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Knickerbocker Village Limited is a housing development in Manhattan, New York City. It is situated between the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge, in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side. Although the location was generally considered to fall in the Lower East Side, it has come to be thought of as part of Chinatown in recent years and the majority of residents are Chinese.^[1] It is located a short distance from New York City Hall, Civic Center, and the South Street Seaport. The complex consists of 1,590 apartments in twelve 13-story brick buildings surrounding two courtyards.

Location

The development is located at 10-12-14-16-18-20 Monroe Street and 30-32-34-36-38-40 Monroe Street, taking up two whole city blocks and bounded by Catherine Street, Monroe Street, Market Street, and Cherry Street. It is in ZIP Code 10002.

History

Real estate developer Fred F. French began construction of Knickerbocker Village in 1933 and completed it in 1934, during the Great Depression.^[2] The site was previously home to one hundred buildings that were deemed slums and torn down.^[3] These actions were later criticized as some of the earliest gentrification in Manhattan.^[4]

When the United States Congress authorized the RFC to make loans on slum clearance projects, French picked out the worst block in his holdings and presented it as a worthy subject for clearance.^[4] His choice was "Lung Block," so called because of its high tuberculosis mortality rate, where 650 families lived.^[1] French proposed to build a low-cost housing project. RFC lent 97% of the required $10 million. It was the first apartment development in the United States to receive federal funding.^[3] The average cost of "Lung Block" to Knickerbocker Village was high: $3.116 million, or $14 per square foot. The development's tax assessment was reduced by two-thirds to bring the monthly room rental down to the $12.50 stipulated by the RFC. Because the average rental before construction of the development had been about $5 a room, Knickerbocker Village no longer served the same low-income families that had lived in the "Lung Block" housing.^[5] It provided 1,590 small apartments primarily to small middle-income families.^[6] Eighty-two percent of the families who moved into the apartments were soon forced to move back to the slums they had left because of escalating rents.^{[citation needed]}

Due to French's poor actions as a landlord, the complex became known for its tenant organizing activities and creation of some of the first landlord-tenant laws and the current rent control regulations.^[7]^[8]^[9]

After fifty years, French sold the complex to new owners in the 1970s.

21st century

The property suffered severe damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and ultimately received significant funds from the city's "Build it Back" program.^[10]^[11] The complex became one of the first affordable housing complexes with facial recognition technology.^[9] A tax break in 2019 put an end to a five year fight to prevent a significant rent increase that would have made the property unaffordable to most tenants.^[12]

Notable residents

Notable residents have included:

Cheng Chui Ping, 'Snakehead', human smuggler lived at 14 Monroe Street in the 1980s-early 1990s.^[13]
Mark Olf, the Jewish folksinger and Folkways recording artist
Peter C. Rhodes, reporter and writer
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later executed, lived on the eleventh floor in 10 Monroe Street at Knickerbocker Village.^[7]
Frederik Pohl, the American editor and writer.^[14]
Benjamin Ruggiero of the Bonanno crime family, portrayed by Al Pacino in the movie Donnie Brasco^[15]
Tony Mirra, caporegime of the Bonanno crime family
Robert Perrino, murdered superintendent of deliveries at the New York Post and associate of the Bonanno crime family
Joseph D'Amico, Bonanno crime family mobster
Alfred Embarrato, caporegime of the Bonanno crime family
Nicholas Marangello, underboss of the Bonanno crime family
Richard Cantarella, caporegime of the Bonanno crime family

