1199 Plaza

The 1199 Plaza traces its roots to organizing led by the 1199 union, a hospital worker's union that consisted primarily of women of color.{{cite journal | last=Botein | first=Hilary | title=Visions of community: post-war housing projects of Local 3, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Local 1199, Hospital Workers Union | journal=Planning Perspectives | volume=24 | issue=2 | date=2009 | issn=0266-5433 | doi=10.1080/02665430902734293 | pages=187–190}} Housing was a top priority for 1199 union members, who wanted to integrate in to an existing community rather than to develop exclusionary housing for union members only. The union's leader, Leon J. Davis had initially planned to integrate the 1199 union members in to a predominantly White, middle-class neighborhood, but by the time funding had been secured for the project, the increasingly non-White, working-class East Harlem neighborhood had been selected.

In 1963, the Ruberoid company sponsored a competition for the design of a subsidized housing project along an uninhabited strip of the East River. The project was envisioned by architect Thomas Hodne, the New York City Hall, and the Local 1199 union. The housing project model was still considered a viable path to revitalization in the 1960s.

At the outset, the project would consist of densely situated six story buildings with an open street grid. However, the project's sponsor rejected this plan. Many members of the Local 1199 Union already lived in such housing, and felt that it lacked sunlight, security, and views of the East River enjoyed by middle-class and luxury high-rise housing.

In 1968, a new hybrid plan was agreed upon by the architects and the union. The project would consist of four towers, each 32 stories tall, with 1,594 housing units. These structures would be joined by mid-rise units with a stepped-slope construction which extended toward the riverbank, giving the complexes a distinctive "U"-shape.{{cite news |last1=Goldberger |first1=Paul |title=First-Rate Housing Opens in Harlem |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/02/archives/firstrate-housing-opens-in-harlem.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 2, 1974 |page=33 |access-date=June 14, 2024}} The development would include storefronts, health and daycare centers, a meeting hall, a gym, and a pool. Excellent views of the river, as well as abundant sunlight, were afforded by the design of this complex.

Funding for the 1199 Plaza came primarily from the New York State Mitchell-Lama Housing Program, however, federal and local funds were also acquired.{{cite book | last=Gold | first=R. | title=When Tenants Claimed the City: The Struggle for Citizenship in New York City Housing | publisher=University of Illinois Press | series=Women, Gender, and Sexuality in American History | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-252-09598-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C7kPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 | page=237-239}} Women played an outsized role in the project's development. It took four years to construct at a cost of $80 million.

The total area of the 1199 Plaza complex is 12 acres.{{cite book |last1=Zipp |first1=Samuel |title=Manhattan Projects: The Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal in Cold War New York |date=24 May 2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975070-2 |page=339 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aKhoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA339 |language=en}}

File:1199 Plaza 1.jpg

The 1199 Plaza was completed in 1974. At that time, monthly rent was $145 per month for two rooms. The maximum income allowed for single tenants was $9,736, and $20,000 for two adults with children.

At the time, 1199 Plaza was louded for its quality. Room sizes were described as "ample", in contrast to other examples of high-density public housing. The high-rise buildings had small apartments, while the mid-rise buildings had larger apartments, for families.

In 1976, the 1199 Plaza received the Albert S. Bard Award for architecture.{{cite news | title=Urban Oases Hailed in Annual Bard Awards | work=The New York Times | date=June 16, 1976 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/16/archives/urban-oases-hailed-in-annual-bard-awards.html | page=35 | access-date=June 14, 2024}}

Despite the ambitious nature of the project, the 1199 Plaza did not revitalize East Harlem.{{cite book |last1=Sharman |first1=Russell Leigh |title=The Tenants of East Harlem |date=August 3, 2006 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-93954-7 |page=179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Rf53eKwyT0C&pg=PA179 |language=en}} Nevertheless, Richard Plunz described the 1199 Plaza as "exceptionally successful".{{cite book | last=Plunz | first=R. | title=A History of Housing in New York City | publisher=Columbia University Press | series=Columbia History of Urban Life | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-231-54310-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcKlDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA302 | access-date=June 12, 2024 | via=Google Books | page=302}} In the 1980s, crime in the area had risen by 41%, and by the year 1993, the 1199 Plaza was as stigmatized as any other housing project in East Harlem. 1199 resident Arohn Kee was active as a serial killer in the early 1990s; at least two of his victims, Rasheeda Washington and Paola illera, also lived at the same complex.{{cite news |last1=McKinley |first1=James |title=East Harlem Mourns Girl, 13, Whose Killing Baffles Police |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/27/nyregion/east-harlem-mourns-girl-13-whose-killing-baffles-police.html |work=The New York Times |date=27 January 1991}}{{cite journal |last1=Roane |first1=Kit R. |title=Murder Suspect Found With Missing Girl |journal=The New York Times |date=20 February 1999 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/20/nyregion/murder-suspect-found-with-missing-girl.html |issn=0362-4331}}

Yet by the mid-1990s, crime had fallen, identically, by 41%. Michael Shapiro wrote that by the 1990s, the 1199 Plaza had cleaned up its image, and began offering apartments to higher-income renters, signifying its new hybrid status as an apartment complex for low, middle and high income residents.

As late as the 2010s, many of the earliest tenants of the 1199 Plaza still resided there.

• Arohn Kee, serial killer. Two of his victims (Rasheeda Washington and Paola Illera) also resided at the complex.
• Damon Dash, founder of Roc-a-Fella records.{{cite news |title=Roc Nation’s co-presidents grew up in the same East Harlem apartment complex as Damon Dash and interned for Beyoncé’s longtime publicist. Here’s how they worked their way to the C-suite |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/roc-nation-co-presidents-grew-181433980.html |work=Yahoo Finance}}
• Cam'ron, rapper

{{Portal|Organized labor}}

• 1199: The National Health Care Workers' Union
• Leon J. Davis

{{reflist}}

Category:1970s architecture in the United States

Category:First Avenue (Manhattan)

Category:East Harlem

Category:Towers completed in 1974