Housing Projects
NYCHA housing projects are all over New York. These projects not only provided safe housing for the low-income families, but also helped improve the city's health and social environment. The picture to the left was retrieved from NYCHA website. It shows the locations of NYCHA housing projects. The one in red indicate large housing project which have more than 1000 units. The one in orange color indicate medium housing projects that have 501 to 1000 units. The one in yellow indicates small projects that have less than 500 units.
Some of NYCHA housing projects have significant meaning to New York that New York identified them as landmarks. Below are couple of the examples.
Some of NYCHA housing projects have significant meaning to New York that New York identified them as landmarks. Below are couple of the examples.
Public Housing vs. Affordable Housing
Affordable housing is housing for families pay no more than 30 percent of their annual income on housing. If families pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing, housing would be considered as burden and it would cause the family to have less money to spend on necessities such as food and medical care.
Affordable Housing is different from public housing because public housing is affordable housing. But not all the affordable housing is public housing. Public housing is safe housing funded, owned and/or built by the government. They are designed to rented out by eligible low-income families, the elderly or persons with disabilities [vii].
Affordable Housing is different from public housing because public housing is affordable housing. But not all the affordable housing is public housing. Public housing is safe housing funded, owned and/or built by the government. They are designed to rented out by eligible low-income families, the elderly or persons with disabilities [vii].
Examples of Public Housing
One of the examples is the First House. It was the first public housing project ever done in the United States. It was designed by architect Frederick Ackerman. The housing projects have more than The site was originally old tenements which were designated to redevelop. However, the development team found that the buildings were too old to reuse so they needed to torn down almost everything and started fresh. Although the project spending was more than expected, it marked the real start of public housing [i].
Another examples would be the Harlem River Houses. It was built after the Harlem riot of 1935, where the African-American working class protested for decent public housing. At that time, housing were segregated. Harlem River Houses were designed for African-Americans while the Williamsburg Houses was designed for white working class. It’s located between west 151st and 153rd streets. It was one of the two public housing projects that were funded by federal money under the “New Deal” by Franklin Roosevelt. This housing project provided 574 apartments. The apartment buildings range from 4 to 5 floors. It is now one of New York’s important landmarks where Africa-American citizens celebrate the fulfill of their request [i].
Examples of Affordable Housing
The picture on the left is a side view of Mitchell-Lama building. It is part of the Mitchell-Lama program which was made in 1955. The program aimed to help moderate- and middle-income families. So far there are a total of 97 Mitchell-Lama developments. Families who are interesting in renting from the program will be put on a waiting list. When apply for Mitchell-Lama housing units, families need to satisfy some basic eligibility such as income limits, family size and apartment size. On top of those, families may need to satisfy different additional requirements from different developers [vi].
Arbor House is a good example of affordable housing projects that is made possible by the public-private partnership between NYCHA and private developer. It was originally a vacant NYCHA housing project that was built in the 1956. After the transformation, it became an LEED platinum certified building with 124 apartment units. This affordable housing project has a lot of environment friendly design such as exercise area that was built using recycled products, an rooftop farm, stairwells that are accessible though windows and a green wall with living plants inside. One might wonder what is the cost of living in this building? The developer aimed its residents to the NYCHA families whose household income are less than 60 percent of the area median income. For a four people family, it would be $49,800. A major reason why this advanced housing could be made so affordable to the low-income families is the cost of the building is subsidized by a lot of sources such as the local, city and state subsidies. Another reason is the produces from the rooftop farm would be sold commercially so there would be income to maintain the housing project [viii]. The neighborhood has showed a lot of excitements for the opening of this green affordable housing project.
[i] Alejandro, Bahamon. New York: A Historical Atlas of Architecture. Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, Inc. Nueva York 2007
[ii] (Image) "First Houses". http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/First_Houses_in_winter_from_west.jpg
[iii] (Image) "Mitchell-Lama Housing". http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/images/gif/mitchell-lama-manhattan.jpg.
[iv] (Image) "What is Affordable Housing". http://tropolism.com/picture_library/storefront.jpg.
[v] (Image) "Arbor House". http://www.multifamilybiz.com/images/uploads/News/Arbor_House.jpg.
[vi] Mitchell-Lama Housing. NYC.gov. Department of Housing Preservation and Development, 2013. Web. Accessed on July 28,2013.
[vii] Bussell, Mirle. "Housing." University of California, San Diego. Social Science Building, San Diego. July 15, 2013. Lecture.
[viii] Velsey, Kim. An Arbor In the Forest: Green Affordable Housing Developmet In the Bronx. New York Observer. Retrieved from http://observer.com/2013/02/an-arbor-in-the-forest-green-affordable-housing-development-opens-in-the-bronx/. Accessed on July 31, 2013.
[ii] (Image) "First Houses". http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/First_Houses_in_winter_from_west.jpg
[iii] (Image) "Mitchell-Lama Housing". http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/images/gif/mitchell-lama-manhattan.jpg.
[iv] (Image) "What is Affordable Housing". http://tropolism.com/picture_library/storefront.jpg.
[v] (Image) "Arbor House". http://www.multifamilybiz.com/images/uploads/News/Arbor_House.jpg.
[vi] Mitchell-Lama Housing. NYC.gov. Department of Housing Preservation and Development, 2013. Web. Accessed on July 28,2013.
[vii] Bussell, Mirle. "Housing." University of California, San Diego. Social Science Building, San Diego. July 15, 2013. Lecture.
[viii] Velsey, Kim. An Arbor In the Forest: Green Affordable Housing Developmet In the Bronx. New York Observer. Retrieved from http://observer.com/2013/02/an-arbor-in-the-forest-green-affordable-housing-development-opens-in-the-bronx/. Accessed on July 31, 2013.