References

^ ^a ^b "Yellow Fever and Red Scare: the Very Colorful History of Knickerbocker Village". Bedford + Bowery. December 31, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ Mele, Christopher (2000). Selling the Lower East Side: Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in New York City. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 97, 105. ISBN 978-0-8166-3182-7.
^ ^a ^b Hughes, C. J. (December 6, 2017). "Two Bridges: Once Quiet, Now at the Edge of Change". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Schwartz, Joel (1993). The New York Approach: Robert Moses, Urban Liberals, and Redevelopment of the Inner City. Ohio State University Press. pp. 35, 114. ISBN 978-0-8142-0587-7.
^ Levine, Lucie (April 25, 2019). "The Lower East Side's forgotten Lung Block: The Italian community lost to 'slum clearance'". Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ Bradley, Elizabeth L. (May 27, 2009). Knickerbocker: The Myth behind New York. Rutgers University Press. pp. 128, 133. ISBN 978-0-8135-4862-3.
^ ^a ^b Lopate, Phillip (March 1, 2004). "Knickerbocker Village". Mr. Beller's Neighborhood. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
^ Morrison, James (1998). "Who in the World Was Fred F. French?". Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Kim, Elizabeth (September 18, 2019). "'We're Like Guinea Pigs': How An Affordable Lower East Side Complex Got Facial Recognition". Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ Litvak, Ed (December 17, 2013). "14 Months After Sandy, Rent Rebates Coming to Knickerbocker Village". The Lo-Down: News from the Lower East Side. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019. – with image
^ Robinson, Edric (October 27, 2021). "A look back at improvements made to a Sandy-impacted Manhattan development". Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ Spivack, Caroline (November 1, 2019). "Lower East Side complex gets $3M tax break to preserve affordable apartments". Retrieved October 29, 2021.
^ "Where the Snakehead Slithered". New York Media LLC.
^ The Way the Future Was: A Memoir, Ballantine, 1978.
^ Walters, Christopher (April 16, 2015). "Catherine Street & Monroe Street (Knickerbocker Village)". Corner By Corner. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2019. – with images

External links

Media related to Knickerbocker Village at Wikimedia Commons
"Knickerbocker Village". Museum of the City of New York. Retrieved April 14, 2019.

40°42′41″N 73°59′40″W / 40.71150°N 73.99440°W / 40.71150; -73.99440

[bandb-1] "Yellow Fever and Red Scare: the Very Colorful History of Knickerbocker Village". Bedford + Bowery. December 31, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2021.

[mele-2] Mele, Christopher (2000). Selling the Lower East Side: Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in New York City. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 97, 105. ISBN 978-0-8166-3182-7.

[hughes-3] Hughes, C. J. (December 6, 2017). "Two Bridges: Once Quiet, Now at the Edge of Change". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 29, 2021.

[joel-4] Schwartz, Joel (1993). The New York Approach: Robert Moses, Urban Liberals, and Redevelopment of the Inner City. Ohio State University Press. pp. 35, 114. ISBN 978-0-8142-0587-7.

[Levine-5] Levine, Lucie (April 25, 2019). "The Lower East Side's forgotten Lung Block: The Italian community lost to 'slum clearance'". Retrieved October 29, 2021.

[bradley-6] Bradley, Elizabeth L. (May 27, 2009). Knickerbocker: The Myth behind New York. Rutgers University Press. pp. 128, 133. ISBN 978-0-8135-4862-3.

[lopate-7] Lopate, Phillip (March 1, 2004). "Knickerbocker Village". Mr. Beller's Neighborhood. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2019.

[Morrison-8] Morrison, James (1998). "Who in the World Was Fred F. French?". Retrieved October 29, 2021.

[kim-9] Kim, Elizabeth (September 18, 2019). "'We're Like Guinea Pigs': How An Affordable Lower East Side Complex Got Facial Recognition". Retrieved October 29, 2021.

[10] Litvak, Ed (December 17, 2013). "14 Months After Sandy, Rent Rebates Coming to Knickerbocker Village". The Lo-Down: News from the Lower East Side. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019. – with image

[Robinson-11] Robinson, Edric (October 27, 2021). "A look back at improvements made to a Sandy-impacted Manhattan development". Retrieved October 29, 2021.

[spivack-12] Spivack, Caroline (November 1, 2019). "Lower East Side complex gets $3M tax break to preserve affordable apartments". Retrieved October 29, 2021.

[13] "Where the Snakehead Slithered". New York Media LLC.

[14] The Way the Future Was: A Memoir, Ballantine, 1978.

[15] Walters, Christopher (April 16, 2015). "Catherine Street & Monroe Street (Knickerbocker Village)". Corner By Corner. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2019. – with images

