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Farragut Houses

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Coordinates: 40°42′00″N 73°58′59″W / 40.700°N 73.983°W / 40.700; -73.983
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Farragut Houses
NYCHA property
Map
Location in New York City
Coordinates: 40°42′00″N 73°58′59″W / 40.700°N 73.983°W / 40.700; -73.983
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CityNew York City
BoroughBrooklyn
Area
[2]
 • Total
0.026 sq mi (0.07 km2)
Population
 • Total
3,272 [1]
ZIP Codes
11201
Area code(s)718, 347, 929, and 917
Average household income$21,000
Websitemy.nycha.info/DevPortal/

The Farragut Houses is a public housing project located in the downtown neighborhood of northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, bordering the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Farragut Houses is a property of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The houses contain 3,272[3] residents who reside in ten buildings that are each 13 to 14 stories high.

History

Front view

The Farragut Houses are located in what used to be a heavily industrial area, near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.[4] The site was occupied by 341 lots by 1941, of which 27 were vacant. Of the 314 lots that were extant, 198 consisted of wood structures.[5] Wooden buildings were rarely built after the Great Fire of New York in 1835, and brick became the popular building material around the 1870s, so these structures were likely more than a century old.[6]

The land for Farragut Houses was cleared starting in 1945.[4] Prior to demolition, there was still an active neighborhood, with 144 stores that were occupied and 30 unoccupied, as well as 677 apartments, 33 one-family dwellings, and 61 two-family dwellings whose occupants needed to be relocated.[5] There were a total of approximately 970 families to be relocated.[7]

In 1949 the state approved the Farragut Housing projects fund for $15,087,000. The estimated rental price per room at that time was $5.82.[7] The first residents started moving in that year; the average rent was between $33.50–$44 a month, including utilities.[8] The three superblocks of the development were completed by 1952. The area consisted of 18 smaller blocks divided by roads and small alleyways. Eight streets—Talman Street, Charles Street, High Street, Prospect Street, Dixon Place, Fern Place and Greene Lane—were destroyed by the joining of these smaller blocks when demolition started in 1945. Hudson Avenue was cut off between Front and York Street and diverted over to Navy Street.

During wartime, the region was filled with sailors. Restaurants, illegal drinking establishments, tattoo parlors and brothels were packed with people who worked or commuted along the waterfront. Dirty and narrow streets provided a haven for derelict behavior. The Farragut Houses were built during a moment of industrial and economic growth, and the surrounding area contains infrastructure of this time of industrial development: waterfront piers, warehouses, industrial buildings, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and the confluence of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in nearby Dumbo. The Brooklyn Navy Yard and other industries in Brooklyn declined after World War II and then closed in the mid-1960s, contributing to economic decline in the borough as a whole.[9]

Demographics

Population per year
Year Population
1970
5,232
1980
4,950
1990
5,106
2000
4,314
2010
3,440

According to NYCHA, the Farragut Houses housing project has 1,390 apartments and 3,440 residents living in ten 13- and 14-story buildings in Vinegar Hill, within Brooklyn Community Board 2. The density of the population in Farragut Houses was 55,384.4 per square mile (21,384.0/km2) in 2013, and the Farragut Houses' total population in 2013 was 13,954. In 2003 the density of the population in Farragut Houses was 57,533.2 per square mile (22,213.7/km2), compared to 27,044.71 per square mile (10,442.02/km2) in 2010 and 60,683.7 per square mile (23,430.1/km2) in 2000.[10]

Social problems

Crime

The Farragut Houses are patrolled by the 84th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 301 Gold Street.[11] The 84th Precinct ranked 60th-safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. This was attributed to a high rate of property crimes in the neighborhood.[12]

The 84th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 82.3% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 2 murders, 18 rapes, 147 robberies, 184 felony assaults, 126 burglaries, 650 grand larcenies, and 31 grand larcenies auto in 2018.[13]

Based on an incarceration map from 2009, which shows the blocks and neighborhoods of Brooklyn and the prison expenditures for those respective areas, the Farragut Housing area has a prison expenditure of around $500,000–$750,000. These prison expenditures are the costs of incarcerating residents of that specific area. This range is lower than other neighborhoods in Community Board 3, some of which have prison expenditures and exceeding $1,000,000.[14]

