Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It is bounded by

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River Parkway to the east and southeast, and is partially in the Baychester and Eastchester neighborhoods. With 43,752 residents as of the 2010 United States Census, it is the largest housing cooperative in the world. It is in

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

District 12. Co-op City was formerly marshland before being occupied by an amusement park called Freedomland U.S.A. from 1960 to 1964. Construction began in 1966 and the first residents moved in two years later, though the project was not completed until 1973. The construction of the community was sponsored by the United Housing Foundation and financed with a mortgage loan from New York State Housing Finance Agency. The community is part of Bronx Community District 10 and its ZIP Code is 10475. Nearby attractions include Pelham Bay Park, Orchard Beach and City Island.

Description

Co-op City's 15,372 residential units are composed of 35 high-rise buildings and seven clusters of townhouses, making it the largest residential development in the United States. It sits on , though only 20% of the land was developed, leaving many green spaces. The apartment buildings range from 24 to 33 floors. There are four types of buildings: 10 Triple Core (26 stories high with 500 apartment units per building), 10 chevron (24 stories, 414 units), 15 tower (33 stories, 384 units), and 236 town houses. The townhouses are three stories high and have a separate garden apartment and upper duplex apartment. This "city within a city" also has eight parking garages, three shopping centers, a educational park, including a high school, two middle schools, and three grade schools. More than 40 offices are rented by doctors, lawyers, and other professionals, and there are 15 houses of worship. Spread throughout the community are six nursery schools and day care centers, four basketball courts, and five baseball diamonds. The adjacent Bay Plaza Shopping Center has a 13-screen multiplex movie theater, department stores, and a supermarket. The development was built on landfill, and the original marshland still surrounds it. The building foundations extend down to bedrock through 50,000 pilings, but the land surrounding Co-op's structures settles and sinks a fraction of an inch each year, creating cracks in sidewalks and entrances to buildings.

Street names

Most streets in the community are named after notable historical personalities. Generally, streets in section one begin with the letter "D", section two begins with the letter "C", section three with the letter "A", section four with the letter "B" and section five with the letter "E". Baychester Avenue is in section 1 * Adler Place – named for archaeologist Cyrus Adler * Alcott Place – named for author

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

, it is located directly above the former path of Rattlesnake Brook, which originated in Edenwald * Aldrich Street – named for author Thomas Bailey Aldrich * Asch Loop – named for author Sholem Asch * Bellamy Loop – named for writer Edward Bellamy, it was located on the eastern edge of Pinckney's Meadow and located on the path of Rattlesnake Brook before becoming part of Freedomland * Benchley Place – named for writer

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, newspaper columnist and actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays ...

* Broun Place – named for sportswriter Heywood Broun * Carver Loop – named for inventor

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver ( 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American Agricultural science, agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent bla ...

, it was formerly swampland and a tidal creek, not part of Freedomland * Casals Place – named for conductor

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals, * Cooper Place – named for author

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

, it was formerly a navigable tidal creek * Darrow Place – named for lawyer Clarence Darrow * Debs Place – named for socialist Eugene V. Debs * Defoe Place – named for author

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

* De Kruif Place – named for microbiologist

Paul de Kruif Paul Henry de Kruif (, rhyming with "life") (March 2, 1890 – February 28, 1971) was an American microbiologist and writer. Publishing as Paul de Kruif, he is known for his 1926 book, ''Microbe Hunters''. This book was not only a bestseller for a ...

* Donizetti Place – named for composer

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...

, it was a mill lane for 250 years before Co-op City was built * Dreiser Loop – named for journalist

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...

