Riverside Park Community

Last updated

Riverside Park Community
3333 broadway.jpg
"front" of building, Broadway side
Riverside Park Community
Alternative names3333 Broadway
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeApartment
Architectural styleModern
Address3333 Broadway
Town or city New York, New York
Country United States
Coordinates 40°49′13″N73°57′24″W / 40.8202°N 73.9568°W / 40.8202; -73.9568
Current tenants1,200 apartment units
Completed1976
Technical details
Structural systemExpansion Joints
MaterialConcrete slab, Brick
Floor count35
Design and construction
Architect(s) Max Wechsler
Architecture firmMax Wechsler and Associates
Other designers Richard Dattner and Henry LeGendre

3333 Broadway (formerly Riverside Park Community) is a group of five apartment buildings ranging from 11 to 35 stories at Broadway between West 133rd and 135th Streets, in Manhattanville, Manhattan, New York City, United States. Completed in 1976, it was the largest residential structure in the United States. Together, the five buildings include 1,193 apartment units. The present manager of the property is the Urban American Management Corporation. [1]

Contents

Site

The building was built on a lot covering approximately 285,000 square feet (26,500 m2) in the Manhattanville section of Harlem. To the west of the buildings lies the West Side Highway (NY 9A) and beyond that the Hudson River. To the east of the site is Broadway. Across West 133rd Street to the south is the Manhattanville Bus Depot, and across West 135th Street to the north of the development lies a row of early-twentieth-century brick tenement buildings.

Design

The architect of record was Maxx Wechsler of Max Wechsler & Associates. Two architectural consultants to Wechsler were Richard Dattner and Henri A. LeGendre. The New York Times credited Dattner and LeGendre as the architects who designed the housing complex. Seven days later, the Times printed a letter to the editor, from Max Wechsler, proclaiming that his firm was in fact the lead design team on the project and Dattner and LeGendre "served as consultants only." Richard Dattner claims to have served as the lead designer for Riverside Park Community, along with the 1800-student Intermediate School 195 at the base of the school and apartment complex.

Facade

The facade is a typical brick cladding system. The tenement housing surrounding the site is decorated with classically derived ornament, which the Riverside Housing lacks. There is very little ornament or applied decoration on the brick and concrete facade of the building.

The front facade (where the main entry exists) is pulled away from Broadway to create an entrance. This design was due to the Zoning Resolution of New York City, which required a certain percentage of open space for approval. The building provided a small public plaza at the corner of West 135th Street and Broadway equipped with benches, concrete tables and trees for shade. These were removed in the 2000s once the building left the Mitchell-Lama program, and the plaza was completely reconstructed in 2015 to a more contemporary design.

Features

3333 Broadway is built using concrete foundations and a concrete structure. The floors are built of concrete slab, and they are exposed through the facade. The interior communal spaces have similar modernist elements, with floor-to-ceiling windows, rounded columns and terrazzo flooring throughout. The five buildings are connected using expansion joints, so that when the buildings move, they will not cause damage to each other or fail structurally. The buildings incorporate expansion joints to alleviate damage that could be caused by the average loads placed on a building.

History

Designed by architect Max Wechsler, the original plan called for 5 buildings arranged in a semi-circle at varying heights facing West 133rd Street. The plans also included plans for a public school, a medical building, a pharmacy and playground facilities for 1,800 children. The community was constructed under the Mitchell-Lama program, a state-run program created in 1955 that provided low-interest mortgage loans and property tax exemptions to landlords who agreed to provide low-income residents with affordable housing at below-market-rate rents. This project was sponsored and backed by the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Pension Fund/A. Philip Randolph, President.

At a cost of $54 million, the Educational Construction Fund developed this project as the first phase of a total renewal of the area between West 125th Street and 135th Street, from Broadway to Riverside Drive. When the property opened in spring 1976, the director of sales received over 9,000 applications in the rental office. At the time, a family of five had to meet a basic income requirement of $13,000/year to qualify for housing. Federal subsidies, however, made it possible for people with incomes less than that which was required to obtain housing in the building. In 1976, a one-bedroom apartment cost $228/month and a two-bedroom apartment cost $272.

In 2005, after the loan was paid off, the then landlord Jerome Belson [2] opted to exit the program as per the guidelines of the Mitchell-Lama program which legally permitted that "any owner can withdraw from the program after 20 years upon paying off the mortgage". [3] At the same time, BSR, the management company for 3333, sold the property to Cammeby’s Realty Corp. for $85 million. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlem</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

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 on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harlem area encompasses several other neighborhoods and extends west and north to 155th Street, east to the East River, and south to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Central Park, and East 96th Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morningside Heights</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside Heights borders Central Harlem and Morningside Park to the east, Manhattanville to the north, the Manhattan Valley section of the Upper West Side to the south, and Riverside Park to the west. Broadway is the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, running north–south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside Drive (Manhattan)</span> Scenic road on the west side of Upper Manhattan

Riverside Drive is a scenic north–south boulevard in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The road runs on the west side of Upper Manhattan, generally paralleling the Hudson River and Riverside Park between 72nd Street and the vicinity of the George Washington Bridge at 181st Street. North of 96th Street, Riverside Drive is a wide divided roadway. At several locations, a serpentine service road diverges from the main road, providing access to the residential buildings. The avenue was opened in 1880, and several viaducts were completed over the subsequent decades to connect the various segments of Riverside Drive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">125th Street (Manhattan)</span> West-east street in Manhattan, New York

