Straus Houses

Last updated
Straus Houses
NYCHA Property
Snow Photos from a New York City Rooftop (4199515041).jpg
View of Straus Houses looking east from 28th Street
Straus Houses
Interactive map of Straus Houses
Country United States
StateFlag of New York.svg New York
City New York City
Borough Manhattan
Area
 • Total
1.08 acres (0.44 ha)
Population
 • Total
503 [1]
Zip Code
10016

The Straus Houses is a NYCHA housing complex with two buildings; Building I has 20 stories and Building II has 19 stories. It is located between East 27th and 28th Streets and also between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. [2] The housing complex was named after Nathan Straus. [3]

Contents

History

A dedication ceremony for the project was held on April 30, 1963 and attended by Mayor Robert Wagner. [4] The housing complex was designed by architects Gustave W. Iser and Walter G. Leicht. [5] The western portion of the site was formerly occupied by Public School 14 and is located adjacent to St. Illuminator's Armenian Apostolic Cathedral. [6]

28th Street entrance to the Straus Houses, showing the pedestrian way running along the west side of the building Straus Houses 28th Street.jpg
28th Street entrance to the Straus Houses, showing the pedestrian way running along the west side of the building

Units at the complex were reserved for families displaced from the Bellevue South Urban Renewal Area, which was located across from the site between 1st and 2nd Avenues from East 23rd and 30th Streets. [7] Parents at Public School 116 on East 33rd Street were concerned with the loss of diversity of the student body at due to the urban renewal project and the school's P.T.A. assisted affected families in filling out applications for apartments in the Straus Houses. [8] [9] [10] The housing complex was completed in January 1965. [1]

The housing complex contained front and side yards that were designed to function as play space for children and social space for adults and also included a side yard that was converted into a pedestrian way. [11] The plaza included a play sculpture dedicated to Nathan Straus, which was designed by David Aaron. [12] [13] The outdoor space was designed by the architectural firms of Pomerance & Breines and M. Paul Friedberg Associates; these same two firms later designed the open space at the Riis Houses. [14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "NYCHA Development Data Book 2025" (PDF). New York City Housing Authority. p. 49, c. 1. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  2. ↑ "Straus" (PDF). New York City Housing Authority. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  3. ↑ "Nathan Straus Houses; East Side Project Will Bear Name of Late Philanthropist". The New York Times. 1961-12-10. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  4. ↑ "Mayor Warns Lack of Funds Perils Housing". New York Daily News. 1963-05-01. Retrieved 2026-01-14– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Architect's Rendering of Straus Houses, Manhattan, New York". LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  6. ↑ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(cartographic) Plate 57, Part of Section 3: [Bounded by E. 32nd Street, First Avenue, E. 30th Street, Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, E. 26th Street and Third Avenue.] (1955)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  7. ↑ Sibley, John (1964-11-12). "Residents of Doomed City Section Defend It as Real 'Neighborhood'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  8. ↑ Terte, Robert H. (1964-05-12). "Community Tries to Prevent Homogenizing of Ethnically Mixed Student Body". The New York Times. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  9. ↑ Walton, Barbara J. (1964-11-23). "Housing and P. S. 116". Letter to the Editor. New York Times. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  10. ↑ Reid, William (1964-12-05). "Bellevue South Housing". Letter to the Editor. New York Times. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  11. ↑ Friedberg, M. Paul (1970). Play and Interplay. The Macmillan Company. p. 156. OCLC   1392323068 . Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  12. ↑ Seymour, Whitney North (1969). Small Urban Spaces. New York University Press. p. 35. ISBN   9780814703816.
  13. ↑ Saulnier, Beth (January–February 2002). "Metropolitan Life". Cornell Alumni Magazine. p. 51. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  14. ↑ Huxtable, Ada Louise (1966-05-24). "At Last, a Winner; Riis Plaza Is Breakthrough in the Use Of Space, Certain to Have Wide Impact". The New York Times. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
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