MARCY HOUSES | A CASE STUDY OF SOCIAL HOUSING IN NEW YORK CITY
marcy houses The Marcy Houses in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn are a representative example of a housing ‘project’. Modernism and the International Style permeate the buildings with their signifying architecture of cross-shaped towers in the green. The character of the Marcy Houses as well as their problems are layered. They are situated in a beautiful area of central Brooklyn and they are is surrounded by picturesque neighborhoods where a happy middle class finds identity.
ments. It seems as if the want to scream `I am cheaply built’. The windows are small and the buildings lack balconies, terraces, or other outdoor spaces.
To the north of the Marcy Houses, South Williamsburg is a neighborhood of Hasidic Jews. It is a slightly introverted neighborhood in a typical 19th century urban fabric with no problematic reputation. To the south and the east of the Marcy Houses, a mix of townhouses and rowhouses can be found. Signs of gentrification are visible in this “Harlem of Brooklyn”, but no disruption or threat to the original population is experienced so far. To the west, there’s a mix of warehouses, manufacturing buildings and residential buildings, characteristic of many areas in Brooklyn. Marcy Houses’ reputation, and the ‘Projects’ reputation in general, is bad. People often refer to them as a collection of households with a lot of social problems. Maps and infographics show an above-average crime rate, especially compared to the directly surrounding neighborhood. There is no visible upward mobility since all the dwelling units are identical and it is not possible to move on to a better apartment within the neighborhood itself. Furthermore, the neighborhood is completely monofunctional. Nowhere there’s activity to be found: There are no shops, no offices or workshops. The buildings miss detail, let alone orna-
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