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{short description|Public housing development in Manhattan, New York}}
 {{Other uses|Knickerbocker (disambiguation){{!}}Knickerbocker}}
-{{Multiple issues|
-{{refimprove|date=September 2014}}
-{{original research|date=December 2010}}
-}}
 [[File:Knickerbocker Village and Lower Manhattan - altered.jpg |thumb|450px|Knickerbocker Village]]
-'''Knickerbocker Village Limited''' is a lower middle class housing development situated between the [[Manhattan Bridge]] and [[Brooklyn Bridge]], in the [[Two Bridges, Manhattan|Two Bridges]] section of the [[Lower East Side]] of [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]. Although the location was generally considered to fall in the [[Lower East Side]], it has come to be thought of as part of [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Chinatown]] in recent years. It is located a short distance from [[New York City Hall]], and the [[South Street Seaport]]. The complex consists of 1,590 apartments in twelve 13-story brick buildings surrounding two courtyards at 10-12-14-16-18-20 Monroe Street and 30-32-34-36-38-40 Monroe Street on the Lower East Side, taking up two whole city blocks and bounded by Catherine Street, Monroe Street, Market Street, and Cherry Street. Knickerboker Village is in [[ZIP Code]] 10002.
+'''Knickerbocker Village Limited''' is a housing development in [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]. It is situated between the [[Manhattan Bridge]] and [[Brooklyn Bridge]], in the [[Two Bridges, Manhattan|Two Bridges]] section of the [[Lower East Side]]. Although the location was generally considered to fall in the [[Lower East Side]], it has come to be thought of as part of [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Chinatown]] in recent years and the majority of residents are Chinese.<ref name="bandb">{{Cite web |date=2014-12-31 |title=Yellow Fever and Red Scare: the Very Colorful History of Knickerbocker Village |url=https://bedfordandbowery.com/2014/12/yellow-fever-and-red-scare-the-very-colorful-history-of-knickerbocker-village/ |access-date=2021-10-29 |website=Bedford + Bowery |language=en-US}}</ref> It is located a short distance from [[New York City Hall]], [[Civic Center, Manhattan|Civic Center]], and the [[South Street Seaport]]. The complex consists of 1,590 apartments in twelve 13-story brick buildings surrounding two courtyards.
-==History ==
+== Location ==
+The development is located at 10-12-14-16-18-20 Monroe Street and 30-32-34-36-38-40 Monroe Street, taking up two whole city blocks and bounded by Catherine Street, Monroe Street, Market Street, and Cherry Street. It is in [[ZIP Code]] 10002.
-The real estate developer [[Fred F. French]] began construction of Knickerbocker Village in 1933 and completed it in 1934. As a project of the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]] (RFC), which [[United States Congress|Congress]] authorized to extend loans to private developers for the construction of low-income housing in slum areas, Knickerbocker Village was the first apartment development in the United States to receive federal funding, with 98% of the money from the project going to the Knickerbocker Village. It provided 1,590 small apartments primarily to small middle-income families. The RFC was supposed to help revive the construction industry and increase the supply of low-income housing in New York.
+== History ==
-When the [[United States Congress]] authorized the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation|RFC]] to make loans on [[Slum clearance in the United States|slum clearance]] projects, French picked out the worst block in his holdings and presented it as a worthy subject for clearance. His choice was "Lung Block," so called because of its high tuberculosis mortality rate, where 650 families lived.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bedfordandbowery.com/2014/12/yellow-fever-and-red-scare-the-very-colorful-history-of-knickerbocker-village/ |website=Bedford+Bowery |title=Yellow Fever and Red Scare: the Very Colorful History of Knickerbocker Village |at=para. 19 |date=December 31, 2014 |author-last=Smythies |author-first=Giulia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107051322/http://bedfordandbowery.com/2014/12/yellow-fever-and-red-scare-the-very-colorful-history-of-knickerbocker-village/ |archive-date=2016-01-07 |url-status=live |access-date=2019-04-17}}</ref> French proposed to build a low-cost housing project. RFC lent 97% of the required $10 million. The average cost of "Lung Block" to Knickerbocker Village was high: $3.116 million, or $14 per square foot. The development's tax assessment was reduced by two-thirds to bring the monthly room rental down to the $12.50 stipulated by the RFC. Because the average rental before construction of the development had been about $5 a room, Knickerbocker Village no longer served the same low-income families that had lived in the "Lung Block" housing. It was filled with white collar workers. Eighty-two percent of the families who moved into the apartments were soon forced to move back to the slums they had left because of escalating rents.{{cn|date=April 2019}}
