SPURA Matters

SPURA Matters: A 40-year Commemorative Map of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area

photo by Kara Becker

Discussions, Tours, and Exhibits to get New Yorkers talking about SPURA’s Past, Present and Future

Events

t

ts move and Essex Streets, is ls now largely e renta nDelancey r site tena Guild, claiming th e case by agreeing covered with parking.

It shows how much e th d cil sued th ers, the city settle ration. g space was never fully developed.

Parking is n te 's parishio rocess to assure in er of only one of many things that might p e west corn th r onitor th happen here yet. o n e m th rgely viewed fro x Streets, is now la ndRenko la 5 ty p Brochure Design by Christine e m ss e e E d ac was This ch spVoice/Michael muVillage elancey an w Ackerman o D h r a s e w n o , y things . It sh n g a SPURA in m f rk o a p e ith is only on pen here yet. covered w d. Parking ap

7

11

ward was the United Housing Foundation Separtners One of the city’s most effective private Park the Seward 26 Park Houses on the south (UHF). In the late 1950s, the UHF developed side of Grand St. and started work on Seward Park Extension — a 20-acre project for the north side of Grand, bounded by Essex, Delancey, and Willett. The UHF withdrew in 1961, but the city went forward in 1967 to take control of the site, clear it, and build new housing.* Most of the new units would be priced for middle-income pocketbooks, and judging from previous projects, would largely house New Yorkers of European descent. Most of the 7,000 site residents were poor and of Puerto Rican, African American, and Chinese descent. They would never be able to move back. A contest thus emerged: Who would get to live in SPURA? Over the fifties and sixties, NYC had grown more segregated by race and income. Would that continue? Or would New Yorkers find a way to build healthy communities that were inclusive rather than exclusive?

These questions have bedeviled SPURA for four decades. Some things were built, but protests, backroom deals, lawsuits, and political stand-offs have prevented development on the whole site. The Sprivate market is re-shaping the LES, but SPURA is still in tt t. & Pi . t S public hands.

Government and citizens can work together here for the public good if d Gran we can muster the imagination and political will.

Willett St. & Delancey St.

rentalSound units affordable peopleLore of moderate Pedagogy / CAAAV / CHARAS - Tu Casa Studioto/ City / io d and low incomes.

This helped a few more / h rc A Cooper Square Committee / Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association c li o th er ng the Ca witCoalition formerOld site residents move back. h the city / Good East Village Lower to East Side / Grand resentiCommunity p re , ip d sh il r u e G tn 's r t. y a r S p 4 a d to M n in t.

S d Street Settlement / Hester Street Collaborative / Indochina Sino-American g re , ente surroundin uilding on New YorkCommunity t towersCenter Artist Rendering, n b for1971 Racial and Economic Justice / Lower East Side e b/ yJews tm r a p provided llowed the three a People’s s g in v sa Mutual Housing Association / Lower East Side Tenement Museum / st a o s C ie d le of (1973). er subsi othSchool peopChurch d to n a le d The New / St. Mary’s / Pratt Center for Community b a n la its afford a few more enewal l unland ta n re d e e This empty viewed in the 1990s from Development / Two Bridges Neighborhood Council / University Settlement / lp th is he o make ed Jewish es. Th nitnear m U o c e in th the northwest corner of SPURA, w n e lo Wh ate and Urban Justice back.Center favored St.

ee Suffolk Str

By LAURIE JOHNSTON New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 31, 1971; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 35

t

Housing Complex Slated For Seward Park in '73

4

1 9 SPURA Matters is also about planning for the future — especially for a piece of the G LES called the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA). In the 1950s, all around the country, and especially in New York,Scities t were using federal “urban renewal” rand tree G dollars to solve their problems. Tax-paying individuals and businesses were leaving urban areas, and cities had less money to work with to care for 12 citizens, meet rising 2 1 expectations, and update infrastructure. A popular solution was to reclaim valuable 25 land by bulldozing old buildings in poor neighborhoods (the “slums”) to replace them with new, publicly-subsidized apartments and2educational and cultural facilities 5 for higher income residents. In NYC, residents and businesses were displaced by the hundreds of thousands. Some of the displacees were re-housed in publicly subsidized low-income projects; others were simply removed. Concerns about displacement and 25 remedies were relocation grew so severe that the city was obliged to find remedies. But often ad-hoc, varying among agencies and mayoral administrations. t Essex Stree

rst days, the plan in 1970. s heady fi of the land it in , 3 6 rest SPURA n 19 Visualizing e d th te d a n c a li The New York Times p ain com s one 17, nt to rem Wednesday, 6:30pm, New School for Social Research. also showDec. ka p a m a e tt nha n (a at a ng. Th Roundtable M r e discussion the opening oft2a new exhibition about SPURA by w , o e gsid nlow-income lo a lti-lane Llobbied for more housing in n u muActivists r e A havof the Eugene el.Lang/New School wousoldsome ay students SPURA site back.

