The Robert Fulton Houses is a housing project located in the Chelsea neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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 ...

, owned and operated 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 ...

(NYCHA). The site is located between West 16th and 19th Streets and bound by

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and Tenth Avenues. The project consists of 945 apartments in eleven buildings; three of the developments are 25 stories, while the others are 6 stories high.

History

The Robert Fulton Houses were designed by architects Brown & Guenther and were developed as a "vest pocket" site that retains the street grid. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 15, 1962 and the buildings were completed on March 31, 1965. Its confines are within the 10th Police Precinct. The housing project is named after engineer and inventor

Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat ...

(1765-1815). Due to financial needs of the NYCHA, the de Blasio administration began putting plans together to begin working with private developers in 2019. Fulton Houses is located in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood where median asking rent is $3,462. The plan proposed by the city includes demolishing and rebuilding two buildings and a parking garage in the housing project and replacing them with three larger buildings that 70 percent would be market-rate, and 30 percent would be “affordable enough” for current residents; and to turn over management to a private developer. Residents of the project do not have any input in land-use decisions, and residents are organizing in opposition noting that previous conversions of public housing came with a 57 percent rent increase. Average monthly rent for residents is $660. Development firms

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and Essence Development proposed rebuilding the Fulton Houses and the nearby Chelsea-Elliott Houses in early 2023. In a survey in June 2023, residents of the Chelsea-Elliott Houses and Fulton Houses voted in favor of demolishing the existing towers and constructing a 3,500-unit apartment complex on the same site. At the time, NYCHA officials estimated that the complexes needed about $1 billion in repairs and that it would cost about as much to build new complexes on the site. PAU, COOKFOX Architects, and ILA were hired in early 2024 to design the Fulton Elliott-Chelsea Plan, which would involve converting 2,056 NYCHA apartments into mixed-income units. Under the plan, six new towers would be built on the two sites before the existing buildings were demolished. NYCHA's board approved the redevelopment of the Fulton Houses and Elliot-Chelsea Houses in November 2024. The proposed cost for the two projects had risen to $1.9 billion by early 2025.

Notable people

Shawn Wayans Shawn Mathis Wayans (born January 19, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He made his debut on the comedy television series ''In Living Color'' (1990–1993). He went on to work with his brother Marlon Wayans on The WB si ...

(born 1971), actor *

Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Shawn Wayans on The WB sitcom ''The Wayans Bros.'' (1995–1999) and the comedy films ''Don't Be a M ...

(born 1972), actor and comedian * Keenan Ivory Wayans *

Damon Wayans Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (; born September 4, 1960) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and writer. A member of the Wayans family of entertainers, Damon performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a brief stint ...

* Kim Wayans

References

{{Chelsea, Manhattan Residential buildings in Manhattan Public housing in Manhattan Residential buildings completed in 1965 Chelsea, Manhattan

History

Notable people

See also

References