+Real estate developer [[Fred F. French]] began construction of Knickerbocker Village in 1933 and completed it in 1934, during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="mele">{{Cite book |last=Mele |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sewf0r5An-wC&dq=%2522Knickerbocker+Village%2522&pg=PA97 |title=Selling the Lower East Side: Culture, Real Estate, and Resistance in New York City |date=2000 |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-3182-7 |pages=97, 105 |language=en}}</ref> The site was previously home to one hundred buildings that were deemed slums and torn down.<ref name="hughes">{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=C. J. |date=2017-12-06 |title=Two Bridges: Once Quiet, Now at the Edge of Change |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/realestate/living-in-two-bridges-lower-east-side.html |access-date=2021-10-29 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> These actions were later criticized as some of the earliest gentrification in Manhattan.<ref name="joel">{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Joel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oy3rUgKAWrYC&dq=%2522Knickerbocker+Village%2522&pg=PA34 |title=The New York Approach: Robert Moses, Urban Liberals, and Redevelopment of the Inner City |date=1993 |publisher=Ohio State University Press |isbn=978-0-8142-0587-7 |pages=35,114 |language=en}}</ref>
+When the [[United States Congress]] authorized the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation|RFC]] to make loans on [[Slum clearance in the United States|slum clearance]] projects, French picked out the worst block in his holdings and presented it as a worthy subject for clearance.<ref name="joel"/> His choice was "Lung Block," so called because of its high tuberculosis mortality rate, where 650 families lived.<ref name="bandb"/> French proposed to build a low-cost housing project. RFC lent 97% of the required $10 million. It was the first apartment development in the United States to receive federal funding.<ref name="hughes"/> The average cost of "Lung Block" to Knickerbocker Village was high: $3.116 million, or $14 per square foot. The development's tax assessment was reduced by two-thirds to bring the monthly room rental down to the $12.50 stipulated by the RFC. Because the average rental before construction of the development had been about $5 a room, Knickerbocker Village no longer served the same low-income families that had lived in the "Lung Block" housing.<ref name="Levine">{{Cite news |last=Levine |first=Lucie |date=2019-04-25 |title=The Lower East Side's forgotten Lung Block: The Italian community lost to 'slum clearance' |language=en-US |url=https://www.6sqft.com/the-lower-east-sides-forgotten-lung-block-the-italian-community-lost-to-slum-clearance/ |access-date=2021-10-29}}</ref> It provided 1,590 small apartments primarily to small middle-income families.<ref name="bradley">{{Cite book |last=Bradley |first=Elizabeth L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EU1Aug4nKkAC&dq=%2522Knickerbocker+Village%2522&pg=PA128 |title=Knickerbocker: The Myth behind New York |date=2009-05-27 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-4862-3 |pages=128, 133 |language=en}}</ref> Eighty-two percent of the families who moved into the apartments were soon forced to move back to the slums they had left because of escalating rents.{{cn|date=April 2019}}
-There was a cooperatively run Nursery School started by young mothers and wives of returning World War II Veterans.
+Due to French's poor actions as a landlord, the complex became known for its tenant organizing activities and creation of some of the first landlord-tenant laws and the current rent control regulations.<ref name=lopate/><ref name="Morrison">{{Cite news |last=Morrison |first=James |date=1998 |title=Who in the World Was Fred F. French? |language=en |url=https://www.city-journal.org/html/who-world-was-fred-f-french-11719.html |access-date=2021-10-29}}</ref><ref name="kim">{{Cite news |last=Kim |first=Elizabeth |date=2019-09-18 |title='We're Like Guinea Pigs': How An Affordable Lower East Side Complex Got Facial Recognition |language=en |url=https://gothamist.com/news/were-guinea-pigs-how-affordable-lower-east-side-complex-got-facial-recognition |access-date=2021-10-29}}</ref>
-After fifty years, French sold the complex to new owners in the 1970s. Under that management, over a fifteen-year period, the complex underwent extensive renovation and rejuvenation. Almost $15 million were spent on new windows, new building entrance ways and foyers and waterproofing. The building also has a [[horticulturist]] who maintains the extensive gardens in the courtyard located in the center of the building and around the grounds. The complex includes the Hamilton Madison House Knickerbocker Village Senior Service Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) that offers services and activities for the building's increasing elderly population.
+After fifty years, French sold the complex to new owners in the 1970s.
-===Hurricane Sandy===
-The property suffered severe damage from [[Hurricane Sandy]] in 2012 and is trying to recover.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2013/12/14-months-after-sandy-rent-rebates-coming-to-knickerbocker-village.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412204444/http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2013/12/14-months-after-sandy-rent-rebates-coming-to-knickerbocker-village.html |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |access-date=April 14, 2019 |url-status=live |title=14 Months After Sandy, Rent Rebates Coming to Knickerbocker Village |website=The Lo-Down: News from the Lower East Side |author-last=Litvak |author-first=Ed |date=December 17, 2013}} – with image</ref> It is estimated that the full restoration of its infrastructure will take three years to accomplish. Protection from future flooding is in process as of September 2013.
