South Jamaica Houses

Coordinates: 40°41′51.02″N 73°47′45.3″W / 40.6975056°N 73.795917°W / 40.6975056; -73.795917

South Jamaica Houses
Location South Jamaica, Queens, New York City
Status Open
Constructed 1940 (South Jamaica I)[1][2][3]
1954 (South Jamaica II)[1][2]
Governing
Body		 New York City Housing Authority

South Jamaica Houses is a housing project in South Jamaica, Queens, New York. It is nicknamed "40 Projects" or "The 40's".[4][5][6] The original complex, South Jamaica I Houses opened in 1940,[1][7] while the second complex, South Jamaica II Houses, opened in 1954.[1] The entire complex is bounded by South Road to the north, 160th Street to the east, Brinkerhoff Avenue to the south, and 158th Avenue to the west.[1][2][8][9][10]

Nicknames

The South Jamaica Houses are commonly referred to as the 40 Projects, and occasionally as "the 40's" or the "40s Houses".[5][6][11] The nicknames are said to be derived from the complex's opening in the year 1940,[12] or the nearby P.S. 40 and J.H.S. 40 public schools.[4][13]

Location

South Jamaica I is the original section of the complex opened in 1940. Measuring 9.02 acres (3.65 ha), it lies between South Road and 109th Avenue. It consists of 11 three-to-four story buildings with 440 units (originally 448).[1][2][8][14][15] South Jamaica II lies between 109th Avenue and Brinkerhoff Avenue, occupying 13.3 acres (5.4 ha). It consists of 16 buildings three-to-seven stories high.[1][2][9][14][16] The buildings in both sections have brick exteriors.[11][17] A small parking lot is located at the northwest end of the complex.[18]

Located at 159th Street and 108th Avenue on the east side of the development is the Jamaica Day Nursery. The nursery, which predates the projects, was moved into the complex in 1940.[10][14][19] One block south is the South Jamaica Community Center, also known as the Samuel Huntington Community Center.[10][14] The complex also includes several playgrounds and gardens.[16][17][20]

Adjacent to the west of complex lies the Atlantic Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, which does not stop in this area. To the north across from South Road is the campus of York College.[10][16]

History

Prior to the construction of the project, South Jamaica was considered a slum and severely overcrowded. The site of the South Jamaica Houses was occupied by 150 wood-frame houses.[3][21] It was estimated that 3,000 families in the neighborhood needed improved housing conditions.[20][22] On August 16, 1939, New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia announced plans to allocate $20 million towards five planned public housing projects, including the South Jamaica Houses, and the two-part Vladeck Houses in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[23] The South Jamaica development itself would cost $2.5 million.[24] These were some of the first housing developments to be built and operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).[3][25] The land was acquired at low cost, and the development was designed to feature low-rise buildings.[24][26] Though located in a predominantly African American neighborhood, the houses were the first NYCHA facility to be racially integrated with both White and Black families.[3][24][27]

Construction began on September 28, 1939. The complex was dedicated by Mayor LaGuardia on April 15, 1940.[20][28][29][30][31] The development opened on July 2, 1940, accepting 351 families. An additional 96 families moved in on August 5.[19][28][29][32][33] The Jamaica Day Nursery, formerly located on 107th Avenue and 159th Street, was moved into a new headquarters within the complex on September 9.[19][34] The complex generated controversy over the alleged selection of tenants by race, and because many applicants from Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx were selected over local South Jamaica residents.[3][15][35][36][37]

Plans to extend the complex emerged in the mid-to-late 1940s.[38][39][40] On January 6, 1951, the Housing Authority announced plans to condemn additional slum land to build South Jamaica II Houses, extending the complex south to Brinkerhoff Avenue. Plans for the project were filed on August 23, 1951, estimated to cost $7.5 million.[16][41][42][43] Residential occupation began in May 1954, and the development was completed by October of that year.[1][2][14]

In the 1980s and 1990s, during the national crack cocaine epidemic, the South Jamaica Houses were considered a hotbed for drug-related activity and violence. This included the operations of the Corley gang and the Supreme Team.[5][11][12][44][45][46] This has continued into the 21st century, in spite of major drug raids by the New York City Police Department in 1999 and 2012.[12][45][47]

Schools

Three elementary schools are located near the complex:

The nearest middle and junior high schools are:

The closest high school to the South Jamaica Houses is the Queens High School for the Sciences, a specialized high school, located on the York College campus. Eagle Academy for Young Men III and the High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety are located south of Linden Boulevard. The closest zoned high school is Hillcrest High School just north of Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, while the closest educational campus is the Jamaica Campus (formerly Jamaica High School) near the Grand Central Parkway.[10][48] The Young Women's Leadership School of Queens was formerly located in the P.S. 40 facility, but is now located across from Hillcrest High School.[10][48]

