Starrett City (also known as the Spring Creek Towers) is a housing development in the
Spring Creek
A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground Spring (hydrology), spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. The water flowing in a spring cree ...
section of
East New York in the
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 ...
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
...
of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. It is located on a peninsula on the north shore of
Jamaica Bay
Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lo ...
, bounded by Fresh Creek and
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...
to the west and Hendrix Creek to the east. Starrett City contains both residential and commercial buildings. The residential portion of the property contains eight "sections" in a
towers in the park layout. The complex also contains a community and recreation center, as well as two schools.
Plans for developing the site of Starrett City date to 1962, when an investment group bought the property with the intention of developing a residential complex called Park Shore Village. The group ultimately withdrew from the project, and another
cooperative housing
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 ...
project named Twin Pines Village was proposed by the
United Housing Foundation in 1967. Control of the complex was handed to
Starrett City Associates in 1971, and Starrett City opened in 1974. The complex assumed the name of Spring Creek Towers in 2002, though it is still popularly known as Starrett City.
Starrett City is part of
Brooklyn Community District 5, and its primary
ZIP Code is 11239.
It is patrolled by the 75th Precinct of the
New York City Police Department
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 ...
.
Politically it is represented by the
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 ...
's 42nd District.
Description
The Spring Creek Towers site (commonly known as Starrett City
) is located on a peninsula on the north shore of
Jamaica Bay
Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lo ...
, bounded by Fresh Creek to the west and Hendrix Creek to the east. The development is bound to the north by
Flatlands Avenue and to the south by Seaview Avenue and the Shore Parkway section of the
Belt Parkway
The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of controlled-access highway, controlled-access Parkways in New York, parkways that form a belt-like circle around the Borough (New York City), New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt ...
system.
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a primarily diagonal street in Washington, D.C. that connects the United States Capitol with the White House and then crosses northwest Washington, D.C. to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown. Traveling through So ...
runs north-to-south through the complex, with Louisiana Avenue at the west end and Van Siclen Avenue at the east end.
The development originally spanned
before being subdivided in 2009 as part of a refinancing. It now occupies , after several parcels of undeveloped land were separated out from the residential site.
The housing development contains 5,881 apartment units in 46 buildings, which range from 11 to 20 stories high.
The development was designed by
Herman Jessor
Herman J. Jessor (June 15, 1894 – April 8, 1990) was an American architect who helped build more than 40,000 units of cooperative housing in New York City. He, along with Abraham Kazan, was a driving force of the cooperative housing movement in ...
, organized in the
towers in the park layout. The buildings utilize a simple "
foursquare
Four square is a ball game.
Four square may also refer to:
Internet and entertainment
* Foursquare City Guide, a local search and discovery app
* 4 Square (game show), ''4 Square'' (game show), a British game show
* 4 Square (TV series), ''4 Squ ...
" design.
The residential portion of the property has eight "sections" each including several buildings, its own field, recreational area (
jungle gym
A jungle gym (called a climbing frame in British English) is a piece of playground equipment made of many pieces of material, such as metal pipes or ropes, on which participants can climb, hang, sit, and—in some configurations—slide. Monkey ...
, park,
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...
court,
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 ...
court) and a five-story
parking garage
A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...
for residents in that section.
These sections are Ardsley, Bethel, Croton, Delmar, Elmira, Freeport, Geneva, and Hornell, which are each named after municipalities in
New York State
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
. The residential part of Starrett City includes eight parking garages, a community center, and two public schools.
The area contains a shopping center as well.
Starrett City is said to be the largest federally assisted rental property in the United States.

Starrett City has its own power plant, the Starrett City Cogeneration Facility, located at 165 Elmira Loop on the east side of Starrett City. The power plant opened in 1973 and provides electricity, heating, cooling, and hot water to all residents of Starrett City. It is self-sufficient enough that during the
1977 New York City blackout, the complex was able to provide its own power.
There is a
sewage treatment
Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...
plant next to the
cogeneration
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...
facility, called the 26th Ward Wastewater Treatment Plant. The treatment plant, located on a plot, can filter up to per day from the sewage systems in Brownsville, Canarsie, and East New York. The treatment plant and cogeneration facility were formerly operationally separate. However, in 1982, the city government began giving the treatment plant's
methane emissions
Increasing methane emissions are a major contributor to the rising concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere, and are responsible for up to one-third of near-term global heating. During 2019, about 60% (360 million tons) of methane r ...
and thousands of gallons of
treated cold water to the cogeneration facility, in exchange for hot water from the cogen facility.