In 2014, as part of security measures being undertaken in NYCHA properties around the city, NYCHA installed security cameras in eleven high-crime housing projects around Brooklyn, including the Farragut Houses.[15]

NYCHA has taken precautions to protect their residents, and the New York City Police Department Housing Bureau offers many programs and initiatives, which train residents to be vigilant and actively stop criminal activity around them. These also teach youth to consider law enforcement as a career goal and instilling a sense of morals. The Resident Watch program, which has spanned for 40 years, allows residents to take initiative on stopping crime, and is active in four of ten buildings.

Poverty and social isolation

The Farragut Houses are separated from the rest of Brooklyn by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, making the area relatively hard to access from the south.[16] The poverty-stricken area stands in sharp contrast to nearby blocks in Dumbo and Vinegar Hill, where the median income is $148,611, rents average around $3,000 a month, and apartments can sell for over one million dollars.[17] The average Farragut Houses family, by contrast, makes $21,000 annually.[16] Eighty-eight percent of public school students in the area live below the poverty line, and crime in the Farragut Houses is significantly higher than in Dumbo and Vinegar Hill.[17]

There are a lack of affordable healthy food options in the area, making the area a food desert. Options include a Chinese restaurant, some bodegas, and a "small grocery store with a single aisle of produce." A proposed supermarket, which had been in planning since 2010, had not been built as of 2015.[16] From 2008 until 2015, the housing project did not have a laundry room in any of the buildings, so residents had to walk at least 1 mile (1.6 km) to go to one of two laundromats along Myrtle Avenue.[16][18]

In 2010, the administration of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed to revitalize Admiral's Row, a run-down block of Second Empire-style houses in the Navy Yard; however, the project was delayed after two developers severed connections with the projects. Admiral's Row was later demolished and a Wegmans supermarket was being built on the site. Wegmans opened on October 27th 2019[19] and serves the Farragut Houses.[16][20]

Transportation

Bus stop at Gold and Sands Streets

The Farragut Houses are served by the New York City Subway, with the F and <F>​ trains stopping at York Street 0.2 miles (0.32 km) away[21] and the A and ​C trains stopping at High Street. The nearby Jay Street–MetroTech complex is served by the A, ​C​, F, <F>​​, N, R, and ​W trains.[22]

The housing project is also served by four bus routes: the B57, B62, B67, and B69, all of which run right through the housing project. All of these routes also go to downtown Brooklyn and connect with the Jay Street complex.[23]

In contrast to other places, subway service to the Farragut Houses area has declined over the decades.[24][25][26] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the neighborhood was served by elevated lines and trolleys.[27][28] The first elevated railway, the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line, came to downtown Brooklyn in 1885 and ran only a few blocks away.[29] The N, R, and ​W trains' station at Lawrence Street (now Jay Street–MetroTech) opened on June 11, 1924.[30] High Street opened in June 24, 1933,[31] and York Street on April 9, 1936.[32] A trolley ran on Sands, Jay, and Hudson Streets, very close to the site of Farragut Houses, although the last trolley cars were retired on March 4, 1951, the same year the Farragut Houses opened, and the last trolley bus ran on Flushing Avenue to High Street on July 27, 1960.[33] As late as 1951 the Myrtle Avenue El still existed, stopping at Navy Street and Myrtle Avenue, about three blocks from the current site of the Farragut Houses, as it had since the 1880s.[34]

Education

According to the NYC Department of Education, five out of the 10 Farragut Houses buildings are zoned for P.S. 307 Daniel Hale Williams (K307), while two buildings are zoned for P.S. 287 Bailey K. Ashford (K287) and three buildings are zoned for P.S. 8 Robert Fulton (K008). September 2015, the NYC Department of Education proposed a rezoning of the area, which was controversial among residents in adjacent, more affluent Vinegar Hill. After the rezoning was passed, the feedback from many parents was mostly positive and supportive.[35][36][37][38]

Elementary schools include:

  • Community Roots Charter School (Saint Edwards Street, Third Floor)
  • P.S 307 Daniel Hale Williams (209 York Street)
  • P.S 8 Robert Fulton (37 Hicks Street)

