top

History of the Seward Park Housing Corporation Some Pertinent Facts about Housing Cooperatives and Prospectus on SPHC, published by Community Services, Inc. (Cover page, Pages 2 & 3, 4 & 5, 6 & 7,8 & 9 and 10 & 11) United Housing Federation Introductory Booklet (Pages One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen and Sixteen, History of These 13 Acres Now Recent Capital Improvements What's in a Name?  Who was William Henry Seward?

• History of the Seward Park Housing Corporation
  The Seward Park Housing Corporation is a cooperative development, built, owned and operated for the benefit of more than 1,700 families who decided to use the method of mutual self-help to solve their housing problem. The project was conceived and completed under the guidance of the United Housing Foundation, a federation of cooperative housing societies, non-profit organizations and labor unions interested in promoting better housing through the consumer cooperative method.
  
  In 1957, the Seward Park Houses became the second Title I development undertaken by the United Housing Foundation, following the successful completion in 1956 of the East River Houses, administered by the East River Housing Corporation, a housing cooperative for 1,672 families which was financed and sponsored by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (now known as UNITE!). The East River Housing cooperative in turn came into being after the completion of the Hillman Houses, located in the immediate vicinity. The Hillman co-op, for 807 families, was completed in 1950 and was built as a redevelopment Company under the sponsorship of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. The same organization was also responsible for the erection of Amalgamated Dwellings, originally a limited-dividend housing cooperative for 236 families, completed in 1930 under the supervision of the State Board of Housing of the State of New York. See the recently-discovered Original History of SPHC, written in 1961 (12MB).
  
  These four cooperative enterprises legally and financially operate as separate entities, although they have historically been closely affiliated. Together, they occupy the southeast section of the lower part of Manhattan from the East River bend known as Corlears Hook to Essex Street on the west, Delancey Street on the north and East Broadway and Cherry Street on the south. The four cooperatives provide homes for approximately 4,400 families and comprise an area of about 32 acres. The Seward Park Housing Corporation was the last member to be added to the group.
  
  The site of the Seward Park development itself consists of approximately 13 acres and forms an irregular right triangle, the base of which is Essex Street on the west. Grand Street and East Broadway form the other two sides of the triangle, meeting at an apex where Grand Street and East Broadway intersect, at Ahearn Park.
      ( back )
   
• History of These 13 Acres
  This specific part of New York City has been long the center of the so-called "melting pot" for newcomers to these shores. It is one of the oldest and most historic sections in the city. Grand Street was, at one time, a mecca of department stores and other commercial enterprises. Up to about a century ago, East Broadway was the neighborhood of the elite of assimilating immigrants, providing housing and offices for intellectuals and professionals. Gradually, the second and third generations of these elite immigrants themselves emigrated to other parts of the city and surrounding areas, leaving behind the poor, elderly and infirm. Stripped of the dynamism and vitality of the younger generations, the neighborhood gradually deteriorated into a slum.
  
  On November 29, 1957, when title to the site was transferred to the Seward Park Housing Corporation, there were a total of 219 buildings--a mixture of residential, public, institutional and commercial structures, many of them in extremely poor condition, having been built in the mid-to-late 19th century.
  
  These buildings had been constructed primarily of wood and brick, built back-to-back and side-to-side with no consideration given to light, air and present-day standards of sanitation. Due to the housing shortage at that time, many abandoned buildings were pressed into meeting these needs, creating an even more unsavory and dangerous environment. Disease (particularly tuberculosis), juvenile delinquency and other crime had established a fertile breeding ground. A 1956 study by the New York City Slum Clearance Committee revealed that all 138 residential buildings fell into one of three categories: "badly run down," "deteriorating" and "deteriorated."
  
