Harlem River Houses


The Harlem River Houses is a New [York City Housing Authority] public housing complex between 151st Street, 153rd Street, Macombs Place, and the Harlem River Drive in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The complex covers and was built between 1936 and 1937, opening in October 1937. It was one of the first two federally funded public housing projects in the city and was designed to provide quality housing for working-class African Americans.
Harlem River Houses consists of seven residential buildings completed in 1937, with a later adjacent expansion, Harlem River Houses II, constructed in 1965. In contemporary preservation and renovation initiatives, the two developments are often discussed together as part of the Harlem River complex.
The complex was designated a New York City Landmark in 1975 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. In 2014 the complex was designated a Special Planned Community Preservation District, a zoning category created in 1974 "to preserve and protect... superior examples of town planning or large-scale development."
The success of the project can be attributed to its formal, classically influenced design, to the project's focus on attracting a wide variety of tenants, not just the indigent, and to its "generous budget and high aspirations for quality."

History

Public Housing

Early public housing in New York City was developed under racially segregated policies. Following the Harlem Riot of 1935, increased public pressure led to efforts to expand and improve housing opportunities for African American residents, although widespread desegregation of public housing was not pursued at the time.
Harlem River Houses was one of two developments that, for the first time, used federal funding to construct public housing in New York City as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal social program.
The project was developed by the Housing Division of the Public Works Administration at an estimated cost of $4.5 million. The site, originally owned by the Rockefeller family, was acquired through eminent domain after negotiations failed to meet federal land acquisition guidelines; the property was ultimately purchased for approximately $1 million following community advocacy and protest. Construction was completed in 1937, and the development opened in October of that year with seven residential buildings containing 574 apartments.
When Harlem River Houses opened, the complex included on-site child care, health care services, and a public community room. Monthly rent in 1937 was $21.00, and by 1939 ranged from $19.38 to $31.42. During the Reagan Administration, rent requirements were increased from 25 percent to 30 percent of a family’s gross income.

Harlem River Houses II

In 1965, an adjacent public housing development known as Harlem River Houses II was constructed to address continued demand for affordable housing in the surrounding area. The development consists of a 15-story residential tower containing 116 apartments and is physically separate from, but administratively associated with, the original Harlem River Houses complex.

The Williamsburg Houses

A counterpart to Harlem River Houses was the Williamsburg Houses in Brooklyn, which was intended for white residents. The construction and opening of the two projects attracted national attention. Upon completion, approximately 11,000 applicants sought residency in the 574 available apartments. As of 1987, about three dozen tenants remained from the original group of residents.

Renovation and preservation

In 2020, the New York City Housing Authority selected Settlement Housing Fund to lead a comprehensive rehabilitation of Harlem River Houses under the federal Permanent Affordability Commitment Together program, part of the Rental Assistance Demonstration initiative. Under the PACT model, NYCHA retains ownership of the properties while Settlement Housing Fund coordinates rehabilitation, property management, and resident services in partnership with West Harlem Group Assistance, L+M Builders Group, and C+C Apartment Management.
The renovation project includes upgrades to approximately 690 apartments across eight residential buildings, including modernized interiors, building systems, windows, landscaping, and restored outdoor spaces. Historic courtyards, playgrounds, and public art are being repaired or enhanced as part of the work, which is scheduled for completion in 2025.

Architects

Archibald Manning Brown was the chief architect for the project. Other contributing architects included Will Rice Amon, Richard W. Buckley, Frank J. Forster, Charles F. Fuller, Horace Ginsbern, and John Louis Wilson Jr. one of the first African American architects to be registered in New York State. Historians believe that Ginsbern, who had previously worked on the design of garden apartments along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, was responsible for the project's overall layout.
The landscape architects for the project were headed by Michael Rapuano.
The primary sculptor involved in the design of the Harlem River Houses was Heinz Warneke, assisted by T. Barbarossa, F. Steinberger. Richmond Barthé created the frieze Green Pastures: Walls of Jericho for the project, however they installed in 1941 at Kingsborough Houses, a mostly white project.

Public art

Warneke created several sculptures as part of the original construction of the complex. These included Bears Playing, a sculpture depicting two bear cubs in a playful pose; Black Laborer, portraying a kneeling male figure holding a hammer; and Mother and Child. The sculptures were installed within the landscaped courtyards and circulation spaces of the development and were conceived as integral components of the site design rather than as standalone monuments. The inclusion of permanent public art was part of the original planning of Harlem River Houses, one of New York City’s earliest federally funded public housing developments.

Design

Each building in the complex is four or five stories tall and is set around landscaped open areas which include lawns, wide walkways, and recreation areas; around two-thirds of the project's land is open space. Those buildings with an additional story are built on a lower level, giving all buildings the same overall height. They are built from red brick, and have very little trim.
The project is divided into three groups of buildings, two of which are west of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, and one of which lies east of the avenue and west of the Harlem River Drive. All lie between West 151st and 153rd Streets. The two western groups are each arranged around a large plaza, while the eastern group is more linear. The formal layout is "reminiscent of a European park."
The 9-acre Harlem River Houses are said to be the most successful public housing in New York City. The architects designed modern, spacious buildings which, according to architecture critic Lewis Mumford, provided:
"the equipment for decent living that every modern neighborhood needs: sunlight, air, safety, play space, meeting space, and living space. The families in the Harlem Houses have higher standards of housing, measured in tangible benefits, than most of those on Park Avenue."

Another contemporary critic said of the complex:
"The whole, in detailing, looks tired – as if the creative drive and the creator's pleasure, which had sailed so triumphantly through the period of general planning and design, had suddenly failed when it came to the last, completing touches. Harlem River Houses is so generally beautiful that one longs for it to be perfect. What might have been great architecture is merely - very good."

Artist Richmond Barthé's had a public commission from the New York City's Federal Art Project for an 80-foot bas-relief in cast stone,, created for the embellishment of the Harlem River Houses complex, but upon completion, his work was installed at the Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn.

Notable residents