At the southeast corner of the complex on Van Siclen Avenue is the complex's community and recreation center, which opened in 1978
and is located across the street from the treatment plant.
It features a pool and tennis club, an auditorium, and other recreational facilities.
It is now called the Brooklyn Sports Club.
Starrett City also has its own boxing gym, Starrett City Boxing. It was also opened in 1978, inside the parking garage at Hornell Loop near the south end of the complex.
It is home to many world champion boxers, including
Zab Judah
Zabdiel Judah (born October 27, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2019. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at welterweight in 2005, and the ...
,
Shannon Briggs,
Dmitriy Salita,
Luis Collazo
Luis Collazo (born April 22, 1981) is an American former professional boxer who held the World Boxing Association, WBA welterweight title from 2005 to 2006.
Professional career
Collazo is of Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent, and gre ...
, and
Will Rosinsky.
Public safety
Starrett City is patrolled by the
New York City Police Department
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 ...
's 75th Precinct,
though primary security is assumed by its own private security force, called the Spring Creek Towers Department of Public Safety. The Spring Creek Towers security force was created because, when Starrett City opened in the 1970s, the 75th Precinct had one of the highest crime rates in New York City.
In the five years after Starrett City opened, it had one of the city's lowest crime rates, mainly because of the existence of the security force.
The Spring Creek Towers Department of Public Safety has been used as a case study in the advantages of private security over public policing. Edwin Donovan and William Walsh write that "Statistically, Starrett City must be considered one of the safest communities in the United States."
The Spring Creek Towers Department of Public Safety employs public safety officers, armed while on duty, to preserve the life and property of the residents of the complex. Officers enforce New York state laws as well as New York City laws. Starrett City is patrolled by officers 24 hours a day on foot,
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
s, or in vehicles.
Ownership and management
The complex is owned by
Starrett City Associates, which was originally headed by
Disque Deane.
U.S. president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
owns four percent of the complex, inherited from his father,
Fred Trump
Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real-estate developer and businessman. He was the father of the 45th and 47th U.S. president, Donald Trump.
Born in the Bronx in New York City to Germans, German ...
. Between January 2016 and April 15, 2017, Trump received more than $5 million in revenue from Starrett City.
Education
There are no high schools within Starrett City; the nearest high schools are the Academy for Young Writers and Spring Creek Community School (within the Spring Creek Educational Campus) just east on Flatlands Avenue, and the
William H. Maxwell Vocational High School and
Thomas Jefferson Educational Campus (formerly Thomas Jefferson High School) on Pennsylvania Avenue in the northern portions of East New York. Additionally, the
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...
and
South Shore Campuses (also formerly high schools) are located in the adjacent
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...
neighborhood.
There are four elementary and middle schools within Starrett City's boundaries:
* Abe Stark Elementary School ( 346)
* Gateway Intermediate School ( 364)
*
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...
Academy VIII Middle School (located on the 4th floor of 346)
* Be'er Hagolah, a Jewish elementary and high school
The
Brooklyn Public Library
The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two Brooklyn Publ ...
's Spring Creek Branch is located just outside Starrett City's northern boundary, at the northwest corner of Flatlands and New Jersey Avenues. The single-story, structure opened in 1977.
Transportation
When it opened, Starrett City was advertised as having convenient transportation links to the rest of the city via bus and subway.
Starrett City is served by the local buses, the
B82 Select Bus Service, and the express buses, all operated by
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 ...
. Additionally, the ,
B60 and
B103 buses, also operated by the MTA, stop just north of the development. The nearest
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
stations are at
East 105th Street and
Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway, both served by the .
History
Development
In 1962, a
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
-based investment group purchased of land along Pennsylvania Avenue between Flatlands Avenue and the Belt Parkway, intending to construct apartments on the property. The
Thompson–Starrett Co. was retained to construct the buildings.
In March 1964, the investment group applied to the
New York State Housing Finance Agency for a mortgage worth $145 million towards the development. At the time, the site was referred to as part of
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...
. On December 1, 1964, the State Housing Finance Agency announced a project called Park Shore Village, which would construct a middle-income apartment complex on the site.
The complex would consist of 19 buildings standing 11, 17 and 21 stories high. It would also include a shopping center, community center, swimming pools, and a skating rink, along with a new elementary school (PS 346) and parking for residents. Funds would be provided by loans under the
Mitchell-Lama Housing Program.