, it was part of the parking lot for Freedomland and located on the path of Rattlesnake Brook * Earhart Lane – named for aviator

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

, it was formerly occupied by barges and frame houses * Einstein Loop – named for physicist

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

, it is the site of Givans and Barrow Creeks, on what was formerly the 14-acre Rose Island * Elgar Place – named for composer

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

, it is the site of Givans Creek * Erdman Place – named for poet Loula Grace Erdman, it is the site of Givans Creek * Erskine Place – named for educator, author, pianist, and composer John Erskine Other streets include: * Bartow Avenue – named after Reverend John Bartow who served as rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Westchester Square, and whose son later owned land in Pelham Bay Park * Baychester Avenue – originally called South 18th Avenue and Comfort Avenue, named after the Baychester real estate venture of the 1890s * Hutchinson River Parkway – named for the Hutchinson River, which is named for

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (; July 1591 – August 1643) was an English-born religious figure who was an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious formal d ...

* Hunter Avenue

History

Previous land use

In the 1920s the land that would become Co-op City had been set aside, intended for a future municipal airport. The land north of the Hutchinson River Parkway was a large swampy area known by residents as "the dump", and most of the land on the north side of the Hutchinson River was flat land used for recreation. The land to the south of the Hutchinson River (now Section 5 of Co-op City) was swampland. A tidal estuary reached from the Hutchinson River at the New Haven Railroad along a route just north of Hunter and Boller Avenue to pass under the Hutchinson River Parkway. The estuary was the site of boat yards and canoe rental sites during the 1950s. The northern portion of the site became the home of a 205-acre theme park named Freedomland U.S.A. Freedomland operated from June 19, 1960 until September 1964, when it closed after going bankrupt. A small portion of the former park site at the northeast corner of Bartow and Baychester Avenues in Co-op City remains zoned as a C7 district, reserved "for large open amusement parks". The zoning district is a holdover from Freedomland's operation.

Development

In February 1965, plans were announced for the residential Co-op City development, the world's largest

housing cooperative A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings. The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure. Typically hou ...

, on the site. The plans for Co-op City were announced in May 1965, with no provisions for an amusement park. Construction on Co-op City began in May 1966. While much of the Freedomland site and some of the surrounding land was infilled, several existing houses were retained along Givans Creek (near Section 5 of Co-op City) because of opposition from residents there. These houses received sewage and other utilities, though these projects were delayed. There was a controversy when Co-op City builders filled the land to grade, because the existing houses were located as much as below grade, and filling for the main development caused storm runoff to flood the existing houses. Residents began moving in during December 1968, and construction was completed in 1973. The project was sponsored and built by the United Housing Foundation, an organization established in 1951 by Abraham Kazan and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and was designed by cooperative architect Herman J. Jessor. The name of the complex's corporation itself was later changed to RiverBay at Co-op City.

Financing

The construction of the community was financed with a mortgage loan from New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA). The complex defaulted on the loan in 1975 and has had ongoing agreements to pay back HFA. Mismanagement, shoddy construction, and corruption led to the community's defaulting on its loan in 1975. The original Kazan board resigned, and the state took over control. Cooperators, faced with a 25-percent increase in their monthly maintenance fees, organized residents to refuse to pay their monthly maintenance fees. New York State threatened to foreclose on the property and evict the residents, which would mean the loss of their equity. However, cooperators stayed united and held out for 13 months (the longest and largest strike of its kind in United States history) before a compromise was finally reached, with mediation from then- Bronx Borough President Robert Abrams and then- New York Secretary of State

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

. Cooperators would remit $20 million in back payments of maintenance fees, but they would get to take over management of the complex and set their own fees. The shares of stock that prospective purchasers bought to enable them to occupy Co-op City apartments became the subject of protracted litigation, culminating in a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

decision ''United Housing Foundation, Inc. v. Forman'', 421 U.S. 837 (1975). 57 residents sued because they had been charged for costs that were not described in a 1965 Information Bulletin seeking to attract residents for apartments in Co-op City. The Supreme Court held that federal courts have no jurisdiction of shares of stock that allow the purchaser to live in an apartment in Co-op City because they are not federally-regulated shares of commercial stock. In 2004, Co-op City was financially unable to continue payments to HFA due to the huge costs of emergency repairs. New York Community Bank helped RiverBay satisfy its $57 million mortgage obligation, except for $95 million in arrears, by refinancing the loan later that same year. This led to the agreement that Co-op City would remain in the Mitchell-Lama Housing Program for at least seven more years as a concession on the arrears and that any rehabilitation that Co-op City took on to improve the original poor construction (which happened under New York State's watch) would earn credit toward eliminating the debt. By 2008, RiverBay had submitted enough proof of construction repairs to pay off the balance of arrears to New York State.

