KNICKERBOCKER VILLAGE

 

1934 pamphlet 

Tudor City was a tough act to follow: new construction in the city virtually stopped in 1930 after the stock market crash and the resultant Depression. Meanwhile, Fred French was slowly acquiring land in the Lower East Side in order to build apartments for people who worked in Wall Street.

The Depression put an end to that, but French had some good luck: the government announced it was underwriting lower-income housing. The fast-thinking French realized by substituting lower-income families for junior Wall Streeters, he could make it work. Thus the wheels for the first federally-funded apartment complex were set in motion.

Set between the Two Bridges in Chinatown, the two-city-block long property was bordered by Monroe Street, Market Street, Cherry Street and Catherine Street, and included the "lung block," infamous in New York because of its high tuberculosis mortality rate. 

French Company reference photo dated February 23, 1934.

Knickerbocker Village groundbreaking ceremony, October 11, 1933. Former Governor of New York Alfred E. Smith addresses a crowd that includes Fred French, holding a dark hat.

A year later, the complex is about to open, yet it's not by any means ready. French, in contrast to his instincts, opens it anyway ‒ his company is in desperate need of an influx of cash.

Postcard from the 1940s

From the first day, there were reports of walls unpainted, floors unfinished, refrigerators unconnected, elevators out-of-order, and on and on and on. French was abroad and the callers' complaints were recorded. It would be several years until all the complaints were addressed.

Due to French's poor actions as a landlord, the complex became known for its tenant organizing, which resulted in some early landlord-tenant laws and rent control regulations. The French Company finally sold the complex in the '70s, and several owners later, it was sold in May, 2024 to L+M Fund Management for $85 million.

We wish the new owners good luck, and look out, here come the tenants!

Knickerbocker Village from the air, 1936.