St. Nicholas Houses
St. Nicholas Houses is a public housing project in Central Harlem, in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. The project is located between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, spanning a superblock from 127th Street to 131st Street. The project consists of thirteen 14-story buildings containing 1,523 apartment units.
St. Nicholas Houses, often called "St. Nick," were built in 1954 under the Taft-Ellender-Wagner Housing Act of 1949. When the houses initially began seeking applicants, World War II veterans received priority. The buildings are managed by the New York City Housing Authority.
The site formerly consisted of city blocks with small attached homes in poor condition, and existing residents were removed via a slum clearance program.
Further reading
- Emporis entry
- "Cornerstone Laid at Harlem Housing; $21,000,000 St. Nicholas Slum Clearance Project to Get First Tenants in Spring," New York Times, December 28, 1951