Renovations

Within the first decade of the 2000s, the aging development began undergoing a complex-wide $240 million renovation, replacing piping and garbage compactors, rehabilitating garages and roofs, upgrading the power plant, making facade and terrace repairs, switching to energy-efficient lighting and water-conserving technologies, replacing all 130,000 windows and 4,000 terrace doors (costing $57.9 million in material and labor) and all 179 elevators. The word "renaissance" is being used to describe this period in Co-op City history. Many of these efforts are also helping in the "greening" of the complex: the power-plant will be less polluting, the buildings will be more efficient and recycling efforts will become more extensive. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) awarded its largest ever grant—$5.2 million—to the community under its NY Energy $mart Assisted Multifamily Program. In 2003, after a partial collapse in one garage, inspectors found 5 of the 8 garages to be unsafe and ordered them closed for extensive repairs. The other 3 garages were able to remain partially open during repairs. To deal with the parking crisis, New York City allowed angled parking in the community, the large greenways in the complex were paved over to make outdoor parking lots and agreements were made with nearby shopping centers to use their extra parking spaces. All garages were re-opened by January 2008, and work began to restore the greenways that had been paved. Financial responsibility for these upgrades was the subject of a protracted dispute between RiverBay and the State of New York. Co-op City was developed under New York's Mitchell-Lama Program, which subsidizes

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...

. RiverBay charged that the state should help with the costs because of severe infrastructure failures stemming from the development's original shoddy construction, which occurred under the supervision of the state. The state countered that RiverBay was responsible for the costs because of its lack of maintenance over the years. In the end, a compromise had the state supplying money and RiverBay refinancing the mortgage, borrowing $480 million from New York Community Bank in 2004, to cover the rest of the capital costs. In 2007, the power plant was in the process of upgrading from solely managing the electricity brought in from

Con 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 ...

to a 40-megawatt tri-generation facility with the ability to use oil, gas or steam (depending on market conditions) to power turbines to produce its own energy. The final cost of this energy independence could be as much as $90 million, but it is hoped to pay for itself with the savings earned—with conservative estimates at $18 million annually—within several years. Also, whatever excess power generated after satisfying the community's needs will be sold back to the electrical grid, adding another source of income for RiverBay. In September 2007, a report by the New York Inspector General, Kristine Hamann, charged that the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), which is responsible for overseeing Mitchell-Lama developments, was negligent in its duties to supervise the contracting, financial reporting, budgeting and the enforcement of regulations in Co-op City (and other M-L participants) during the period of January 2003 to October 2006. The report also chided Marion Scott management for trying to influence the RiverBay Board by financing election candidates and providing jobs and sports tickets to Board members and their family/friends—all violations of DHCR and/or RiverBay regulations. The DHCR was instructed to overhaul its system of oversight to better protect the residents and taxpayer money. In October 2007, a former board president, Iris Herskowitz Baez, and a former painting contractor, Nickhoulas Vitale, pleaded guilty to involvement in a kickback scheme. While on the RiverBay Board, Baez steered $3.5 million in subsidized painting contracts for needed work in Co-op City apartments, to Vitale's company, Stadium Interior Painting, in exchange for $100,000 in taxpayer money. Herskowitz Baez was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 12 months' probation and given a $10,000 fine in March 2008.