+===21st century===
+The property suffered severe damage from [[Hurricane Sandy]] in 2012 and ultimately received significant funds from the city's "Build it Back" program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2013/12/14-months-after-sandy-rent-rebates-coming-to-knickerbocker-village.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412204444/http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2013/12/14-months-after-sandy-rent-rebates-coming-to-knickerbocker-village.html |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |access-date=April 14, 2019 |url-status=live |title=14 Months After Sandy, Rent Rebates Coming to Knickerbocker Village |website=The Lo-Down: News from the Lower East Side |author-last=Litvak |author-first=Ed |date=December 17, 2013}} – with image</ref><ref name="Robinson">{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=Edric |date=2021-10-27 |title=A look back at improvements made to a Sandy-impacted Manhattan development |language=en |url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/10/27/9-years-later--a-look-back-at-improvements-made-to-a-sandy-impacted-manhattan-development |access-date=2021-10-29}}</ref> The complex became one of the first affordable housing complexes with facial recognition technology.<ref name="kim"/>
+A tax break in 2019 put an end to a five year fight to prevent a significant rent increase that would have made the property unaffordable to most tenants.<ref name="spivack">{{Cite news |last=Spivack |first=Caroline |date=2019-11-01 |title=Lower East Side complex gets $3M tax break to preserve affordable apartments |language=en |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2019/11/1/20943681/knickerbocker-village-lower-east-side-tax-break-affordable-housing |access-date=2021-10-29}}</ref>
 ==Notable residents==
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 *[[Mark Olf]], the Jewish folksinger and Folkways recording artist
 * [[Peter C. Rhodes]], reporter and writer
-*[[Julius Rosenberg]] and [[Ethel Rosenberg]], who were convicted of spying for the [[Soviet Union]] and later executed, lived on the eleventh floor in 10 Monroe Street at Knickerbocker Village.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spartacus-educational.com/USArosenberg.htm |title=Julius Rosenberg |publisher=Spartacus Educational Publishers }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrbellersneighborhood.com/story.php?storyid=1455/ |website=Mr. Beller's Neighborhood |title=Knickerbocker Village |author-first=Phillip |author-last=Lopate |date=March 1, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713192359/https://mrbellersneighborhood.com/2004/03/knickerbocker-village |archive-date=July 13, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=April 14, 2019}}</ref>
+*[[Julius Rosenberg]] and [[Ethel Rosenberg]], who were convicted of spying for the [[Soviet Union]] and later executed, lived on the eleventh floor in 10 Monroe Street at Knickerbocker Village.<ref name=lopate>{{cite web |url=http://www.mrbellersneighborhood.com/story.php?storyid=1455/ |website=Mr. Beller's Neighborhood |title=Knickerbocker Village |author-first=Phillip |author-last=Lopate |date=March 1, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713192359/https://mrbellersneighborhood.com/2004/03/knickerbocker-village |archive-date=July 13, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=April 14, 2019}}</ref>
-*[[Frederik Pohl]], the American Editor and Writer.<ref>The Way the Future Was: A Memoir, Ballantine, 1978.</ref>
+*[[Frederik Pohl]], the American editor and writer.<ref>The Way the Future Was: A Memoir, Ballantine, 1978.</ref>
 *[[Benjamin Ruggiero]] of the [[Bonanno crime family]], portrayed by [[Al Pacino]] in the movie [[Donnie Brasco (film)|''Donnie Brasco'']]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cornerbycorner.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/catherine-street-monroe-street-knickerbocker-village/ |website=Corner By Corner |author-last=Walters |author-first=Christopher |title=Catherine Street & Monroe Street (Knickerbocker Village) |date=April 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012131143/https://cornerbycorner.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/catherine-street-monroe-street-knickerbocker-village/|archive-date=October 12, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=April 14, 2019}} – with images</ref>
+*[[Anthony Mirra|Tony Mirra]], [[caporegime]] of the Bonanno crime family
+* [[Robert Perrino]], murdered superintendent of deliveries at the ''[[New York Post]]'' and associate of the Bonanno crime family
+* [[Joseph D'Amico]], Bonanno crime family mobster
+* [[Alfred Embarrato]], caporegime of the Bonanno crime family
+* [[Nicholas Marangello]], [[underboss]] of the Bonanno crime family
+* [[Richard Cantarella]], caporegime of the Bonanno crime family
 ==References==
-'''Notes'''
 {{reflist}}
-'''Sources'''
-* Dennis R. Judd and Todd Swanstrom, ''City Politics: The Political Economy of Urban America'', 6th Edition
-* Richard Plunz, ''A History of Housing in New York City''
 ==External links==