The City Studio and Prof. Gabrielle nd Tunncould llaresidents ressw o H r. d emove n n a r s o e c g st id Bendiner-Viani. e r w b r agreed and the nHousing (NYCHA) built orth Authority Rivecity ent it PURA's East cem(1972). ispla d and West NYCHA cut off SExtension e iv ss d to SPURA a nd Seward em o asince d thInterviewed! ohThe anformer Park Oral History Project dtoSapply, e ll wayGet site tenants a a c w . o pressinvited e ey remedy for as n to re a e y d e n e a se S s E Ongoing to priority Januaryin 2009.

Are you a long-term resident of displacement to offer NYCHA L pain thethe alway was2008 no–t August didNYCHA oBut URA also tried to limit the number of about ups w in SPmemories ofhthe LES? Get your voice heard.

We’ll ask of the grohousing. housingyour . e 0 7 m 9 o 1 c greed a n in -i y d neighborhood, returnees, persuaded byabout the “tipping point” theory that w it c lo e re y die neighborhood change,acand place where you o k. Thabout the for mwhite bbied cause too many people ld movetob HA) bu908-883-0556 ilt SPURA ts lowould isKara couresidents tivcolor ts n Acof e live. Contact Becker, karabecker@gmail.com, d C si Y re the Otero v.oNYCHA mer e site off flee. Site residents so sued, setting som uth rity (N YCHA invited for of A g n si u o Hin a mediated ). N pain East Side 72by e CIty fair housing lawsuit.

Eventually, 9settlement, th and th st (1 for York SPURA Matters isebrought you Good Lower New Housing edyOld d Weto m . Authority/La Guardia and n a re ngGuardia a st a e c E ousiLa n h n Wagner Community College/ more site residents , siCommunity HAArchives, ply tensio Pratt C p a Y Exreturned.

N to (www.goles.org), Center for Development in ts te n site tena as to offer priority g plans to keep si City University of New York w (www.prattcenter.net), Lore (www.citylore.org), and int"Place ent City makin tipping po ite displacem A also was quietly " e 3 th y b h Matters, a project ofHCity Lore and Society dedMunicipal use w rsuathe caArt But NYC r woSt.uld imum, pe le The d lo in o teCatholic c aCouncil m c f a li o Grand Guild, of the p to (www.placematters.net).

Series funded by the New York for residents at too many peop setting off the com wsu . it Archdiocese of New York, partnered with la th t, g u y supportopublic the Humanities about and by the theorto housinSPURA, rd got o programs fair A to mitted towers YCH the city buildwthree dapartment to flee. W and a N ts . re v n e e d ro si ts te Mertz Gilmore Foundation Altman Foundation. n re eO site reside St. Mary’s Church (1973). saga of th ally moresurrounding tu n e v E Subsidies allowed the Guild to make the Sponsors: Ana Luisa Garcia Community Center / The Center for Urban

tree Norfolk S

d 22, University Wednesday, Settlement (6:30-9pm); Saturday, Nov. 1, ouses (1 e union collaborateOct. rd Park H iver to Essex St., th rs and a w e S d n e R b St.(1Mary's (2-4:30pm); Wednesday, Nov. 12, Grand St. Settlement m st e a 956) a Church E in es of m in 1963, from the prove the livSPURA m-its heady first days, showing the t, te e n e o tr c S e d m n o (6:30-9pm); Saturday, Nov. 22, 227rld E.. 3rd St.remain (2-4:30pm).

Jointoyour S to to im Gra be cleared for e the land thand ps aimed g for a better wobuildings ifiItedalso st co-oand ju ls a o in neighbors Pratt Center for Community Development to re-envision g new housing. shows a complicated wrinkle. iv r le st ab isagreed.vLower Manhattan (aka Broome dmulti-lane e them in ought their admir The s g r a e g n th e giant, o ; the future of SPURA. Tour the pastts with planning historian Hilary Botein, poraries th ents and site tenan St.) Expressway would have run alongside, linking the Baruch College. f tenemSessions are free and open to the public. Translation removal o East River bridges and Holland Tunnel, and cutting provided. Wheelchair accessible except St. Mary's. off SPURA’s northwest corner. One expected result?

