West End to Amsterdam Avenue, West 61st Street to 64th Street (Amsterdam Houses)

Amsterdam Houses: West End to Amsterdam Avenue, West 61st Street to 64th Street

Date:  Began 1947

Type:  Apartment Building

Architect:  Atterbury, Grosvenor, Corbett, Harvey Wiley, and Holden, Arthur C.

Developer/Owner/Builder:   New York City Housing Authority

Wish List:  Current Wish List

The mostly low-rise buildings and tree-covered grounds of Amsterdam Houses stand in contrast to later tower-in-the-park developments. Planned prior to World War II, this 13-building public housing complex was one of the last such projects “to define open space along Classically inspired lines,” according to Robert A.M. Stern. Amsterdam Houses’ prestigious architects worked together with landscape architects Gilmore D. Clarke and Michael Rapuano to come up with a plan aligned with the city grid and oriented on a central landscaped axis. Amsterdam Houses exemplifies an early effort by the New York City Housing Authority to ensure racial and ethnic diversity in one of its projects.