2010s to present

During January 2015, an

outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

Legionnaires' disease Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of ''Legionella'' bacteria, quite often ''Legionella pneumophila''. Signs and symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, myalgia, muscle pains, and headach ...

sickened 8 people near Co-op City's cooling towers. Twelve people were diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease between December 2014 and the end of the outbreak in January 2015. Another outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in 2018 sickened three people, one of whom died. As a result of the continued presence of the amusement park zoning lot at Bartow and Baychester Avenues, there were no restrictions on the heights of signs on that lot. In late 2017, the site's owner began erecting tall LED billboards on the lot, a move opposed by Co-op City residents since one of the billboards faced Co-op City, keeping residents awake at night. The following year, residents proposed changing the lot's zoning to a standard commercial use. A tall wind turbine was erected on the lot in December 2019. The turbine toppled later that month, knocking down the billboard, but causing no injuries.

Management

Co-op City in 2005 RiverBay Corporation is the corporation that operates the community and is led by a 15-member board of directors. As a cooperative development, the tenants run the complex through this elected board. There is no pay for serving on the board. The corporation employs over 1000 people and has 32 administrative and operational departments to serve the development. The complex has its own Public Safety Department with more than 100 sworn officers. In December 2007, the cable television company

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

gave RiverBay permission to use its fiber optic cables in order to install additional surveillance cameras throughout the complex to be viewed at the Public Safety Command Center. In 2008, trained supervisors were granted the power to write summonses for parking and noise violations and Segways were acquired – along with bikes – to help the officers patrol during the warmer months. Co-op City was managed by Marion Scott Real Estate, Inc. from October 1999 to November 2014. Before then the property was run by in-house general managers. The development is currently managed by Douglas Elliman Property Management. There are two weekly newspapers serving the community: ''Co-op City Times'' (the official RiverBay paper) and ''City News''.

Qualifications for resident application

When Co-op City first opened, the original residents were required to pay $450 per room in equity and subsequently $25 per room in carrying charges. As of November 15, 2022, people who applied to live in Co-op City must meet the following requirements. * Applicants must not have any criminal convictions for producing

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

in the home * Applicants must not be legally required to be a lifetime registrant on the state sex offender registry * Applicants must have a FICO

credit score A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit bu ...

of at least 650 or, if no credit score, documentation of bills paid consistently * Applicants must be subject to a home visit during the application process * Applicants' children must attend school if age 5+ The following requirements depend on the number of rooms and number of residents.

Demographics

Co-op City in 2007, from the east Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Co-Op City was 43,752, an increase of 3,076 (7.6%) from the 40,676 counted in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
, Population Division -

Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 8.5% (3,723)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 60.5% (26,452)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% (108) Native American, 1.2% (522) Asian, 0.0% (7)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.3% (125) from other races, and 1.6% (681) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 27.7% (12,134) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
, Population Division -

Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016. The entirety of Community District 10, which comprises City Island, Co-op City, Country Club, Pelham Bay, Schuylerville, Throgs Neck and Westchester Square, had 121,868 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.1 years. This is about the same as the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 20% are between the ages of between 0–17, 26% between 25–44, and 27% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 18% respectively. As of 2017, the median

household income Household income is a measure of income received by the household sector. It includes every form of cash income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, investment income and cash transfers from the government. It may include near-cash gover ...

in Community District 10 was $59,522. In 2018, an estimated 14% of Community District 10 residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City. One in eleven residents (9%) were unemployed, compared to 13% in the Bronx and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 45% in Community District 10, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 58% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Community District 10 is considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying. Because of its large senior citizen block—well over 8,300 residents above the age of sixty as of 2007—it is considered the largest naturally occurring retirement community (NORC) in the nation and its Senior Services Program has extensive outreach to help its aging residents, most of whom moved in as workers and remained after retiring. Co-op City was home to a large

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community during its early years, as well as

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

s and

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

s; many of them had relocated from other areas of the Bronx, such as the Grand Concourse. With African Americans making up a large minority, the community became known for its ethnic diversity. As early tenants grew older and moved away, the newer residents reflected the current population of the Bronx, with African American and Hispanic residents comprising the majority of residents by 1987. In the 1990s, after the fall of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the neighborhood received an influx of former Eastern Bloc

