Amsterdam Houses
{{short description|Public housing development in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Amsterdam Houses
| official_name =
| other_name =
| settlement_type = NYCHA property
| image_skyline = Amsterdam Houses W63 jeh.JPG
| imagesize = 300px
| image_caption = Amsterdam Houses, at southeast corner of West End Avenue and 63d Street (2008)
| nickname =
| motto =
| image_map = {{maplink|frame=y|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-lat=40.773139|frame-long=-73.986444|zoom=9|type=point|coord={{coord|40.773139|-73.986444}}}}
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location in New York City
| image_map1 =
| mapsize1 =
| map_caption1 =
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_label_position =
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| coordinates = {{coord|40.773139|-73.986444|type:city_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint =
| coordinates_footnotes =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = United States
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_type2 = City
| subdivision_type3 = Borough
| subdivision_name1 = New York
| subdivision_name2 = New York City
| subdivision_name3 = Manhattan
| unit_pref = Imperial
| area_footnotes = {{cite web |last= |first= |title=Amsterdam Houses Area |url=https://my.nycha.info/DevPortal/Portal|access-date=November 7, 2019 }}
| area_total_sq_mi = 0.001
| population_total = 334 {{cite web|last=|first=|title=Amsterdam Houses Population|url=https://my.nycha.info/DevPortal/Portal/DevelopmentData}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_note =
| postal_code_type = ZIP codes
| postal_code = 10025, 10023
| area_codes = 212, 332, 646, and 917
| website = {{URL|https://my.nycha.info/DevPortal/}}
| footnotes =
| blank_name = Average household income
| blank_info =
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
The Amsterdam Houses is a housing project in New York City that was established in the borough of Manhattan in 1948. The project consists of 13 buildings with over 1,000 apartment units. It covers a 9-acre expanse of the Upper West Side, and is bordered by West 61st and West 64th Streets, from Amsterdam Avenue to West End Avenue, with a 175-apartment addition that was completed in 1974 on West 65th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and West End Avenue. It is owned and managed by New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).{{Cite web|url=https://my.nycha.info/DevPortal/Home/Index/?redirectUrl=/DevPortal/Portal/DevelopmentData?|title=MyNYCHA Developments Portal|website=my.nycha.info|access-date=2019-06-26}}{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/Amsterdam.pdf|title=Amsterdam & Amsterdam Addition}}
History
The Amsterdam Houses were created on land that was once tenement buildings and were created for residents to have a higher standard of living. Three playgrounds were built for children of various ages and the development housed a nursery, gymnasium, clinic and a community center. With the opening of Lincoln Center in the 1960s, the neighborhood began to gentrify and saw many older residents retaining their apartments; by 2016, 70% of heads of households were over the age of 62.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mpsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |title=Affordable Housing in New York: The People, Places, and Policies That Transformed a City |editor-last1=Bloom |editor-first1=Nicholas Dagen |editor-last2=Lasner |editor-first2=Matthew Gordon |date=2016 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |chapter=Amsterdam Houses |first=Fritz |last=Umbach |pages=104-106 |isbn=9780691167817 |language=en}} The demographics living in this development were initially mixed, as it served to house post-war families in affordable housing. By no later than 2004, mostly black families occupied the Amsterdam Houses.{{Cite news |title=The Neighborhood Ties That Still Bind |last=Kilgannon |first=Corey |date=2004-08-02 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/02/nyregion/the-neighborhood-ties-that-still-bind.html |access-date=2016-10-27 |url-access=subscription |issn=0362-4331}}
Notable people
- barbara62, famous groundbreaking female graffiti artist{{Cite web |date=2010-03-01 |title=Barbara-62 |url=https://weber-street-photography.com/tag/barbara-62/ |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=Black and White Street Photographs of New York City by Matt Weber |language=en}}
- Erik Estrada (born 1949), actor known for his role on CHiPs{{spaces|thin}}
- Daphne Maxwell Reid (born 1948), actress known for her role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air{{spaces|thin}}{{Cite magazine |title=Which NYC Housing Projects Have Produced the Most Famous People?Amsterdam Houses |first=Julian |last=Kimble |date=2013-09-26 |magazine=Complex |url=http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/09/which-nyc-housing-projects-have-produced-the-most-famous-people/amsterdam-houses |access-date=2016-10-27}}