NYC Landmark Designation for Amsterdam Houses

We, the undersigned, support the preservation of Amsterdam Houses, a well-designed, community-oriented public housing project that has been called home by thousands, including many World War II veterans, and was an incubator for civil rights activism in post-war New York. Constructed between 1947-48, this complex marks the end of an era when government viewed the creation of model housing for low-income citizens as a social responsibility. In recognition for its significance, Amsterdam Houses has been declared eligible for the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

Located between West 61st and 64th Streets and Amsterdam and West End Avenues, the buildings and tree-covered grounds of Amsterdam Houses are a resource worthy of a secure and celebrated place on the Upper West Side. This 13-building complex was one of the New York City Housing Authoritys first experiments in integration which responded to a 1939 law prohibiting discrimination based on race and religion in public housing. Furthermore, in contrast to later towers-in-the-park developments, Amsterdam Houses was one of the last such projects to define open space along Classically inspired lines and to exhibit brickwork that was carefully detailed to create simple ornament, according to historian and architect Robert A.M. Stern. The Amsterdam Houses design team included some of the most prestigious professionals working in New York City at the time: architects Grosvenor Atterbury, Harvey Wiley Corbett and Arthur C. Holden worked together with landscape architects Gilmore D. Clarke and Michael Rapuano.

More about Amsterdam Houses design and oral history interviews with past and present residents is available at: www.landmarkwest.org/amsterdamhouses.

We ask the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to schedule a public hearing to recognize Amsterdam Houses as a valuable resource on Manhattans Upper West Side and designate this significant complex a city landmark.