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

s, especially from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Policing and crime

Community District 10 is patrolled by the 45th Precinct of the

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

, located at 2877 Barkley Avenue in Throggs Neck. The 45th Precinct ranked 28th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 53 per 100,000 people, Community District 10's rate of

violent crime A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful Force (law), force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, vio ...

s per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 243 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 45th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 67% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported five murders, 13 rapes, 235 robberies, 265 felony assaults, 108 burglaries, 609 grand larcenies, and 323 grand larcenies auto in 2022.

Public Safety Department

Co-op City Department of Public Safety IMG 2275 HLG

The Co-op City Department of Public Safety is a privately owned and operated police force that protects the residents, visitors and property of Co-op City only. The Co-op City Department of Public Safety currently employs more than 100 Public Safety officers and 10 civilian employees.

Fire safety

Co-op City is served by the

New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fi ...

(FDNY)'s Engine Co. 66/Ladder Co. 61 fire station at 21 Asch Loop.

Health

preterm birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the Childbirth, birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks Gestational age (obstetrics), gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 ...

s are more common in Community District 10 than in other places citywide, though births to teenage mothers are less common. In Community District 10, there were 110 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 10.3 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Community District 10 has a low population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 7%, lower than the citywide rate of 14%, though this was based on a small sample size. The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of

air pollutant Air pollution is the presence of substances in the air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be gases like ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles like soot and dust. It affects both outdoor ...

, in Community District 10 is , the same as the city average. Fourteen percent of Community District 10 residents are smokers, which is the same as the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Community District 10, 24% of residents are obese, 13% are diabetic, and 37% have

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively. In addition, 25% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Eighty-seven percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is the same as the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 77% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", about the same as the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Community District 10, there are 7 bodegas. The nearest large hospitals are Calvary Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center's Jack D. Weiler Hospital, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in Morris Park. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine campus is also located in Morris Park.

Post offices and ZIP Code

Co-op City is located within ZIP Code 10475. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates three post offices in Co-op City: * Co-op City Station – 3300 Conner Street * Dreiser Loop Station – 179 Dreiser Loop * Einstein Station – 127 Einstein Loop

Parks

The largest open space in Co-op City itself is the Greenway, which is located in the superblock connecting all of the buildings. The majority of Co-op City was built atop Rattlesnake Creek, a small stream that emptied into the Hutchinson River to the east. A small nature preserve called the Givans Creek Woods is located at the northern portion of Co-op City, near the intersection of Baychester Avenue and Co-op City Boulevard. Despite its name, which is derived from Scottish immigrant Robert Givan, it is located above Rattlesnake Creek. Co-op City Field, located on the waterfront of Hutchinson River at Co-op City Boulevard north of Bellamy Loop North, contains two baseball fields. Directly to the south is a proposed waterfront park, which was announced in 2017 and is still in the planning stages.

Education

Aerial Image of Harry S Truman High School and Co-Op City Area

Community District 10 generally has a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . While 34% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 16% have less than a high school education and 50% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 26% of Bronx residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Community District 10 students excelling in math rose from 29% in 2000 to 47% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 33% to 35% during the same time period. Community District 10's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is slightly higher than the rest of New York City. In Community District 10, 21% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per

school year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classes and do rel ...

, a little more than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 75% of high school students in Community District 10 graduate on time, the same as the citywide average of 75%.

Schools

The New York City Department of Education operates the following public schools in Co-op City: * PS 153 Helen Keller (grades PK–5) * PS 160 Walt Disney (grades PK–5) * PS 176 (grades PK–10) * PS 178 Dr Selman Waksman (grades K–5) * MS 180 Dr Daniel Hale Williams (grades 6–8) * IS 181 Pablo Casals (grades 6–8) * Harry S Truman High School (grades 9–12) * Bronx Health Sciences High School (grades 9–12)

Library

The

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

(NYPL)'s Baychester branch is located at 2049 Asch Loop North. The one-story branch building opened in 1973 and was renovated in 2003.