RSVP to register@goles.org or 212-533-2541. g Massive displacement. Concerted protest helped kill showin

10

Lower East Siders rarely wait for others to plan their future for them. When community members grew2concerned about gang violence in the 1950s, they formed ome S Bro the Lower East Side Neighborhoods Association (LENA) to organize their neighbors.

13 The first thing LENA did was create a 10-foot, hand-drawn map to help community P 8 members identify problems e Street and solutions. Locals responded with unexpected Broom 6 enthusiasm. The map helped them envision the challenge. They supplied the 12 3 imagination and a willingness to get the5job done. t Essex Stree

Four Public Discussion & Visioning Sessions

treet Clinton S

Interactive Tour of Seward Park

Back to the Future in the Elevated Highway R SewardDelaPark tUrban Renewal Area ncey Stree

eet Ludlow Str

The Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union built the Amalgamated Houses (1929-31) and Hillman Houses (1949-1951). To partner with the city on urban renewal, the union organized the United Housing Foundation (UHF) in 1951 with other unions and Ongoing – from Saturday, Oct.nonprofits.

11. A self-guided, interactive tour of UHF built East River Houses (1956) and e th t SPURA by Field Play, Inc. Discover a historic site.

Send uil outside SewardanPark (1962). Ranged along Grand n bHouses ioinfo-tag rkers Unand onumber anRiver W lm g il in H a secret code totean unknown receive a text message about e th Street, from the East to Essex St., the union a d Clo (1929-31) and th wal, to estory re Amalgam d Hohistory. co-ops tonimprove thebring lives ofthe members and uses the Send in your SPURA Theneighborhood's rbanown uaimed in te te a a m ip a c tion for a better world. Some lg a ti a r d a n m p u A o o engage them in striving F T g chronicles to9date. go to nwww.kickingoverthetraces.com.

51). For info, 49-1 9up ited Housi nprofitsthought . UHF their admirable goals Un e th Messrs.

Dubinsky, Kazan, contemporaries Houses (1Leftotorgright, d e o iz n n d a n s a s Moses, Follin, Szold n n er House r unio justified of tenements and site tenants; the unio 1United Rivremoval astthe h otheFoundation E itHousing w d g il n u 5 b 9 lo a 1 ity to others ). Ranged (UHF) in 962disagreed. with the c

*Eight buildings were to remain: Henry St. Playhouse, Sages of Israel Home for the Aged, St. Mary’s Church & School, a Broome St. apartment building, Beth Jacob School, Beth Hamredash Hagadol Synagogue, Essex St. Market, and Downtown Talmud Torah.

Neighborhood Photos: The New York Public Library

E

5 7

14

13

P

16 12

11

t

4

9

22

23

25

ay dw

25

Ea

roa st B

t Essex Stree

25

26

By LAURIE JOHNSTON New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 31, 1971; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005) pg. 35

t.

Willett S

St. & Grand

rental units affordable to people of moderate

Essex St. &

t. & and S

Delancey St .

.

t Pitt S

Gr

Willett St. & Delancey St.

Map Color Coding

Building

Neighborhood Photos: The New York Public Library

24

Seward Park Area Map Legend

Housing Complex Slated For Seward Park in '73

rchdio- and low incomes. This helped a few more Catholic A e city former site residents to move back. e th g n ti n th ship with ild, represe 4 nd St. Gu ntered into partner ding St. Mary's un ,e ro rk r o Y su n o s w r e g e N Artist buildin 1971

by Rendering, tment tow three apar st savings provided allowed the o s (1973). C and other subsidie to people of d ble a n la its afford a few more enewal l unland ta n re e e This empty viewed 1990sJefrom lp th is he din the o make ed wish nitnear mes. Th U o c e in th the northwest corner of SPURA, w n e lo h d W n a . k te c a ba Essex Streets, favored St. ts move and is ls now largely e renta nDelancey a th n g te in te greeing im si r by amuch , claparking. Itthshows d se il a c u e G covered with how e d cil sued th ers, the city settle ration. g space Parking is n was never fully developed. 's parishio rocess to assure inte er of only one of many things that might p e west corn th r onitor th happen here yet. o n e from th w largely nd viewed eets, is no la tr S 5 ty x p e m ss e E d ace was This ch spVoice/Michael muVillage elancey an w Ackerman o D h r a s e w n o , y things . It sh n g a SPURA in m f rk o a p e ith is only on pen here yet. covered w d. Parking ap

Hillman Houses

x St.

