guarantee of new housing. In addition, as part of an agreement between the ILGWU and the site's residents, 600 of the families who had formerly occupied the site would be given housing in Penn South.


Construction

Early on in the construction process, supporters of Penn South wanted to include "Chelsea" in the name, in order to better integrate it with the surrounding community. The New York state government awarded $2.42 million toward the Penn South project in April 1960. The construction of the development was funded by a 20-year, $23 million mortgage, to be repaid between 1962 and 1982 at a rate of 5.125%. In May 1960, it was announced that the historic Grand Opera House on 23rd Street would be demolished to make way for Penn South. The theater burned down in a fire the next month.
RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
later constructed a new theater called Chelsea West Cinemas in Penn South near the site of the old opera house, now used by the
School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...
as the SVA Theater. Construction was delayed in July 1961 by a month-long strike by concrete-mixing workers. By that time, the ILGWU had hoped to complete and sell half of the apartments in Penn South, but were only able to find tenants for a quarter of the apartments. A dedication ceremony was held on May 19, 1962. President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
addressed the workers on the project, with former First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
and New York Governor
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
in attendance. Kennedy praised organized laborers for their work on the Penn South project, and cited the development as an example of what could be accomplished when laborers collaborated with public and private developers. That October, some tenants were prevented from moving into their units due to a union dispute regarding sink installations. The Carver Federal Savings and Loan Association, an African-American-run bank, opened a branch in Penn South in 1963, marking the first time that an African-American-run bank had been allowed to operate in a non-African-American neighborhood in New York City.


Later years

The opening of Penn Station South spurred new development and
gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
in the surrounding community. Despite the initial resistance to moving out, many of the site's former residents were given preference for the new housing. As of Penn South's 20th anniversary in 1983, about 600 of the site's original families had moved back into the complex. A ''New York Times'' article published that year said that Penn South was "widely regarded as one of the best-run cooperatives in the state". Penn South was composed mostly of elderly residents by 1990. A community garden and a seniors' program opened in Penn South in 1986, and an exercise room and playground was opened in 2000. The co-op renovated its brick facades in 1997. It subsequently replaced its underground electrical infrastructure in 2003 and its
HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...
system in 2011. Building 7 of the complex was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2016. Apartment 9J in the B portion of the building had been home to civil and gay rights activist
Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin (; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an African American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin worked with A. Philip Randolph on the March on Washington Movement, in 19 ...
from 1962 until his death in 1987.


Notable residents


Description

Penn South contains 2,820 units in ten 22-story red-brick buildings numbered from 1 to 10., p. 188Buckley, Cara
"Soul-Searching at a Defiantly Affordable Co-op"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', April 19, 2011. Accessed September 1, 2017. "Founded by a labor union in 1962, Penn South has 2,820 units scattered over six blocks, still charges rock-bottom prices and once was so left-leaning that resident Communists pilloried resident Socialists.... The complex, which was sponsored by the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union and is formally known as the Mutual Redevelopment Houses, is one of the last of a breed of New York co-ops built for the working class.... Some 6,000 people are on the now-closed waiting list, and if history is any indication, many will die before getting in."
The site is bounded counterclockwise from the west by Ninth Avenue, 23rd Street, Eighth Avenue, and 29th Street, and occupies an area of . The buildings were designed by Herman Jessor. Each housing unit has between 2 and 6 rooms. Penn South's desirability among prospective tenants has increased over the years: adjusted for inflation, the average cost of purchase was $650 per room in 1962, and it rose to $2,295 per room in 1983. As of 2012, there were 6,000 names on a waiting list of prospective residents looking to purchase one of the units in the development. In 2014, Penn South's management opened up a lottery system in which it randomly distributed some vacant apartments to applicants who met specified criteria. Nearly 50,000 people applied for 1,200 vacant apartments. Although the residents of Penn South were generally lower- to middle-class, they were also known as a group that was "rich in spirit". During the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, residents prepaid their rents six months in advance so the nearly bankrupt New York City government would be able to use the funds. Additionally, Penn South was among the first cooperative developments in New York City to draw power from gas, at a time when most other developments paid four times as much money to consume power from oil-powered generators. The possibility of Penn South generating its own power had been proposed as early as 1960, before the development had opened, due to disagreements with utility provider
Consolidated Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...
over electricity rates. The co-op was providing much of its own power, heating, and air-cooling by 1986. Penn South is served by the M20 bus operating on Seventh Avenue (southbound) and Eighth Avenue (northbound), and by the M11 bus operating on Ninth Avenue (southbound) and Tenth Avenue (northbound). The M23 Select Bus Service route operates crosstown along 23rd Street just south of the complex. The closest
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
station is the 23rd Street station on the at Eighth Avenue. Penn South is also situated one block east of the
High Line The High Line is a elevated park, elevated linear park, greenway (landscape), greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side (Manhattan), west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's ...
elevated park and within less than of
Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...
,
Chelsea Market Chelsea Market is a food hall, shopping mall, office building and television production facility located in the Chelsea neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. The Chelsea Market complex occupies an entire city block with a ...
,
Chelsea Piers Chelsea Piers is a series of piers in Chelsea, on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located to the west of the West Side Highway ( Eleventh Avenue) and Hudson River Park and to the east of the Hudson River, they were originally a pa ...
, and the
Hudson River Park Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...
. The northern section of Penn South is located across from
Chelsea Park Chelsea Park is a park in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, that dates back to 1910. The park has sports fields, basketball and handball courts, a children's playground and space for sitting. The surface is mostly tarmac or ...
on Ninth Avenue between 27th and 28th Streets. PS 33, a public school, is located just south of the park.