The development would be built in two phases, eventually housing 25,000 people.
The project was approved by the
New York City Planning Commission
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, ...
on January 20, 1965,
and by the
New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments eff ...
on February 11, 1965. Construction on the first phase was projected to start in the spring of that year and be complete by 1967, at which point the second phase would begin.
However, the original investment group withdrew due to financial concerns and the project did not commence.
On June 27, 1967, Governor
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...
announced modified version of the project called Twin Pines Village, which would construct a
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
on the site in what was then part of
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...
. The development would house 6,000 families.
The project was now sponsored by the
United Housing Foundation (UHF), who were also developing Co-op City.
Twin Pines would consist of 43 buildings, rising 11, 15, or 21 stories. Like the Park Shore plan, the development would also contain a shopping complex, community center and schools, and would sit across a portion of present-day
Spring Creek Park which was then being developed as the Fountain Avenue Landfill
(which has now been re-developed as
Shirley Chisholm State Park). It was proclaimed as the "largest co-op ever built in Brooklyn",
and would be the second largest in the city behind Co-op City, with a size comparable to that of
Rochdale Village.
In December 1967, the state gave the UHF $15.8 million to start construction on the Twin Pines Village complex.
The UHF abandoned the project in March 1971 after running out of money. At the time, construction had begun at the north end of the complex.
Following the exit of the UHF, the project was sold to a new group of investors, including
Disque Deane and
Lazard Frères along with around 200 other individuals. This group would become the
Starrett City Associates.
The complex was renamed Starrett City and would be developed as a joint venture by the
Starrett Corporation and the
National Kinney Corporation.
In addition, the development was changed from a co-op to rental apartments in part to make the development more profitable.
Construction resumed in mid-1972,
and Pennsylvania Avenue was closed to accommodate construction.
Workers started constructing towers at the south end of the site by the Belt Parkway, in an effort to attract potential tenants who were exiting from the Belt Parkway. This added one million dollars to the cost of construction, since utilities had been laid at the north end.
The initial work included the
filling of the swampland with sand from Jamaica Bay, and the construction of the power plant.
In 1973, a contract was awarded to the
Otis Elevator Company
Otis Worldwide Corporation (trade name, branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) styled as OTIS is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets
elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment.
...
to install 100 elevators in the complex. That year, real estate developer
Fred Trump
Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real-estate developer and businessman. He was the father of the 45th and 47th U.S. president, Donald Trump.
Born in the Bronx in New York City to Germans, German ...
acquired a 20 percent interest in the development. The Starrett Associates invested $22 million into the construction of the complex, while the remaining $360 million was covered by state housing loans under the Mitchell-Lama program.
Opening and early years
The complex was dedicated on October 13, 1974, in a ceremony attended by Governor
Malcolm Wilson and Mayor
Abraham Beame.
As part of the opening, a
minibus
A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...
service was created to transport local residents within the development, and to shopping centers in other parts of Brooklyn. In addition, the express bus service to Manhattan was extended from Canarsie to Starrett City.
At the time of opening, none of the complex's proposed 18,000 trees had been planted.
Although lower-income families were not given subsidies to live in Starrett City, the development did allow residents to use state and federal housing programs to pay off part of their rent.
The first 300 families were scheduled to move into the complex that November.
In January 1975, community leaders and officials proposed rerouting five bus routes and creating two new routes to serve the complex. Pennsylvania Avenue was reopened to traffic that December, sparking protests by residents who had previously used the street to play.
By 1976, two thousand families had moved into Starrett City.
A swimming and tennis club on Van Siclen Avenue was dedicated in July 1978.
Families who lived in the complex had to pay $250 per year to use the swimming and tennis club.
The swimming and tennis club was dedicated alongside a recreation center at the same location, which was open to the public.
The same month, Starrett City celebrated its five thousandth resident.
At this point, Starrett City was 85 percent rented. By 1981, the presence of Starrett City was credited with spurring six other developments in the neighborhood, including a shopping mall at Flatlands and Louisiana Avenues, as well as five housing developments.
Crime in the complex was lower than in the surrounding neighborhoods, primarily because of the presence of a private security force. On the other hand, rents at Starrett City started to rise by the late 1970s, leading to fears that existing middle-class residents might leave and be replaced by low-income residents.