12

Seward Park

r) Syna

1. (Forne

Grand St. & Es se

eet Grand Str 25

12

ing ays, show d st r fi y d its hea e land n 1963, in and the rest of th The d cate York Times mpliNew ain nt to rem also shows one co ka (a ap t2 ng. The m Lower Manhattan de, e si n g n la ilo a lt lobbied for more low-income housing in n u muActivists r e hav el. A move back. The ay wousoldsomeHsite SPURA nd Tunncould llaresidents ressw o d n a s corner. (NYCHA) built idge and the nHousing r bragreed orthwestAuthority Rivecity 's A R ent it U P cem(1972). ispla East West cut off SExtension ive dand ss d to SPURA a m nd NYCHA e o th h d o asince dtoSapply, e ll way anformer site tenants a c w o pressinvited ye. a remedy for reas n e to epriority etoeyoffer se S andofadisplacement s y was in NYCHA LEpain a lw thethe a not didNYCHA SPURA also tried to limit the number of ups whoBut grohousing. housing in y agreed . e 0 7 m 9 o 1 c n in -i d returnees, persuaded by the “tipping point” theory w that ck. The cit y die ore lo a for mwhite bied cause b lo too many people of color would residents ld movetob HA) built SPURA u ts o is c v ts n Acti e d C si Y re the Otero v.oNYCHA mer e site off flee. Site residents so sued, setting som uth rity (N YCHA invited for of A g n si u o pain 72). N fair housing lawsuit. Eventually, the CIty and the Hinnadmediated for York Housing West (19settlement, edy New m . Authority/La Guardia and a re ngGuardia a st a e c E ousiLa n h n Wagner Community College/ more site residents HAArchives, ply, si tensio C p a Y Exreturned.

N to in ts te n site tena as to offer priority g plans to keep si City University of New York int" ent w makin tipping po ite displacem A also was quietly " e 3 th y b ed wh H But NYC minimum, persuad color would cause ated cthe Catholic f a li o The Grand St. Guild, of p to le residents at too many peop setting off the com wsuit.

Archdiocese of New York, partnered with la th t, g u o theory housin fairbuild Word got Nthe A . ted towers e H e it fl C m Y city to three apartment d to a ts were n residents a of the Otero v. e d si re site St. Mary’s Church (1973). sag y moresurrounding Eventuall Subsidies allowed the Guild to make the

17

lik Luther Gud n u ro g y Pla

15

eet Grand Str

East River bridges and Holland Tunnel, and cutting off SPURA’s northwest corner. One expected result?

Massive displacement. Concerted protest helped kill the plan in 1970.

21

treet Broome S

ee Suffolk Str

3

19 18

t

1

6

20

oker Place eet/Bialyst Willett Str

10

8

treet Broome S

Street

Pitt Street

2

Delancey et Ridge Stre

tree Norfolk S

treet Clinton S

Street Delancey

t Essex Stree

d s (1 union collaborate eward Park House ex St., the s and ss E to S r d e n ber in its heady first days, showing the (1956) a from the East Riv e livSPURA s of meinm1963, e t, th e e e onteme cremain Grand Str s aimed to improv er wobuildings ld. Somto r e the land to be cleared for thand tt p e stifiItedalso co-o rab ju fo ls a g o in g new housing. shows a complicated wrinkle. iv r le dmirab em in st isagreed.vLower Manhattan (aka Broome ers dmulti-lane th engage th ries thought their a tenantsThe giant, o ; pora and site St.) Expressway would have run alongside, linking the tenements f o l a v o rem

mp ighway Ra Elevated H

eet Ludlow Str

The Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union built the Amalgamated Houses (1929-31) and Hillman Houses (1949-1951). To partner with the city on urban renewal, the union organized the United Housing Foundation (UHF) in 1951 with other unions and nonprofits. UHF built East River Houses (1956) and uilt the(1962). Ranged along Grand Seward ion bHouses UnPark s r e rk o W lmanRiver to Essex St., the union g HilEast the the d Clothin 929-3Street, andfrom te ) a 1 m a lg a ewal, the lives of members and tonimprove The Am rban re uaimed Houses (1 cipaco-ops d in te te a m a lg ti r dation for a better world. Some Ama g Fouinnstriving sinthem 51). To pa ited engage u 9 o -1 H 9 4 9 . UHF their admirable goals the Un Messrs.

