Political/Neighborhood Organizations

 

Union Settlement Association

“Since 1895, Union Settlement Association has been dedicated to solving urban problems in East Harlem.”

The Union Settlement Association provides the East Harlem community with educational venues, academic opportunities and recreational development. Through its programs, the agency strives to promote leadership and help individuals cope independently, resulting into “a stronger community.”

“Operating from 17 locations, Union Settlement annually serves more than 13,000 people of all ages with effective programs in education, childcare, counseling, senior services, nutrition, the arts, job training and economic development. Union Settlement is a large local employer with a staff of 300 people.”[1]

Tammany Hall and East Harlem

Although the advent of the Tammany political machine dates well back to the late 18^th century, it did not truly come into its own as the election-controlling, city-running, Tammany Hall until much later. By the 1830s and 40s the once apolitical Tammany Society club become affiliated with the Democratic Party.  This affiliation quickly turned corrupt, and by the late 1800s the Hall had won a huge amount of influence over New York City’s political scene by buying off (mainly Irish) immigrant votes with offers of work, protection, and naturalization assistance. Building a vast network of extortion and kickbacks, Tammany Hall parlayed its influence into quick cash through a wide variety of shady dealings, among which the corrupt handling of development projects proved particularly profitable.  The development East Harlem’s infrastructure was just one such project. [4]

• The construction of East Harlem’s roads were carried out in large part by the order of William Tweed, Tammany’s corrupt boss from 1867 to 1871. Although the Hall
  

  Source: http://bit.ly/k2yu9a

  squeezed an estimated 21 cents from every paving stone laid, by the late 19^th century East Harlem’s dirt paths had been transformed into passable streets. [4]

• As the self-appointed director of the Harlem Gas and Light Company, Tweed brought the kind of gas lighting that had been in use downtown since the 1820s up to East Harlem.[5]
• Several decaying spans of bridgework over the Harlem River were replaced by Tweed, also the nominal head of the Brooklyn Bridge Company. [5]
• Despite pocketing nearly half of the funds officially allotted to the cause, Tweed’s Tammany Hall also arranged for the industrialization and development of the neighborhood’s waterfronts. [4]
• Tammany Hall was also behind the $7 million proposal to expand the elevated rail system from downtown to Harlem along the 2^nd and 3^rd Ave lines during the 1870s.
  

  Source: http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/CandS/dsp-passenger/images/nyelevated_steam3.jpg

  Although the Hall delayed construction for nearly a decade wringing the process for illicit profits, the addition of fast, cheap, and reliable mass transit to East Harlem was both an invaluable aid to East Harlem’s urbanization and an incredible boon to the growth of its population. By the time the 2^nd and 3^rd Avenue elevated rail lines finally arrived at the turn of the 1880s, East Harlem had the cheapest and most convenient public transit in Manhattan. [4]

• The Tammany improvements to East Harlem brought fresh waves of immigrants from both downtown Manhattan and abroad, making the construction of cheap tenement housing ever more profitable.  With the housing boom of 1873, over 400 new buildings were in the process of being raised. [4]

Although the height of its influence had come and gone by the end of the 19^th century, the Hall would remain active in NYC politics throughout the early decades of the 1900s, and would not truly be uprooted from its corrupt perch until the progressive mayorship of East Harlem’s own Fiorello LaGuardia in the 1930s.

Public Housing in East Harlem

Beginning the 1930s, East Harlem was already considered to be “crowded”. Starting 1938, the New York City Housing Authority began replacing East Harlem land with high-rise housing projects. After World War II, the population rose significantly to a maximum of 210,000 in 1950s, a density of 142,000 people per square mile, one of the highest population densities in the world at that time.[1] Due to a large ratio of a very high population density versus minimum housing, the need for public housing became a necessity. Thus, the emergence of public housing projects became prominent in East Harlem. By the 1990s, 40% of the population lived below the poverty line and resided in public housing projects.[2] As of 1993, 15 housing projects (including federal, city and state) were established in East Harlem.

The following figure shows the major public housing projects present in East Harlem:

Rezoning East Harlem

Recently New York City Department of City Planning approved the East Harlem Rezoning Proposal.[3]

The Department of City Planning has proposed zoning amendments that would affect 57 blocks in East Harlem. It is the first comprehensive revision of East Harlem zoning since the last major revision of the Zoning Resolution in 1961. The area to be rezoned is between East 99th and East 122nd streets, east of Lexington Avenue in Manhattan’s Community District 11.

The Department’s proposed zoning strategy balances growth and preservation in East Harlem. By amending the zoning map the proposal would:

• Foster new opportunities for residential development: larger buildings permitted where appropriate.
• Ensure that future development is consistent with neighborhood character: develop new buildings encouraging structure that is consisted with the prevailing buildings in the neighborhood.
• Preserve the scale of midblock- decrease the maximum permitted size of buildings.
• Encourage ground floor retail and service uses: extend commercial zoning to provide for ground floor retail stores that supports the growing community of East Harlem.

Below the proposed rezoning area of East Harlem is shown: