Affordable Housing in New York : The People, Places, and Policies That Transformed a City

A richly illustrated history of below-market housing in New York, from the 1920s to today How has America's most expensive and progressive city helped its residents to live? Since the nineteenth century, the need for high-quality affordable housing has been one of New York City’s most urgent issues. Affordable Housing in New York explores the past, present, and future of the city’s pioneering efforts, from the 1920s to the major initiatives of Mayor Bill de Blasio. The book examines the people, places, and policies that have helped make New York livable, from early experiments by housing reformers and the innovative public-private solutions of the 1970s and 1980s to today’s professionalized affordable housing industry. More than two dozen leading scholars tell the story of key figures of the era, including Fiorello LaGuardia, Robert Moses, Jane Jacobs, and Ed Koch. Over twenty-five individual housing complexes are profiled, including Queensbridge Houses, America’s largest public housing complex; Stuyvesant Town; Co-op City; and recent additions like Via Verde. Plans, models, archival photos, and newly commissioned portraits of buildings and tenants put the efforts of the past century into social, political, and cultural context and look ahead to future prospects for below-market subsidized housing. A richly illustrated, dynamic portrait of an evolving city, this is a comprehensive and authoritative history of public and middle-income housing in New York and contributes significantly to contemporary debates on how to enable future generations of New Yorkers to call the city home. Contributors include: Matthias Altwicker, Hilary Ballon, Lizabeth Cohen, Andrew S. Dolkart, Peter Eisenstadt, Richard Greenwald, Christopher Klemek, Jeffrey A. Kroessler, Nancy H. Kwak, Nadia A. Mian, Annemarie Sammartino, David Schalliol, Susanne Schindler, David Smiley, Jonathan Soffer, Fritz Umbach, and Samuel Zipp. Featured housing complexes include: Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments • Amsterdam Houses • Bell Park Gardens • Boulevard Gardens • Co-op City • East River Houses • Eastwood • Harlem River Houses • Hughes House • Jacob Riis Houses • Johnson Houses • Marcus Garvey Village • Melrose Commons • Nehemiah Houses • Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments • Penn South • Queensbridge Houses • Queensview • Ravenswood Houses • Riverbend Houses • Rochdale Village • Schomburg Plaza • Starrett City • Stuyvesant Town • Sunnyside Gardens • Twin Parks • Via Verde • West Side Urban Renewal Area • West Village Houses • Williamsburg Houses 1. Below-market Subsidized Housing Begins: Tenements / Andrew S. Dolkart -- City And Suburban Homes Company / Andrew S. Dolkart -- Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments / Matthew Gordon Lasner -- Sunnyside Gardens / Matthew Gordon Lasner -- Amalgamated Cooperative Apartments / Richard Greenwald -- Boulevard Gardens / Jeffrey A. Kroessler -- Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch / Nicholas Dagen Bloom -- 2. Public Neighborhoods: Fiorello Laguardia / Stephen Petrus -- Charles Abrams / Nancy H. Kwak -- Harlem River Houses / Nicholas Dagen Bloom -- Williamsburg Houses / Nicholas Dagen Bloom -- Queensbridge Houses And East River Houses / Hilary Ballon -- Amsterdam Houses / Fritz Umbach -- Model Gallery I Pre-world War Ii -- 3. Public Housing Towers: Robert F. Wagner, Jr. / Steven Levine -- Jacob Riis Houses / Nicholas Dagen Bloom -- Johnson Houses / Nicholas Dagen Bloom -- Ravenswood Houses / Nicholas Dagen Bloom -- 4. Stabilizing The Middle: Stuyvesant Town / Nicholas Dagen Bloom -- Bell Park Gardens / Matthew Gordon Lasner -- Queensview / Matthew Gordon Lasner -- Abraham Kazan / Peter Eisenstadt -- Venn Station South / Matthew Gordon Lasner -- Rochdale Village / Peter Eisenstadt -- Co-op City / Annemarie Sammartino -- Starrett City / Karina Milchman -- Model Gallery Ii Post-world War Ii -- 5. Housing Reimagined: West Side Urban Renewal Area / Jennifer Hock -- Jane Jacobs / Jennifer Hock -- West Village Houses / Christopher Klemek -- John Lindsay / Mariana Mogilevich -- Riverbend Houses / David Smiley -- Schomburg Plaza / Hilary Ballon -- Edward J. Logue / Lizabeth Cohen -- Twin Parks / Susanne Schindler -- Marcus Garvey Village / Karen Kubey -- Eastwood / Matthias Altwicker -- Hip Hop And Subsidized Housing / Lilian Knorr -- 6. The Decentralized Network: Urban Homesteading / Benjamin Holtzman -- Roger Starr / Brian Goldstein -- Nehemiah Houses / Nadia A. Mian -- Abyssinian Development Corporation / Brian Goldstein -- The Koch Housing Plan / Jonathan Soffer -- Asian Americans For Equality / Jennifer Hock -- Hughes House / Susanne Schindler -- Melrose Commons And Via Verde / Susanne Schindler -- Conclusion: Challenges And Opportunities: Model Gallery Iii Contemporary. Edited By Nicholas Dagen Bloom And Matthew Gordon Lasner ; With Photographs By David Schalliol. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A richly illustrated history of below-market housing in New York, from the 1920s to todayA colorful portrait of the people, places, and policies that have helped make New York City livable, Affordable Housing in New York is a comprehensive, authoritative, and richly illustrated history of the city's public and middle-income housing from the 1920s to today. Plans, models, archival photos, and newly commissioned portraits of buildings and tenants by sociologist and photographer David Schalliol put the efforts of the past century into context, and the book also looks ahead to future prospects for below-market subsidized housing. A dynamic account of an evolving city, Affordable Housing in New York is essential reading for understanding and advancing debates about how to enable future generations to call New York home.