First Houses

Architect: Frederick L. Ackerman
Year: 1936
City: Manhattan, NY

First Houses, in the East Village, was one of the first public housing projects built in the United States, opening to its first tenants on December 3, 1935. Designed by Frederick L. Ackerman and completed in 1936, it was the very first project undertaken by New York City's newly formed Housing Authority. More than four thousand families applied for the 122 apartments.

the building

Gut rehabilitation. The project was built by clearing Victorian-era tenements from the site and rehabilitating what remained, tearing down one of three existing tenements to let in extra light. The result is 122 three-room and four-room apartments across eight buildings, four and five stories tall.

the architect

Frederick L. Ackerman designed First Houses for the New York City Housing Authority.

significance

First Houses was designated a New York City Landmark and National Historic Landmark in 1974. It is managed by the New York City Housing Authority.

nearby

Angel Orensanz Center 0.2 mi · Gothic Revival · 1849
First Roumanian-American congregation 0.3 mi · Romanesque Revival · 1889
University Settlement Society of New York 0.3 mi · Neoclassical · 1886
Bouwerie Lane Theatre 0.3 mi · Renaissance Revival · 1874
New Museum 0.4 mi · 1977
St. George's Church 0.4 mi · Byzantine · 1905

All 413 buildings in Manhattan