125th Street, co-named Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, is a two-way street that runs east–west in the New York City borough of Manhattan, from First Avenue on the east to Marginal Street, a service road for the Henry Hudson Parkway along the Hudson River in the west. It is often considered to be the "Main Street" of Harlem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">125th Street station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)</span> New York City Subway station in Manhattan

The 125th Street station is an elevated local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 125th Street and Broadway, at the border of the Manhattanville and Morningside Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton Heights, Manhattan</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

Hamilton Heights is a neighborhood in the northern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is the northernmost part of the West Harlem area, along with Manhattanville and Morningside Heights to its south, and it contains the sub-neighborhood and historic district of Sugar Hill. Washington Heights lies to Hamilton Heights' north, and to its east is Central Harlem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattanville, Manhattan</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

Manhattanville 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 the east by Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and the campus of City College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitchell–Lama Housing Program</span> Housing program in New York

The Mitchell–Lama Housing Program is a non-subsidy governmental housing guarantee in the state of New York. It was sponsored by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Assemblyman Alfred A. Lama. It was signed into law in 1955 as The Limited-Profit Housing Companies Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">116th Street (Manhattan)</span> West-east street in Manhattan, New York

116th Street runs from Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River, to the East River, through the New York City borough of Manhattan. It traverses the neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Spanish Harlem; the street is interrupted between Morningside Heights and Harlem by Morningside Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M11 (New York City bus)</span> Bus route in Manhattan, New York

The Ninth and Tenth Avenues Line or Ninth Avenue Line is a surface transit line in the New York City borough of Manhattan, running mostly along Ninth Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Manhattanville. Originally a streetcar line operated by the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, it is now the M11 bus route operated by the New York City Transit Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlem YMCA</span> United States historic place

The Harlem YMCA is located at 180 West 135th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1931-32, the red-brown brick building with neo-Georgian details was designed by the Architectural Bureau of the National Council of the YMCA, with James C. Mackenzie Jr. as the architect in charge. It replaced the building from 1919 across the street. Inside the building is a mural by Aaron Douglas titled "Evolution of Negro Dance." The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and was designated a New York City Landmark in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Mills House</span> Historic house in Manhattan, New York

Florence Mills House is a house at 220 West 135th Street in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. The house was originally believed to be the residence of Florence Mills, a leading African-American actress and entertainer during the 1920s. She lived at this address, or a similar address a few blocks away, during her most productive years from 1910 to 1927. The 220 West 135th Street building that existed in 1927 no longer stands and has been replaced. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Weldon Johnson Residence</span> United States historic place

The James Weldon Johnson Residence is a historic apartment house located at 187 West 135th Street, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York. It is here where James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) lived from 1925 until his death. In addition to being a composer, songwriter, and author, he was an outspoken advocate for civil rights, working in various roles at the NAACP, including as its General Secretary during his residency here. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattanville Houses</span> Public housing development in Manhattan, New York

Manhattanville Houses is a public housing project in the Manhattanville section of West Harlem, in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. The project is located between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, spanning a superblock from 129th Street to 133rd Street and is managed by the New York City Housing Authority. The project consists of six 20-story buildings containing 1,272 apartment units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant Houses</span> Public housing development in Manhattan, New York

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-acres and is located between Broadway and Morningside Avenue, spanning oddly shaped superblocks from 123rd Street and La Salle Street to 125th Street. The development was named after Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), a Civil War Union army general and the 18th President of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip A. Payton Jr.</span> African-American real estate entrepreneur

Philip Anthony Payton Jr. was an African-American real estate entrepreneur, known as the "Father of Harlem", due to his work renting properties in Harlem, New York City, to African Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">133rd Street (Manhattan)</span> West-east street in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York

133rd Street is a street in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. In Harlem, Manhattan, it begins at Riverside Drive on its western side and crosses Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue, and ends at Convent Avenue, before resuming on the eastern side, crossing Seventh Avenue, and ending at Lenox Avenue. In Port Morris in the Bronx, it runs from Bruckner Boulevard/St. Ann's Place to Locust Avenue. The block between Seventh Avenue and Lenox Avenues was once a thriving night spot, known as "Swing Street", with numerous cabarets, jazz clubs, and speakeasies. The street is described in modern times as "a quiet stretch of brownstones and tenement-style apartment houses, the kind of block that typifies this section of central Harlem".

Gaetan Ajello (1883–1983) was a New York-based architect. Born in Sicily, Ajello migrated to the United States in 1902.

The Mink Building is a five-story German-American style red brick structure at 1361-1369 Amsterdam Avenue between 126th and 128th Streets, in the Manhattanville neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, originally part of a large brewery complex. It is one of a few buildings that remain of a vast beer brewing industry in this area in the late 19th century, beer brewing was an industry as big as finance or real estate in the 21st century New York City. The site of the complex at 1361 Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan - predating residential development in Harlem - was chosen due to its relative isolation at the time.

References

Notes

  1. Meduski, Katherine (April 8, 2009). "Questions linger for tenants near M'ville campus". columbiaspectator.com. The Columbia Spectator. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Mudeski, Katherine (March 31, 2009). "Residents of 3333 Broadway face two worlds". columbiaspectator.com. Spectator Publishing Company. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  3. Shin, Kevin (May 7, 2007). "Tensions Mount as Evictions Go Forward at 3333 Broadway". columbiaspectator.com. Spectator Publishing Company. Retrieved September 26, 2014.

Sources