Notable residents

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jackson, Kenneth T.; Keller, Lisa; Flood, Nancy (2010). The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300182570. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "South Jamaica Houses". New York City Housing Authority. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Peter Eisenstadt (23 February 2011). Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City's Great Experiment in Integrated Housing. Cornell University Press. pp. 49–52. ISBN 0-8014-5968-0. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Pete Ahern (12 November 2013). 3 – Pete: One man's journey. AuthorHouse. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4918-3137-3. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 James, George (March 15, 1988). "18 Are Arrested By Task Force On Its First Day". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Jacobson, Mark (November 12, 2001). "The Jazz Scientist: Musician, scientist, inventor of his own martial art – "Me and Shaq? Anytime" – Milford Graves, marching to his own beat, is the different drummer.". New York. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Copquin, Claudia Gryvatz (2007). The Neighborhoods of Queens. Yale University Press. p. 224. ISBN 0300112998. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  8. 1 2 "South Jamaica I" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Housing Authority. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  9. 1 2 "South Jamaica II" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Housing Authority. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Jamaica" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 Ethan Brown (8 December 2010). Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 7–14. ISBN 978-0-307-48993-7. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 Donohue, Peter (April 8, 1999). "NARCS NAB 25 IN RAID ON CREW, GRAB STASH". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  13. ↑ "On God, Faith and 40 Projects, Queens, NY". urban-american-success.com. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "QUEENS COMMUNITIES Population Characteristics and Neighborhood Social Resources: Volume II". BJPA.org. Bureau of Community Statistical Services Research Department, The Community Council of Greater New York. June 1958. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  15. 1 2 Hall, Charles (August 31, 1940). "Queens Families Irked As Others Crowd 'Utopia': South Jamaica Folk See 'Outsiders' Benefited By Housing Project" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. p. 16. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "For 600 Families: South Jamaica Houses Extension Approved" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. August 24, 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  17. 1 2 "South Jamaica Homes Set for New Tenants: Seventy Low-Income Families Will Occupy First Unit of Modern Housing Project". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 1, 1940. p. 20. Retrieved 15 April 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Archer Ave Route (proposed) Construction, Queens: Environmental Impact Statement. Urban Mass Transit Administration, United States Department of Transportation. August 1973. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  19. 1 2 3 "FILLING HOUSING PROJECT: 96 Families Will Move Into South Jamaica Development today". The New York Times. August 5, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  20. 1 2 3 "Well and Truly Laid". The New York Times. April 16, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  21. ↑ Roberts, Sam (May 8, 2005). "Before Public Housing, a City Life Cleared Away". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "South Jamaica Houses: A Small Help to Local Families" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. August 5, 1940. p. 14. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  23. ↑ "$20,000,000 HOUSING TO PROCEED HERE; Mayor Announces Action on 5 Projects as Result of Pact Ending Building Stoppages UNION PLAN IS PRAISED Coyne Says That Jurisdictional Disputes No Longer Will Result in Tie-Ups". The New York Times. August 17, 1939. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 "New Places in the Sun". The New York Times. March 24, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  25. ↑ New York City Housing Authority (1940). Vladeck houses; a lesson in neighbourhood history. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  26. ↑ Plunz, Richard (1990). A History of Housing in New York City. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 240. ISBN 0231062966.
  27. ↑ "HOUSING PROJECTS EASE RESTRICTIONS; Thousands Now Ineligible as Tenants Will Be Able to Get Apartments INCOME LIMIT IS RAISED Both Negro and White Families Will Be Accepted in City's Jamaica Buildings". The New York Times. April 12, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  28. 1 2 "HOUSING PROJECT FILLED: Last 96 Families Move Goods Into South Jamaica Houses". The New York Times. August 6, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  29. 1 2 "Last Families Moving Into South Jamaica: 96 New Tenants Arrive Tomorrow, Filling Low-Rent Project" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. August 5, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  30. ↑ Jeffrey A. Kroessler (1 August 2002). New York Year by Year: A Chronology of the Great Metropolis. New York University Press. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-8147-4750-6. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  31. ↑ "Mayor Denounces Pari-Mutel Betting As He Dedicates South Jamaica Houses" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. April 16, 1940. p. 1. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  32. ↑ "Get Low-Rent Suites: First Families to Move Into South Jamaica Houses Tomorrow". The New York Times. July 1, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  33. ↑ "MOVED TO HOUSING UNIT: Goods of 70 Families Arrive at South Jamaica Houses". The New York Times. July 3, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  34. ↑ "Day Nursery 'Comes Home' On July 30: Newly-Equipped Quarters to Be Opened in South Jamaica Houses" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. July 12, 1940. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  35. ↑ "South Jamaica Houses: For Whom Were They Built?" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. June 1, 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  36. ↑ "South Jamaica Houses: They Will Pay Big Dividends" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. April 10, 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  37. ↑ "Rehousing Theories: When Is a Slum Not a Slum?" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. July 17, 1940. p. 12. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  38. ↑ "The Money's There" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. August 5, 1949. p. 4. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  39. ↑ "CITY HOUSING PLANS GO TO $260,000,000; 16 PROJECTS ADDED; $132,500,000 Program Sent to Federal Agency With Request for Funds". The New York Times. December 27, 1944. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  40. ↑ "TEN HOUSING UNITS TO COST $95,000,000; U.S. and State to Supply the Funds—Mayor Will Stump for Rent Subsidy Referendum". The New York Times. May 28, 1945. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  41. ↑ "159 Slum Acres To Be Condemned: Action on 7 of 9 City Housing Projects in 4 Boroughs Is Set for Thursday". The New York Times. January 7, 1951. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  42. ↑ "Jamaica Housing to Cost $7,500,000: City Project Will Have Many Community Facilities-Other Work Speeded". The New York Times. August 24, 1951. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  43. ↑ "For 600 Families: South Jamaica Houses Extension Approved" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. August 24, 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  44. ↑ Marriott, Michel (June 1, 1989). "New York's Worst Drug Sites: Persistent Markets of Death". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  45. 1 2 3 Toy, Vivian S. (April 8, 1999). "Counselor at Youth Home Is Accused of Running a $3 Million-a-Year Drug Ring". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  46. ↑ McKinley Jr., James C. (December 28, 1989). "Where Fear of Street Violence Rules Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  47. ↑ Colvin, Jill (May 17, 2012). "Nearly 50 Arrested in Massive Drug Ring Takedown". DNAinfo.com. 1 Police Plaza. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  48. 1 2 "2016 New York City High School Directory" (PDF). schools.nyc.gov. New York City Department of Education. 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
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