Dubinsky, Kazan, contemporaries Houses (1Leftotorgright, onprofitsthought izedMoses, n n d a n s a s Follin, Szold n n er House r unio justified of tenements and site tenants; the unio 1United Rivremoval astthe h otheFoundation E itHousing w d g il n u 5 b 9 lo a 1 ity to others ). Ranged (UHF) in 962disagreed. with the c

Parking/ Development Area

1. Seward Park High School 350 Grand St. 2. (Former) Essex Street Market 3. Seward Park Extension West (NYCHA) 64-66 Essex St. 4. Coalition for Human Housing Day Care 60 Essex St. 5. Hong Ning Senior Apartments 50 Norfolk St 6. (Former) Synagogue Beth Hamedrash Hagodol 7. Pre-SPURA Apartment Building 384 Grand St. 8. Angel Aerial Movie Equipment (Former Firehouse) 9. Pre-SPURA Apartment Buildings (partially occupied) 400-402 Grand St. 10. Seward Park Extension East (NYCHA) 150 Broome St. 11. Commercial Strip 12. Grand Street Guild House #1 410 Grand St. 13.Pre-SPURA Apartment Building 157 Broome St. 14. Little Star of Broome Street Day Care 131-151 Broome St. 15. Saint Mary’s Church and Rectory 440 Grand St. 16.Grand Street Guild House #2 131 Broome St. 17. Grand Street Guild House #3 460 Grand St. 18. Beth Jacob School 142 Broome St. 19. 7th Precinct Police Station/“Fort Pitt” Firehouse (Ladder 18, Engine 15, Battalion 4) 19 Pitt St. 20. New East Side Nursing Home (formerly Sages of Israel) 25 Willett St. 21. LEJB & Golda Orenstein Building (UJC/Bialystoker) 17 Willett St. 22. Bialystoker Synagogue 7-11 Willett St. 23. Henry Street Settlement Playhouse 466 Grand St. 24. Henry Street Settlement Abrons Art Center 25. Seward Park Houses 26. Seward Park Library

1.

35 2.

3 6 4

Events Interactive Tour of Seward Park

Ongoing – from Saturday, Oct. 11. A self-guided, interactive tour of SPURA by Field Play, Inc. Discover an info-tag outside a historic site. Send a secret code to an unknown number and receive a text message about the neighborhood's history. Send in your own story to bring the SPURA chronicles up to date. For info, go to www.kickingoverthetraces.com.

Four Public Discussion & Visioning Sessions

Wednesday, Oct. 22, University Settlement (6:30-9pm); Saturday, Nov. 1, St. Mary's Church (2-4:30pm); Wednesday, Nov. 12, Grand St. Settlement (6:30-9pm); Saturday, Nov. 22, 227 E. 3rd St. (2-4:30pm). Join your neighbors and Pratt Center for Community Development to re-envision the future of SPURA. Tour the past with planning historian Hilary Botein, Baruch College. Sessions are free and open to the public. Translation provided. Wheelchair accessible except St. Mary's.

RSVP to register@goles.org or 212-533-2541.

Visualizing SPURA

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 6:30pm, New School for Social Research.

Roundtable discussion at the opening of a new exhibition about SPURA by students of the Eugene Lang/New School City Studio and Prof. Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani.

Get Interviewed! The Seward Park Oral History Project

Ongoing – August 2008 to January 2009. Are you a long-term resident of the LES? Get your voice heard. We’ll ask about your memories of the neighborhood, about neighborhood change, and about the place where you live. Contact Kara Becker, karabecker@gmail.com, 908-883-0556

SPURA Matters is brought to you by Good Old Lower East Side (www.goles.org), Pratt Center for Community Development (www.prattcenter.net), City Lore (www.citylore.org), and Place Matters, a project of City Lore and the Municipal Art Society (www.placematters.net). Series funded by the New York Council for the Humanities to support public programs about SPURA, and by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Altman Foundation.

Sponsors: Ana Luisa Garcia Community Center / The Center for Urban

Pedagogy / CAAAV / CHARAS - Tu Casa Sound Studio / City Lore / Cooper Square Committee / Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association / East Village Community Coalition / Good Old Lower East Side / Grand Street Settlement / Hester Street Collaborative / Indochina Sino-American Community Center / Jews for Racial and Economic Justice / Lower East Side People’s Mutual Housing Association / Lower East Side Tenement Museum / The New School / St. Mary’s Church / Pratt Center for Community Development / Two Bridges Neighborhood Council / University Settlement / Urban Justice Center

Brochure Design by Christine Renko