Middle schools include:

  • Satellite West Middle School (209 York Street)
  • Community Roots Middle School (50 Navy Street, Third Floor)

Religion

Church of the Open Door

The Church of the Open Door, which started construction in 1953, was the first house of worship to be opened within a NYCHA development.[39][40]

Infrastructure

Technology

NYCHA is modernizing the Farragut Houses and other NYCHA properties using a program called NextGen NYCHA.[41] There is a MyNYCHA program called "The Digital Van" funded by a Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant from the United States Department of Commerce; the vans, which are equipped with eight laptops and are available Monday through Friday 10 a.m to 4 p.m., enable residents to use the vans to access the internet.[42] Another app, called the My NYCHA App, allows residents to receive information on service outages, report damages, and request emergency assistance.[43]

Water pipes

Map of water pipes

The old City of Brooklyn had many water reservoirs. Before the housing project was built, the water was distributed by 36 cast iron main aqueduct pipe to 6-to-8-inch (15 to 20 cm) cast iron branch pipes to the neighborhoods until 1900.[44] The branch pipes replaced 8-to-12-inch (20 to 30 cm) cast iron pipes in the early 1900s.[45][46]

As the population of the neighborhoods kept increasing, the demand for a larger supply of water increased. The increase in population throughout Brooklyn and the soon-to-be other boroughs also caused a problem with the water supply, as the wellwater became polluted and there was an insufficient supply of water.[47] This caused many health problems as there were only a few sources of water. In response, the city began to create a system of water pipes that flowed through the city, as well as outsourced fresh water supplies outside the city.[48] The New York City water system is managed by the Department of Environmental Protection and consists of three upstate aqueducts—the Croton, Catskill, and Delaware aqueducts—the latter two of which flow through Brooklyn.[49]

Farragut Houses currently uses a more modern water pipe system. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection regulates Farragut Houses' water system and its pipes. Each building has its own water piping system and all buildings share three back up water storage tanks in cases of emergencies such as water outages and storms.

Maintenance

NYCHA's job is to create public housing for low income families while also giving them free maintenance, cleaning and heating. Residents of the Farragut Houses have made a large number of complaints and maintenance repair requests, especially during winter. The reason for increased winter complaints is that the outdated buildings are causing problems with piping and heating, causing harsh living conditions for residents. For instance, on August 16, 2013, the Farragut Houses had 4,034 unanswered repair requests, with complaints ranging from difficulties closing doors to mold growing in bathrooms.[50] In response, Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled proposals to fix these problems.[51] However, at the same time, De Blasio planned to also cut NYCHA's budget.[52]

Community garden

Vinegar Hill Community Garden

Vinegar Hill Community Garden, located on York Street, was built as part of the Gardens for Healthy Communities program in 2013. The 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) garden includes more than ten raised beds for growing vegetables, a rainwater harvesting system, shed, and seating. Members of the community and students from nearby PS 307 work in the garden.[53]