  At the completion of the development, only two of the original buildings on the 13-acre site remained: the Bialystoker Home for the Aged, still situated on the corner of East Broadway and Clinton Street; and the Seward Park Branch of the New York Public Library on East Broadway and Jefferson Street, which has recently completed a massive renovation and restoration.
      ( back )
   
• Now
  After almost three decades, the Seward Park Housing Corporation (the "Corporation") and its nearly 1728 shareholders began a process in the late 1980s that would eventually convert the limited-equity cooperative into a full-equity market-rate residential co-op. The board and shareholders voted to advance the payments of the real estate taxes dating back to when the buildings were first built, and opted for a 10-year payback plan. In 1995, the board put forth to the shareholders a plan of reconstitution, which essentially was a plan to privatize the cooperative and remove it from the constraints of governmental influence.
  
  The shareholders passed the Plan of Reconstitution overwhelmingly by about 81%. While initially, the values of apartments were artificially kept below market rates, over the following five years, the price ceilings were gradually lifted until they were completely abolished. The apartments in the co-op today trade at market rates.
  
  The conventional wisdom at the time, and currently, was that by imposing resale taxes (so-called "flip taxes"), the Corporation could keep maintenance costs low, while generating much-needed income for repairs, improvements and renovations. Suffice it to say, the Corporation has not had a raise in maintenance fees, even despite the recent 2002 real estate tax escalation, and has had the income to complete projects and pursue new ones without imposing costs directly upon the shareholders.
  
  To date, the Corporation, owned by an increasingly diverse and persistent group of residents, has undergone numerous changes and continues to be a jewel on the Lower East Side.
      ( back )
   
• Recent Capital Improvements
  Since reconstitution, the Corporation has undertaken many capital improvement projects. The addition of a 24-hour exercise room and refurbished 24-hour laundry rooms in each building are welcome amenities, as are the various bin storage rooms, that will start to become available after a waiting list starts and completes development. New landscaping in all of our green spaces has greatly improved the look and feel of the property. A new state-of-the-art, environmentally-friendly steam reducing station allows the corporation to provide inexpensive and consistent heat and hot water throughout the properties (See the Links page for the interesting story behind this). The rebuilding of the underground garage (and the parking lot, park and playground above it) have recently been completed – replete with a new air compressor and portable battery charger. (!)  The replacement of the ageing elevator cars and systems is already underway. Construction of covered bike racks within the protected courtyard gates is also slated to begin soon.
  
  Other projects in the concept and planning stages are the renovation of the lobbies and common areas of each residential building. Currently each lobby is dominated by a distinctive mural by Hugo Gellert, which we hope to restore and integrate into the new design. Possibilities for the future are roof decks and gardens atop our 20-story residences, as well as the renovation of another of our private courtyard parks.
      ( back )
   
• What's in a Name? Who was William Henry Seward?
  The Seward Park Houses derives its name from a three-and-half acre park and playground which borders upon Essex Street and East Broadway. This was the first playground established in the City of New York in 1903 !!  It was named after William Henry Seward who was born in 1801 and served as Governor of New York from 1839 to 1843. He was one of the earliest political opponents of slavery and and also one of the first to recognize and discuss the valuable contributions that immigrants would someday make to this country.  He favored prison reform, helping to insert it into the public debate for the first time.   He was a groundbreaker (so to speak) in the use of public funds for "internal improvements" (now known as "infrastructure").  Though he lived in a remarkably tumultuous time, he was highly and widely regarded even then for his staunch and creative progressive and humanitarian views.  In 1849, he was elected to the United States Senate, at that time by the votes of the New York State Assembly. Later, President Abraham Lincoln selected Seward as his Secretary of State – despite Seward's status as Lincoln's chief rival (and early frontrunner) at the preceding Republican convention. Seward also served in the same capacity in the cabinet of President Andrew Johnson. It was during this latter administration that he negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867; originally this decision was derisively called "Seward's Folly" – at least until the discovery of gold in 1890 and other massive deposits of natural resources, such as oil and natural gas, in the twentieth century. He died in 1872.
  
  Follow the links below for further information on William H. Seward:
      William H. Seward's Biography
      William H. Seward, 1801-1872
      Also see William Henry Seward, Lincoln's Right-Hand Man, by John M. Taylor
      ( back )