Riis Houses

Central plaza

Coordinates: 40°43′26″N 73°58′29″W / 40.723917°N 73.974659°W Jacob Riis Houses are a public housing project in the East Village, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The project is located between Avenue D and the Franklin D Roosevelt Drive, spanning two superblocks from 6th Street to 13th Street.

The project consists of nineteen buildings, between six and 14 stories each, containing 1,191 apartment units. The project is named for photographer Jacob Riis, who exposed the living conditions of tenement-dwellers on the Lower East Side. Many lived in the neighborhoods which were destroyed through urban renewal to build the Houses. The Riis Houses were completed January 17, 1949, according to plans of principal architects Walker & Gillette.^[1]

The buildings are managed by the New York City Housing Authority.

On March 6, 2012 the computer hacker Hector Xavier Monsegur known as Sabu was revealed to be a resident of the Riis Houses. He lived in Apartment 6F at 90 Avenue D.^[2]

References

1. Jacob Riis Houses | Buildings | EMPORIS
2. Kleinfield, N. R.; Sengupta, Somini (8 March 2012). "Hacker, Informant and Party Boy of the Projects". The New York Times. "Hector Xavier Monsegur, or Sabu, lived in Apartment 6F at 90 Avenue D in the Jacob Riis complex in Manhattan."

Further reading

• "The Lower East Side Changes". New York Times. November 5, 1946.
• "Cornerstone Laid at the Riis Houses; Renewal of Federal Aid Urged at Last Project Under Way Here With Help of FPHA". New York Times. September 4, 1947.