30 in 30: #18

Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town made big headlines last year when MetLife sold the development to Tishman Speyer for $5.4 billion. Residents put in their own bid but fell short of the winning bid, the biggest real estate deal in history. With over 11,000 apartments and 25,000 residents in over 50 high-rise buildings on 80+ acres, the development is a Manhattan anomaly, a product of mid-20th-century planning in the days before Jane Jacobs and the rediscovery of street life.



The buildings of Stuyvesant Town pictured here are an imposing presence in the immediate area. If their size, scale, and alien presence weren't enough, the extremely wide perimeter roads create a further disconnect between the development and the adjacent fabric. It's so wide that even a frontage road (slightly noticeable at the yield sign in the above photo) sits between what's known as Stuy Town and, in this case, 1st Avenue.



Access to Stuy Town is allowed, though immediately one is greeted by what makes this urban renewal project successful so many years later, unlike so many other (typically low-income) developments in New York and other major American cities. A sign indicates that the town is a "private residential community" that is "radio patrolled 24 hours a day." Oh, and "trespassers are subject to arrest and prosecution." Maybe I'm not correct in saying that access is allowed. Once inside, all one can see is the same building repeated ad nauseum, concrete, grass, trees, and sky. Oh, and security. In golf carts. In cars. On foot. In security offices. But even without security there is an all-seeing presence symbolized by the Stuyvesant Oval, its panopticon.



So it appears that what keeps Stuy Town going all these years is private property, maintained greenery, and a security force. All of this stems from the fact the development is middle class rather than low-income public housing, where the same physical solution has led to demolition in recent years. It's a strange success story, but not one - like Roosevelt Island - that I'd want to trade for New York's street life that Jane Jacobs celebrated.



Directions:
Stuyvesant Town is east of 1st Avenue, between 14th and 20th Streets below Peter Cooper Village. It can be reached by the L to 1 Av.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca