The Jacob Riis Houses are a
public housing project managed by the
New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) in the
East Village in
New York City. The project is located between
Avenue D and the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, spanning two
superblocks from 6th Street to 13th Street. The project consists of thirteen buildings, between six and 14 stories each, containing 1,191 apartment units.
Development
The area to become the Riis houses was destroyed through
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
beginning in August 1943 but construction was delayed because of
World War II. The Riis Houses were completed on January 17, 1949 and named for photographer
Jacob Riis, who exposed the living conditions of tenement dwellers on the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
.
The playground was designed to have four "outdoor rooms" for a variety of activities and was designed by Pomerance & Breines with
M. Paul Freidberg & Associates as landscape architects.
It was financed through a grant from the Victor Astor Foundation and opened in 1966 with
Ladybird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson ('' née'' Taylor; December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson. She previously served as Second Lady from 1961 to 1963 wh ...
attending its opening. Later that year, it received a First Honor Award for design excellence by the
Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...
.
Four new playgrounds throughout the city were modeled from it in 1967. In 2018, its playground was inspected by NYCHA and found to be hazardous.
During
Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the development was hit by a
storm surge
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...
that left it without electricity and other services. In 2018, NYCHA received a grant for $7.1 million to fund necessary infrastructure repairs from Sandy anticipated to begin in 2022. Upgrades include: emergency generators, electrical distribution equipment, waterproofing of structures and finishes, upgrades to sewer/storm management systems, new roadways, pedestrian lighting, rehabilitation of building entrances and lobbies.
Notable residents
*
Frank Morales (1949–), priest and activist
*
Sabu (1983–), computer
hacktivist[ "Hector Xavier Monsegur, or Sabu, lived in Apartment 6F at 90 Avenue D in the Jacob Riis complex in Manhattan."]
See also
*
List of New York City Housing Authority properties
References
External links
Official map
East Village, Manhattan
Public housing in Manhattan
Residential buildings in Manhattan
Residential buildings completed in 1949
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