Frederick Douglass Houses

The Frederick Douglass Houses are a public housing project located in the New York City borough of Manhattan, in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood of Upper West Side, named for civil rights pioneer Frederick Douglass. The actual buildings are located between 100th Street and 104th Street, to the east of Amsterdam Avenue and the west of Manhattan Avenue. The complex is owned and operated by the New York City Housing Authority.

The original portion of the complex consists of 17 buildings — 5, 9, 12, 17, 18, and 20-stories tall — completed on May 31, 1958 on a convert|21.76|acre|m2|sing=on site. The development includes 2,054 apartments housing some 4,588 residents. The Frederick Douglass Addition, completed on June 30, 1965, is a 16-story building with 306 residents on convert|.55|acre|m2|sing=on on Amsterdam Avenue between West 102nd and West 103rd Streets. [ [http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/developments/mandouglass.shtml Douglass Houses] , New York City Housing Authority. Accessed January 29, 2008.]

Development

The development was approved by the New York City Planning Commission on February 7, 1952, as a low-rent housing project to be erected on a convert|22.5|acre|m2|sing=on site bounded by Manhattan Avenue, Amsterdam Avenue and West 100th and 104th Streets. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E1EF8395E107A93C5A91789D85F468585F9&scp=1&sq=%22Frederick+Douglass+Houses%22&st=p "PLAN BOARD BACKS DOUGLASS HOUSES; Huge Manhattantown Project Opposed by Area Residents as Too Costly for Them"] , "The New York Times", February 7, 1952. Accessed January 29, 2008.]

The Frederick Douglass Playground covers convert|1.945|acre|m2, on Amsterdam Avenue between 100th and 102nd Streets. Land for the playground was acquired by the city in 1954, and the playground was opened on September 10, 1958. The New York City Board of Estimate transferred the property from the New York City Housing Authority to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in August 1962, which still is responsible for management of the park. [ [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=7948 Frederick Douglass Playground] , New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed January 29, 2008.]

History

As a result of previous incidents, many local restaurants and fast food chains refuse to deliver take-out orders to the doors of residents, requiring that customers meet the delivery person at the ground floor. [Kugel, Seth. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E4DF1538F931A35751C0A9659C8B63&scp=2&sq=%22Frederick+Douglass+Houses%22&st=nyt "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: NEW YORK UP CLOSE; Where Deliverers Of Food Fear To Pedal"] , "The New York Times", February 2, 2003. Accessed January 29, 2008.]

Two residents were killed in a November 1995 fire, when a couch left in a stairway vestibule caught fire and flames swept up the stairwell to the roof of the building. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03EEDF1739F937A35752C1A963958260&scp=24&sq=%22Frederick+Douglass+Houses%22&st=nyt "Two Die in Blaze at the Upper West Side"] , "The New York Times", November 4, 1995. Accessed January 29, 2008.] The NYCHA was criticized by the New York City Council for fires related to its use of paint in stairwells deemed unsafe by the New York City Fire Department, focusing on the incident at the Douglass Houses. [Kennedy, Shawn G. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E6D81339F930A15752C1A963958260&scp=4&sq=%22Frederick+Douglass+Houses%22&st=nyt "Housing Chief Faulted on Use Of Paint Cited in Stair Fires"] , "The New York Times", November 23, 1995. Accessed January 29, 2008.]

Despite signs of improvement in the early 1990s in the surrounding area, the Frederick Douglass Houses were a stubborn and persistent site of drug dealing as the crack epidemic was continuing during that period. [Nieves, Evelyn. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5DE1231F936A15751C1A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 "Manhattan Valley's Long Awaited Boom Ends Up Just a Fizzle"] , "The New York Times", December 25, 1990. Accessed January 29, 2008.]

Notable residents

*Stephan Dweck, humorist.
*Monteria Ivey (1960-2001), host of PBS game show "Think Twice".Martin, Douglas. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E3DE1231F935A15751C1A9679C8B63&scp=9&sq=%22Frederick+Douglass+Houses%22&st=nyt "Monteria Ivey, 41, Humorist, Author and Radio Personality"] , "The New York Times", December 26, 2001. Accessed January 29, 2008. "Monteria Henry Ivey was born in Manhattan on May 6, 1960, and spent his early years in Suffolk, Va., with his grandmother.... He and Mr. Dweck lived at the Frederick Douglass Houses, a city housing project on West 102nd Street in Manhattan."]

References