Transportation

Co-op City is served by several

MTA Regional Bus Operations MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the Public transport bus service, bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service (bus rapid transit ...

routes. (Note that sections 1-2-3-4-5 corresponds to Dreiser, Carver, Bellamy, Asch, and Einstein Loops, respectively; buses pull into Asch and Dreiser Loops directly.) * Bx5: to Bay Plaza Shopping Center or Simpson Street station () (via Crosby Avenue, Bruckner Boulevard, and Story Avenue; serves Bay Plaza weekends only) * Bx12: to Bay Plaza Shopping Center to University Heights (via

Fordham Road Fordham Road is a major thoroughfare in the Bronx, New York City, that runs west-east from the Harlem River to Bronx Park. Fordham Road houses the borough's largest and most diverse shopping district. It geographically separates the geopoli ...

and Pelham Parkway) * Bx12 SBS: to Bay Plaza Shopping Center or

Inwood–207th Street station The Inwood–207th Street station (formerly Washington Heights–207th Street) is the northern terminal station of the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 207th Street and Broadway in the Manhat ...

() (via

and Pelham Parkway) *: to Pelham Bay Park station () (loop via sections 1-2-3-4-5) *: to Bay Plaza Shopping Center or Bedford Park (via sections 4-5, Allerton Avenue) *: to Earhart Lane or Bedford Park (via sections 1-2-3, Allerton Avenue) *: to Earhart Lane or Fordham Center (via sections 1-2-3, Gun Hill Road) *: to Earhart Lane or Pelham Parkway station () (via sections 2-1-4-5, Boston Road) *: to Bay Plaza Shopping Center or Norwood–205th Street station () (via sections 4-5, Gun Hill Road) *: to Earhart Lane or Flushing–Main Street station () (via sections 2-3-5, Bronx–Whitestone Bridge; serves Co-op City rush hours only) *: express to Dreiser Loop or

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

(via sections 1-2-3-4-5, Bruckner Expressway,

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

) Currently, there are no subway or Metro-North commuter rail stations in Co-op City (a plan to extend the IRT Pelham Line to Co-op City as part of the 1968

Program for Action Metropolitan Transportation: A Program for Action, also known as simply the Program for Action, the Grand Design, or the New Routes Program, was a proposal in the mid-1960s for a large expansion of mass transit in New York City, created under t ...

ran out of money). However, as part of the Penn Station Access project to extend Metro-North service to Pennsylvania Station, the MTA plans to build the Co-op City station, an idea that has been proposed since the 1970s.

Notable residents

* Brian Ash (born 1974), screenwriter/producer (resided in Co-op City from 1974 to 1993) * Jamaal Bailey, politician * Earl Battey (1935–2003), former baseball player with the Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators (later renamed the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

). * David Berkowitz (born 1953), " Son of Sam" Killer (resided in Co-op City from 1968 to 1971)Case File: David Berkowitz
Retrieved June 17, 2009 * Big Tigger (born 1972), radio and television personalityRadar: Big Tigger
, SixShot.Com, date December 27, 2007, Retrieved June 17, 2009 *

Kurtis Blow Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), known professionally by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapping , rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Walker is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major rec ...

(born 1959), old school hip hop pioneer (resided in the Broun Place Townhouses during the mid-1980s)On Da Come Up with Clap Cognac
, HipHopRuckus.com, date February 24, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2009 * Chris Canty (born 1982), professional football player for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

* Eddie Carmel (1936–1972), entertainer, known as "The Jewish Giant", his claimed height of 9 feet made him an instant celebrity with traveling circuses. At the time of his death in 1972, he resided with his parents at 100 Elgar Place. * Christopher Scott Cherot (born 1967), screenwriter/director (resided in Co-op City from 1970 to 1981)"An Interview With Filmmaker Christopher Scott Cherot"
from ''The New Times Holler'', April 7, 2008. Accessed June 13, 2009 *

Cormega Corey McKay, better known by his stage name Cormega, is an American rapper. Early life Cormega was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens. He was childhood friends with Nas, Havoc and Capone, who all went on to become successful rappers. A ...

