Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village Background

Touted as a “suburb in the city,” Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village (STPCV) was built and opened in the late 1940s by Met Life Insurance for returning WWII veterans in desperate need of housing. With Robert Moses leading the way, space was cleared in the old Gas House District with little resistance. Thousands were forced to leave their homes.

The complex holds a collective population of around 25,000 people, a substantial increase from the numbers reported in the 2000 census, which reported a total of 19,101. The median age of those living in Stuyvesant Town (43.8) is almost 20 years less than that of Peter Cooper Village (61.2), where 36.5% of the population is 65 to 84 years old. The topography of the neighborhood tends to agree with the numbers. Peter Cooper is completely flat while Stuyvesant Town consists of several hills.

The dramatic age difference stems from a leasing strategy that consisted of slowly moving parents whose children have moved away into Peter Cooper, opening up the larger apartments of Stuyvesant Town. Around 43% of the 10,926 households reported being family households. 80% of Stuyvesant Town and 94% of Peter Cooper is white. Stuyvesant Town had originally been a whites-only development. Met Life had gone so far as to build a nearly identical version of the complex called Riverton. It was located uptown for residents of color. In 1952 Met Life had to repeal its discriminatory policy yet the neighborhood has remained predominantly white.

The average income according to the 2000 census was $66,154 ($88,525 family) in Stuyvesant Town and $76,573 ($101,602 family) was the average in Peter Cooper. The median rent in Stuyvesant Town according to the 2000 census was $1,024. Of the 8,556 units, 45.6% were renting from $1,000 to $1,499. The 10 (.3%) units renting for $200 or less are surely original tenants or very close to it. The median rent in Peter Cooper is $932. 43% of the 2,371 units are renting from $750 to $999.

The entire town sits on an 80-acre plot spanning 1^st avenue from 14^th street to 23^rd street with 20^th street bisecting the town and village. It continues east until it hits the impenetrable roads of the FDR Drive. The dozens of red brick buildings hide some 11,000 apartments. These apartments are a range of one, two or three-bedroom gems and range in heights from 11 to 14 stories. Only 19 five-bedroom behemoths now remain in existence. Met Life sold STPCV to Tishman Speyer in 2006 for $5.4 billion. Tishman could not keep up with payments and STPCV is now in limbo as creditors fight over ownership rights.

Several restaurants make STPCV their home, taking shelter on the outskirts of the structures walls. 1^st avenue is lined with a few other delicatessen-like shops and several chains like Dunkin Donuts, Walgreens and Citibank. A recently closed Blockbuster also used to sit in with this crowd. An Associated Market sits on the 14^th street side of the town while a small deli, Lenz’s, serves residents living closer to the 20^th street side of the neighborhood. A few other small businesses (a few doctors and dentists) hide themselves within STPCV’s buildings.

Next to Lenz’s resides a small dry cleaner, the second of my generation. Behind the first is a bitter story that ended the same way that the majority of others have as well. David Minski owned and operated his business for 33 years. Met Life’s rent increase quickly put an end to that, though Minski valiantly went down fighting. It’s always the same pattern in this area. Owners, no matter who they are, usually want to raise the rent. Casualties include Emerald Too, Sam’s Smoke Shop and Horizon Diner. Replacing them are stores of the more upscale type. Minski’s dry cleaner was not the first to fall and it certainly won’t be the last.

Among other possible issues in the neighborhood are the influx of younger residents, whether they’re students or not, and the friction they’re causing with some of the veteran residents. There have been complaints about loud noise late at night, drunken kids walking around and some of the other grievances you would find at any college campus. The problem is that Stuyvesant Town was never intended to be a campus.

___________________________________________________________

Relevant Sources:

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/AGSGeoAddressServlet?_MapEvent=showResult&_category=&_subcategory=&_stateSelectedFromDropDown=New+York&context=ags&programYear=50%3A420&street=628+east+20th+street&city=new+york&states=New+York&zip=10009&_geo_id=14000US36061004401%3AY%3A50%3A14000US36061004401&geo_id=14000US36061004401&_programYear=50&_treeId=420&_lang=en&tree_id=420&bucket_id=50

Building Stuyvesant Town in the 1940s

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/coveted-area-formerly-was-gashouse-district/41724/

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/20/nyregion/neighborhood-report-stuyvesant-town-first-ave-merchants-feel-they-re-being.html

http://hyperakt.com/play/?p=1612

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=14000US36061004401&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF4_U_DP1&-ds_name=D&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=14000US36061006000&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF4_U_DP1&-ds_name=D&-_lang=en

http://www.nypress.com/article-20171-welcome-to-stuy-town-u.html