At the same time, Starrett City was facing financial troubles because it had been built in the aftermath of the
1975 New York City fiscal crisis
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
. In 1980, a
New York State Comptroller
The New York state comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. Sixty-one individuals have held the office of State Comptroller si ...
's report found that Starrett City would have a nearly $30 million deficit by 1984, and that rents would have to be doubled from the then-current rates in order to make up for the deficit. By 1992, Starrett City Associates was developing additional housing around the Starrett City complex. The new housing units were
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
s, targeted toward Starrett City residents and others who wanted ownership of their homes. In 1993, the
Amalgamated Bank of New York loaned $1.5 million for repairs to Starrett at Spring Creek.
The complex was renamed "Starrett at Spring Creek" around 1989.
On September 25, 2002, the complex was again renamed "Spring Creek Towers". The second renaming was part of a $70 million capital program to renovate the complex. The plans called for Spring Creek Towers to receive two new parks, as well as new elevators, laundry rooms, windows, and lighting.
2000s
On November 30, 2006, Starrett City Associates announced an offering to sell the entire property. Since the property had met its 20-year requirement under Mitchell-Lama by the late 1990s, this raised fears that a new owner would increase rents and squeeze out current tenants.
CB Richard Ellis, which brokered the
Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village
Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village ( ), colloquially known as StuyTown, is a large post-World War II private residential development on the east side of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The complex consists of ...
deal earlier in 2006, served as the listing agent.
Upon finding out about the sale, tenants at Starrett City began organizing in response to the sale of their homes. On February 8, 2007, Starrett City Associates agreed to sell the sprawling complex to
David Bistricer's
Clipper Equity LLC for $1.3 billion. Although Clipper Equity insisted that the complex would remain affordable, housing advocates and politicians expressed concerns about Clipper Equity's intentions. In response to
HUD's rejection of the deal, Clipper Equity proposed a new bid, which included reducing operating expenses and redeveloping part of the land into new housing. Clipper Equity took other steps to garner support, including receiving informal backing from influential ministers Rev.
Calvin O. Butts and Rev.
A. R. Bernard. On April 7, 2007, the second proposal was also rejected by the
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, on the basis that Clipper Equity's plan for rents to reach market rate after three years failed to adequately protect residents and would require increased government subsidies to keep housing affordable. Nevertheless, Clipper Equity made another attempt in August 2007.
In June 2008, Starrett City Associates reached an agreement with federal, state, and city officials on a sale process that would ensure that the property remained affordable. This agreement was further buttressed by federal legislation, which made preserving the property as affordable housing easier for a new buyer. Starrett City Associates requested permission to refinance the buildings in April 2009 for about $500 million.
The syndicate proposed to spend $40 million upgrading the buildings, and it planned to keep Starrett City's apartments within the Mitchell-Lama program for at least 30 years.
In exchange, Starrett City Associates was allowed to develop some of the development's vacant lots, and it would receive an annual tax abatement of $12 million.
A refinancing of the complex was finalized in late 2009.
2010s to present
Starrett City Associates sought to refinance the buildings again by 2016. Media sources reported in September 2017 that the complex was being sold to the Brooksville Company and
Rockpoint Group for $850 million.
At the time, Donald Trump owned a 4 percent share, while other members of his family owned an additional 16 percent.
However, disagreements soon developed between two groups affiliated with Disque Deane, who had died in 2010 and left his estate to his third wife Carol G. Deane and their two children. Carol, who managed Starrett City Associates following Disque's death. became involved in a lawsuit with a collective that included four of Disque's children; one of his former partners; and LIHC Investment Group and Belveron Partners, who were also interested in purchasing the complex. The two groups sued each other in
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...
over allegations that Carol's sale of Starrett City to Brooksville and Rockpoint did not maximize profits for shareholders. The lawsuit was later dismissed,
and the sale of Starrett City was finalized on May 8, 2018, at a cost of $905 million.
A group of anonymous investors sold a 71 percent stake to Brooksville and Rockpoint for $1.8 billion in August 2021. The next month, Brooksville and Rockpoint acquired full ownership of the complex after acquiring Belveron Partners' 13 percent stake. Also in 2021, Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...
announced that Starrett City's affordable-housing protections would be preserved through 2069 and that the owners would spend $140 million renovating the buildings.
Community and demographics
Starrett City is a racially diverse neighborhood.