(born 1970), rapper * Eliot Engel (born 1947), United States Congressman who represented .Stanley, Alessandra
"Out of Cell (and Sickbed), Biaggi Tries Anew"
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', September 12, 1992. Accessed July 16, 2017. "Mr. Engel, 45, a former teacher and State Assemblyman who grew up in Co-op City, where he still lives, is so subdued and unflamboyant that on Capitol Hill, where he serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee, he is sometimes mistaken for a Congressional aide." * Frank Andre Guridy (born 1971), historian, author, and Professor of History at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. * Stan Jefferson (born 1962),

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

outfielder from 1983 to 1991. * Queen Latifah (born 1970), actress and rapper (resided in Co-op City from 1980 to 1984) * Miles Marshall Lewis (born 1970), African-American author (resided in Co-op City from 1974 to 1996)''Akashic Books: Miles Marshall Lewis''
, from ''www.akashicbooks.com'' * Tamika Mallory (born 1980), activist * Melina Matsoukas (born 1981), music video, film, commercial, and television director. * Mwalim (born 1968), performing artist, writer, and professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth * Sean Nelson (born 1980), actor * Jourdana Phillips (born 1990), model. *

Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the F ...

(born 1949), novelist and screenwriter.Vanderbilt, Tom
"City Lore; Stagecoach Wreck Injures 10 in Bronx"
, ''

'', September 1, 2002. Accessed September 28, 2017. "After a few years, the world's largest theme park, and New York's last, gave way to the world's largest housing development, Co-op City. Mr. Price, who joined the electrical workers' union, helped build it.... A year later, Mr. Price got an apartment in Co-op City: ''I wound up living in Freedomland, so to speak.''" * Sally Regenhard (born 1946), mother of firefighter Christian Regenhard, and activist for families of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. * Christopher Rose (born 1957), professor of engineering and associate dean of faculty at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

* Tricia Rose (born 1962), academic, scholar of hip hop; Chancellor's Professor of Africana Studies,

Schwartzapfel, Beth
"It’s All About Love"
, '' Brown Alumni Magazine'', July 22, 2009. Accessed July 12, 2022. "If you think scholarly research and hip-hop music don't go together, you don't know Tricia Rose '87 AM, '93 PhD.... In 1970, when Rose was nine, the family moved to Co-op City, a brand-new housing development in the northeast Bronx. Her brother Chris, five years her senior, remembers the move as 'a revelation.'" * Larry Seabrook (born 1951), former New York City Councilman *

Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...

(born 1954), Associate Justice of the

'' My Beloved World'', 2013 Knopf, Chapter 11 * Rod Strickland (born 1966), former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player * Ron Suno (born 2000), rapper. * Kenneth P. Thompson (1966–2016), former

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for Kings CountyFeuer, Alan
"For Brooklyn's District Attorney, Year One Is a Trial by Fire"
, ''

'', March 13, 2015. Accessed September 28, 2017. "He also noted that although he was raised in the Robert Wagner Houses, his mother, Clara, eventually moved the family to Co-op City in the Bronx, where they did not live in Section 5 — 'where the black folk live,' he said — but in Section 2, where he spent his teenage years as a bookworm and a paperboy for his neighbors, most of whom were Jewish."

References

External links

Census Reporter data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Co-Op City, Bronx Neighborhoods in the Bronx Condominiums and housing cooperatives in the Bronx Multi-building developments in New York City Robert Moses projects Residential buildings in the Bronx Apartment buildings in New York City Residential skyscrapers in New York City Skyscrapers in the Bronx