Manhattanville Houses is a

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

project in the

Manhattanville Manhattanville (also known as West Harlem or West Central Harlem) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan bordered on the north by 135th Street; on the south by 122nd and 125th Streets; on the west by Hudson River; and on t ...

section of West

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various 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 In the Middle Ag ...

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 project is located between

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and Amsterdam Avenue, spanning a superblock from 129th Street to 133rd Street and is managed by the

New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...

. The project consists of six 20-story buildings containing 1,272 apartment units.

Development

The site formerly consisted of city blocks of tenements which were demolished via

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; ...

, beginning in 1957. Manhattanville Houses were completed June 30, 1961 at a cost of $24 million. The project was designed by

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

architect

William Lescaze William Edmond Lescaze, FAIA (March 27, 1896 – February 9, 1969), was a Swiss-born American architect, city planner and industrial designer. He is ranked among the pioneers of modernism in American architecture. Biography William Lescaze w ...

in the "

tower in the park Towers in the park is a morphology of modernist

" concept in vogue during the mid-20th century which emphasized view corridors that bring air and light to housing residents. Safety quickly began to decline in the development and tenants began to organize and patrol the lobbies. In 1962, NYCHA added six new guards to patrol the development. On June 4, 2014, the

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

made the largest gang bust in New York history, arresting 103 individuals of gangs at the Manhattanville and

Grant Houses General Ulysses S. Grant Houses or Grant Houses is a public housing project at the northern boundary of Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. The complex consists of 10 buildings with over 1,940 apartment units on 15.05- ...

with extensive help from the

Manhattan District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County (Manhattan), New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws ...

Cyrus R. Vance Jr. Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. (born June 14, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the District Attorney of New York County, New York, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney. He was previously a principal partner at the l ...

95 of the 103 people arrested charged took plea deals. Since the raid, shootings have declined 34 percent but neighborhood residents and gang policing experts feel that the sweep didn't reduce gang crime or gang affiliation and anticipate more violence, citing historic tensions between the developments and institutionalized racism as motivations behind the bust.

Notable residents

Tamika Mallory Tamika Danielle Mallory (born September 4, 1980) is an American activist. She was one of the leading organizers of the 2017 Women's March, for which she and her three other co-chairs were recognized in the ''TIME'' 100 that year. She received t ...

(1980–), Activist and co-president of the

2019 Women's March The 2019 Women's March was a protest that occurred on January 19, 2019 in America. It follows the 2017 Women's March and 2018 Women's March. In 2017, a "Women's March" was held on January 21, 2017, following U.S. president Donald Trump's inaug ...

* Joe V. Nash (1919 – 2005), Dancer and choreographer

References

Manhattanville Houses Map
Harlem Public housing in Manhattan Residential buildings in Manhattan Residential buildings completed in 1961 1961 establishments in New York City {{Manhattan-struct-stub

Development

Notable residents

See also

References