Morrisania Air Rights

Public housing development in the Bronx, New York

NYCHA property in New York, United States

Morrisania Air Rights

NYCHA property

Location within New York City

Coordinates: 40°49′27″N 73°55′03″W﻿ / ﻿40.824258°N 73.917453°W﻿ / 40.824258; -73.917453
Country|  United States
State|  New York
City| New York City
Borough| Bronx
ZIP codes|

10451

Area code(s)| 718, 347, 929, and 917

Morrisania Air Rights is a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing project in Melrose and Morrisania, Bronx, consisting of three buildings, 19, 23, and 29 stories tall. There are 843 apartments housing some 1,952 residents.[1] It was designed by the architectural firm The Eggers Partnership also known as Eggers & Higgins.[citation needed]

## Development

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The planning for the development began in 1971, but construction did not begin until the late 1970s. By purchasing the air rights above the Metro-North Railroad tracks (then Penn Central), the new housing project could be built without tearing down any buildings or displacing any residents both of which saved on costs and may be one of the reasons why NYCHA was able to build such a large project during a period when few public housing units were built, even in New York City.[2]

The Morrisania Air Rights utilized a method of construction developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that relies on steel trusses rather than closely spaced steel columns, allowing the railroad to remain in operation during construction.[2] Constructed well after the boom of public housing through the 1940s, 50s and 60s, NYCHA stopped naming the buildings inspirationally knowing there would be many tenant applications and the development is named after the air rights.[3] The project was completed on January 1, 1981.[4]

The housing complex has persistently suffered from a higher-than-average rate of violent crime for the area and is sometimes referred to as "Vietnam" or the "Vietnam Projects."[5]

## See also

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* New York City Housing Authority
* List of New York City Housing Authority properties

## References

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1. ^ NYCHA Housing Developments, Morrisania Air Rights. Archived 2009-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ a b Weisman, Steven R. "City Is Planning Housing Over Bronx Rail Tracks", The New York Times, May 26, 1971. Accessed January 18, 2024. "The city announced plans yesterday to build its largest public housing project in 10 years over railroad tracks in the Bronx, using a new steel construction technique devised at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The 1,034‐apartment project for low‐income families would extend for seven blocks over Park Avenue in the Morrisania section, where tracks of the Penn Central's Harlem division are sunk 20 feet below the street level."
3. ^ Buckley, Cara; Newman, Andy (2010-03-31). "The Curious Case of a Housing Complex's Puzzling Name". City Room. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
4. ^ "MyNYCHA Developments Portal". my.nycha.info. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
5. ^ "MORRISANIA AIR RIGHTS". NYC URBANISM. Retrieved 2022-03-06.

Development map