Based on data from the
2010 United States Census, the population of Starrett City was 13,354, a change of −1,267 (−9.5%) from the 14,621 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](_blank)
, Population Division – 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 ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2016. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 24.7% (3,293)
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 ...
, 52.7% (7,036)
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% (29)
Native American, 2.9% (389)
Asian, 0% (2)
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% (37) from
other races, and 1.4% (184) 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 people of any race were 17.9% (2,384) of the population.
[Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010](_blank)
, Population Division – 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 ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
Census
In of the
2020 United States census,
Black Americans
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 ...
(primarily
African Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
) were about 60% of the area's population,
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 ...
and
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 ...
Americans each comprised around 20%, and
Asian residents consisted of about 2-3% of the area's population.
By 2022, there were an estimated 200,828 people in the area, of which 7.2% identified as Asian, 49.8% identified as Black, 32.8% identified as Hispanic, and 2.4% identified as White.
Racial quota controversies
Since its opening in 1974, Starrett City filled vacancies under an alleged
affirmative action
Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...
racial formula in which 70 percent of vacant apartments went to non-Hispanic white families, and the remaining 30 percent went to minority families.
In 1977, the minority makeup was 19 percent black, 9 percent Hispanic, and 2 percent Asian.
By 1979, the proportion of white residents had declined to 64%. At the time, most of the advertisements for Starrett City featured white applicants, but much of the resulting applicant pool was black or Hispanic.
As a result of the quotas, black applicants who wanted apartments in Starrett City waited almost eight times as long as white applicants.
By 1983, the complex's 5,881 apartments were fully occupied, and three-fourths of the 6,000 families on Starrett City's waiting list were minorities.
In 1979, the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
initiated a class-action suit against Starrett City Associates.
The plaintiffs stated that the complex attempted to maintain racial quotas by selective approval of tenants based on racial and ethnic profiles.
An agreement was made in May 1984. Starrett City Associates agreed to increase the minority quota by 5 percent, so that the ratio of non-Hispanic white to minority families was 65 to 35 percent.
The formula was supported by many black and Hispanic residents and some civil rights groups.
In June 1984, the
Reagan administration
Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...
sued Starrett City over the racial quota system, stating that it violated federal anti-discrimination laws. The original accord was approved by federal judge
Edward Raymond Neaher of the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in April 1985, but the ruling did not affect the Reagan administration's lawsuit. In 1987, Neaher ruled on the federal government's lawsuit, stating that the quotas violated the
Civil Rights Act of 1968
The Civil Rights Act of 1968 () is a Lists of landmark court decisions, landmark law in the United States signed into law by President of the United States, United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during the King assassination riots.
Titles ...
, thereby invalidating the quotas. In March 1988, a panel of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...
ruled two to one that the lower court's order to prevent quotas must stand.
The Supreme Court declined to review the case in 1988. By then, under Starrett City Associates' quota system, 62 percent of apartments were rented to whites, 23 percent to blacks, 9 percent to Hispanics and 6 percent to other minority groups.
The group agreed to stop using quotas in November 1988.
After losing the court case, Starrett City did not immediately start taking families from the 80 percent African-American waiting list to fill vacancies. Instead, they left apartments empty and attempted to rent them at market rate to those who would not qualify for subsidies. In July 1990, Starrett City Associates proposed to make apartments available to
Soviet Jews
The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "Fo ...
who came to the United States in order to maintain racial diversity. However, critics stated that this was a move to circumvent the judicial ruling. Starrett City Associates rescinded their proposal to rent to Soviet Jews after heavy criticism.
New York State instead housed the Soviet Jewish families in
Co-op City, a similar development in the Bronx.
See also
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Cooperative Village
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LeFrak City
LeFrak City (originally spelled Lefrak and pronounced ) is a 4,605-apartment development in the southernmost region of Corona, Queens, Corona and the easternmost part of Elmhurst, Queens, Elmhurst, a neighborhood in the New York City borough (New ...
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Marcus Garvey Village
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Parkchester, Bronx
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Parkfairfax, Virginia
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Parkmerced, San Francisco
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Park La Brea, Los Angeles
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Penn South
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Riverton Houses
References
Notes
Citations
External links
Timeline of Starrett City Auction*
{{Law enforcement in New York City
1974 establishments in New York City
Apartment buildings in New York City
Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Brooklyn
East New York, Brooklyn
Multi-building developments in New York City
Neighborhoods in Brooklyn
Residential buildings in Brooklyn
Skyscrapers in Brooklyn