Notable residents

See also

References

  1. ^ "Farragut Houses Population". Archived from the original on November 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "Farragut Houses Area". Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  3. ^ "MyNYCHA Developments Portal". my.nycha.info. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Civic Center Project Starts to Materialize". the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 21, 1945. pp. 1, 11. Retrieved April 28, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Downtown Brooklyn Neighborhood Study. Rep. New York City: Mayor's Committee on Property Improvement, 1941.
  6. ^ Wilson, Rufus Rockwell (1902). New York: Old & New: Its Story, Streets, and Landmarks. J. B. Lippincott. p. 354.
  7. ^ a b "Funds Okayed For Farragut Housing Units". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 1, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved May 6, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "First Farragut Tenants Move in Tuesday". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 25, 1951. p. 14. Retrieved May 6, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Snyder-Grenier, Ellen M. Brooklyn!: An Illustrated History. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1996.
  10. ^ "Total population in Census Tract 23". socialexplorer.com.
  11. ^ "NYPD – 84th Precinct". www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  12. ^ "Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill & Dumbo – DNAinfo.com Crime and Safety Report". www.dnainfo.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  13. ^ "84th Precinct CompStat Report" (PDF). www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  14. ^ "'Million-Dollar Blocks' Map Incarceration's Costs". wbur. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  15. ^ "Cameras to go up at tragic Brooklyn housing project, among others | Brooklyn Daily Eagle". www.brooklyneagle.com. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c d e Williams, Keith (April 17, 2015). "Promised a Supermarket Five Years Ago, a Housing Project Is Still Waiting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  17. ^ a b "Nabe where thin road divides 2 worlds". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  18. ^ "Dirty shame: Residents of housing project must walk a half-hour to clean their clothes since city shut down laundry room". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  19. ^ "Why is everyone obsessed with Wegmans? Here are 9 possible reasons".
  20. ^ "Wegmans set to open first NYC store in Brooklyn". NY Daily News. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  21. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  23. ^ "Brooklyn Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  24. ^ 1924 BMT Subway-Elevated Map
  25. ^ 1937 IND Map
  26. ^ 1951 Route Map
  27. ^ Team, NYTM Education. "New York Transit Museum - Teacher Resource Center - History of Public Transportation in New York City". Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  28. ^ "mta.info - Facts and Figures". Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  29. ^ "www.nycsubway.org: Early Rapid Transit in Brooklyn, 1878-1913". Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  30. ^ "Announcing the Opening of the Lawrence Street (BMT) Subway Station". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 11, 1924. p. 8. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  31. ^ "JOBS ARE ALL FILLED ON SUBWAY LINKS; Board Reports Thousands Already Listed – High St. Station, Brooklyn, Opened" (PDF). The New York Times. June 25, 1933. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  32. ^ "Two Subway Links Start Wednesday". The New York Times. April 6, 1936. p. 23. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  33. ^ Null(0), Tramway (July 27, 2012). "Streetcars and Spatial Analysis: Downtown Brooklyn Streetcar Map 9-22-44 to 3-4-51". Retrieved July 7, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  34. ^ 1951 Route Map, 1951 Route Map (Bottom Half - Brooklyn, lower Manhattan)
  35. ^ Venugopal, Nikhita. "PS 307 Begins New School Year After Contentious Rezoning". dnainfo. Dnainfo. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  36. ^ Gill, Lauren. "Controversial Vinegar Hill school rezoning gets passing grade". brookylnpaper. The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  37. ^ Whitford, Emma. "DUMBO Parents Push Back Against Rezoning That Would Integrate Schools". Gothamist. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  38. ^ "Brooklyn school rezoning proposal at heart of diversity debate is approved". www.capitalnewyork.com. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  39. ^ "Stuck in the middle: Parents won't OK PS 307 rezoning without MS plan". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  40. ^ "Break Ground for 1st Church in City Project". Brooklyn Public Library. p. 8. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  41. ^ "NYCHA - NextGen NYCHA". Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  42. ^ "NYCHA - Adults". Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  43. ^ "NYCHA - MyNYCHA". Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  44. ^ G.M. Hopkins, C.E., F.Bourquin’s Steam Lithographic Press, “Atlas of The City of Brooklyn” Vol.1; 1880; Brooklyn Collection, The Brooklyn Central Public Library.
  45. ^ Hugo Ullitz, C.E, E. Belcher Hyde, Inc., “Desk Atlas of the Borough of Brooklyn City of New York” Vol.1; 1903; Brooklyn Collection, The Brooklyn Public Library.
  46. ^ E. Robinson C.E, R.H. Pigeon, C.E, E. Belcher Hyde, Inc., “Desk Atlas of the Borough of Brooklyn City of New York” Vol.1; 1920; Brooklyn Collection, The Brooklyn Public Library.
  47. ^ "History of Water system". New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  48. ^ "History of New York City's Water Supply System". New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  49. ^ "History of New York City's Water Supply System". Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  50. ^ "Vinegar Hill - DUMBO's Farragut Houses Have 4,034 Unanswered Repair Requests, Data Show - Neighborhood News - DNAinfo New York". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  51. ^ "New York City Housing Authority - NYCHA Metrics". Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  52. ^ "De Blasio Administration Unveils 'NextGeneration NYCHA'". The official website of the City of New York. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  53. ^ "Vinegar Hill Community Garden | GrowNYC". www.grownyc.org. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
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