135 Fewer Units at Ingersoll and Whitman
The Local reports that NYCHA’s long-running renovation of the Ingersoll and Whitman Houses in Fort Greene, which is supposed to be finished by December 2012, will result in 135 fewer apartments, or 3,366 in total, according to a spokesman for the housing authority. The reduction is occurring, according to the spokesman, because many of the…
The Local reports that NYCHA’s long-running renovation of the Ingersoll and Whitman Houses in Fort Greene, which is supposed to be finished by December 2012, will result in 135 fewer apartments, or 3,366 in total, according to a spokesman for the housing authority. The reduction is occurring, according to the spokesman, because many of the apartments “did not meet standard conditions,” and some were missing kitchens or complete bathrooms. Hundreds of the complexes’ units have been vacated over the past several years, and more than a thousand families have been relocated. NYCHA couldn’t say exactly how many apartments were currently vacant, though the article says there were 411 empty units in Ingersoll that were being renovated as of late in April.
Renovations Update: Whitman and Ingersoll To Reduce Units [The Local]
Photo via.
Wow! A thread on Brownstoner that mentions a NYCHA development and only a smattering of ill-informed comments! Will wonders ever cease?
EHinBH, if you look at public housing across the country you will learn there is nothing determinant about building typology. There are “good” and “bad” mid-rises; there are good and bad garden apartments. There is no need to tear these down and nothing to be gained.
Nor will they be privitized, BrooklynGreene. The only reason people are being moved around is so the units are vacant during renovation. The sub-standard conditions (e.g.: galley kitchens) in the apartments reflect what was considered acceptable in order to construct the buildings quickly during WWII. And chris is right: it is OUTRAGEOUS how long it is taking to finish the job.
I hope that NYCHA knows that there is a long waiting lists and people have been waiting forever to move in. What they should do instead is to repair the units in order for persons, or families to move in. There has been a reduction stemming from 2003 to 2005, when they cleared out Prospect Plaza for revitalization, and the redevelopment of Markham Gardens in Staten Island. What they doing is wrong and soon, the population for the rich will increase. What will happen to the rest of us who can’t afford to live in NYC?
how is a low rise place where people have no money any different than a high rise place where people have no money? it sounds like you just want to move them out of the city. low rise projects are just as bad as high rise ones. in fact, in some cases, even worse. have you ever lived in one? i doubt you have
*rob*
Get rid of of these awful things. Great idea: Stack people a mile high in multiple buildings where nobody has any money. That always works. Ridic. Why not admit these projects were a bad idea. They should be demolished and new, low-rise garden apartments should be built — in an amount that is appropriate.
“uh, cuz it’s not Rikers?”
LOL!
Lesloaf, when even the housing authority concedes that the apartments are not up to par (no kitchens, no bathrooms in some?), you can believe that they are not simply cute, albeit humble, abodes. The renovation is not to make them nice, but just to bring some up to code, but more importantly to free up some of the space for development.
Nor does their proximity to the conspicuous wealth of FG make them safer. I, too, long thought that these were Shiny Happy Projects, until I got more clued into the drug business a small but influential number of the guys there are involved in. Last year there were, what, 3 murders in the space of a month, all outside in the middle of the day on those manicured grounds you speak of. I certainly don’t want to get hit by a random bullet walking to the library (well, funding cuts mean it’s no longer open on weekends any more), and wish these gentlemen would take their business indoors, to their own homes, and take care of matters THERE, and not out in public to bother the rest of us.
quote:
I never understood why they don’t put attractive 6-foot fencing around these complexes, with limited entry points and security booths. Guests would have to sign in and be verified by the apartment occupant. Crime would fall 90% because you couldn’t “escape” from the complex very easily.
uh, cuz it’s not Rikers?
*rob*
I walk through these projects every day. I don’t know what the apartments are like on the inside, but the grounds are fairly well maintained, and there are cute community gardens. It’s right next to Fort Greene Park, near good transportation and Metrotech. I have never felt unsafe there. They seem like very successful public housing, and I’m glad they’re being renovated.
Suburbandude: You describe a prison. You should read about the impacts of gated communities; a failed experiment meant to reduce/deter crime in “crime-ridden neighborhoods”. http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/93/gates.html
Bring it home further, read The Life and Death of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, a classic in the Urban Planning pantheon.