Tax abatements

During Penn South's planning, the United Housing Foundation faced opposing demands. The mostly low-income families who already lived on the site wanted Penn South to have lower rent rates so that they could continue living in the area. Simultaneously, another proposed UHF development in
Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
, Brooklyn, was being challenged by developer
Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In partnership w ...
, who promised to pay higher tax rates on the Coney Island site than the UHF would. To help keep Penn South affordable to those with limited incomes, New York City gave the development a 25-year tax abatement between 1961 and 1986. Taxes on properties in Penn South were levied at the same rates as on the older buildings they replaced. After the tax abatement expired in 1986, the cooperative's shareholders voted for a 25-year phase-in of real-estate taxes, which was approved by the city's
Board of Estimate A board of estimate is a governing body, particularly in the United States. Typically, the board's membership will consist of a combination of elected officials from the executive branch (e.g., the mayor or county executive) and the legislative br ...
. A further adjustment was made when the development asked the city in 1999 for tax relief when the building boom in Chelsea caused the project's assessed value to skyrocket. The city responded in 2001 by allowing the development's taxes to be calculated based on the cooperative's income, as is done with Mitchell-Lama housing. In return, the development must remain a limited-equity cooperative until 2022. Under the terms of agreements reached with the City of New York in 2002, and separately with the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...
, Penn South's eligibility for tax abatements offered by Mitchell-Lama was extended to 2052.History
Penn South. Accessed September 1, 2017. "In April 2011 Penn South cooperators again voted in an advisory referendum to extend the contract with the City for an additional 8 years of tax abatement to 2030. In exchange, the City agreed to a package of over $25 million in financial aid to Penn South to help fund the replacement of the heating, ventilating, and air cooling system (HVAC). Most recently, to secure a $189 million refinance with HUD, Penn South shareholders voted to extend our contract for 22 additional years, through 2052."
Penn South shareholders voted in 2011 to extend its contract with the city until 2030; in return, the city government awarded the co-op more than $25 million to rehabilitate the complex's HVAC system. In February 2017, the New York City Council extended Penn South's tax abatement to 2052, ninety years after the development's opening.


See also

* Mitchell-Lama Housing Program *
Southbridge Towers __NOTOC__ Southbridge Towers is a big housing cooperative development located in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The complex was built between 1961 and 1971 by Tishman Realty & Construction as a subsidized co-op ...
*
Co-op City, Bronx Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by Interstate 95 to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River ...
*
Cooperative Village 267px, Hillman Housing buildings on Grand Street as seen from the East River towers. Amalgamated Dwellings is seen between the second and the third tower Cooperative Village is a community of housing cooperatives on the Lower East Side of Ma ...
*
Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project Hudson Yards is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan, bounded roughly by 30th Street in the south, 41st Street in the north, the West Side Highway in the west, and Eighth Avenue in the east.Chapter 11: Figures The area is the ...
*
Essex Crossing Essex Crossing is an under-construction mixed-use development in New York City's Lower East Side, at the intersection of Delancey Street and Essex Street just north of Seward Park. Essex Crossing will comprise nearly of space on and will cos ...
*
Marcus Garvey Village Marcus Garvey Village, also known as Marcus Garvey Apartments, is a 625-unit affordable housing development located in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. The complex was developed by the New York State Urban Development Corporation and de ...


References


External links

*
Buildings by Herman Jessor
at
Emporis Buildings Emporis GmbH was a real estate data mining company that was headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The company collected data and photographs of buildings worldwide, which were published in an online database from 2000 to September 2022. On 12 Sept ...

President Kennedy speaking at dedication of Penn South
{{Hudson Yards 1962 establishments in New York City Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan History of labor relations in the United States Chelsea, Manhattan Residential buildings completed in 1962 National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan