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The Riverton Houses is a large residential development in Harlem, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The project was proposed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1944[1], and largely served an African American population, in contrast to Met Life's Peter Cooper Village—Stuyvesant Town, which was restricted to a whites only tenancy. The development consists of seven 13-story buildings situated on a 12-acre (49,000 m2) site located between 135th Street and 138th Street, and Fifth Avenue and the Harlem River. Some of the units on upper floors had views into the Polo Grounds. The complex was designated a Special Planned Community Preservation District, a zoning category created in 1974 to "to preserve and protect ... superior examples of town planning or large-scale development."
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Current ownership
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Riverton Houses is owned and operated by Stellar Management, LLC as of 2006. The complex has many problems, but tenants that complain and take the landlord to court are typically retaliated against. Several tenants called housing but housing would not even write the very valid violations, many of which have existed for years. Making the matter worse, the Riverton Tenants Association works with the landlord at the detriment of the tenants. Politicians live right in the complex and do not sincerely make any efforts to help the tenants.
After acquisition, Stellar began renovations to individual apartment units as well as interior and exterior common areas, including fencing, courtyards, benches, landscaping, entryways, lobbies, basements, elevators, and hallways. Renovations continued as of April 2008. To date, June 14, 2009, many of the renovations are falling apart; while others that should be made are not. The electrical wiring in the complex was outsourced to many incompetent, and un-certified workers; and most kitchens in the complex suffer from faulty wiring that is a fire hazard but the housing and fire departments refuse to take tenant complaints seriously.
However, in August 2008, Stellar notified its mortgage servicer that it anticipates defaulting on the property's $225 million mortgage within a month, since they were unable to convert half of the property's 1,230 rent stabilized apartments to market rate. (See [1] Wall Street Journal, "Harlem Developers Near Default", 8/15/08.)
Notable residents
- New York State Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright (current as of April 2008)
- Mayor David Dinkins (no longer residing; see interview for specific location) [2]
References
- ^ " HOUSING PROJECT TO RISE IN HARLEM; Metropolitan Life to Build Community for 1,200 Families in a Neglected Section TO RENT AT $12.50 A ROOM 12-acre (49,000 m2) Site Being Acquired Will Be Landscaped -- Cost of Structures $5 millionThe New York Times, September 18, 1944. p. 21
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