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Apartment buildings over the Trans-Manhattan Expressway
The Bridge Apartments are four high-rise apartment buildings in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Built between 1961 and 1964, they are notable for rising from concrete platforms directly above the Trans-Manhattan Expressway on its approach to the George Washington Bridge. Their proximity to the highway has led residents to complain of traffic noise and air pollution. The four buildings, each 32 stories tall, house about 4,000 people in total.
Description
The Bridge Apartments comprise four high-rise buildings, each 32 stories high and containing 240 apartments, for a total of 960 units in the entire complex. The second floor has laundry and community rooms; the lowest floor of residences is the third. The water and heating systems for the buildings are located below the ground floor.
The buildings are between 178th and 179th Streets on Audubon Avenue, St. Nicholas Avenue, and Wadsworth Avenue, in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They are built directly above the 12-lane Trans-Manhattan Expressway on its approach to the George Washington Bridge, on top of four concrete platforms that serve as the buildings' foundations. The spaces between the buildings above the expressway were left open for ventilation, as it would have been prohibitively costly to seal the highway completely and ventilate it through ducts running to the roofs of the buildings. Architecturally, the buildings' placement over an expressway have a precedent in the early 20th century work of Le Corbusier and Antonio Sant'Elia.
History
The air rights of the Trans-Manhattan Expressway were transferred from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (which manages the George Washington Bridge) to the city in 1960. The rights were purchased from the city by the Kratter Corporation for $1 million. Construction began on the buildings on December 20, 1961. Designed by the architectural firm Brown & Guenther, they were some of the first aluminum-sheathed high-rises in the world. At the time of construction, the total cost was estimated at over $19 million, of which more than $17 million came from a loan from the state's Mitchell–Lama Housing Program, under which the owners agree to limit rents in exchange for government subsidies. The air-rights scheme was considered innovative at the time.
The buildings opened in 1964, with the first tenants moving in in February, and their 960 middle-income apartments were quickly filled. Rents ranged from $92 to $179 a month. Soon after opening, residents complained of air pollution from the 150,000 vehicles that passed underneath the buildings each day. In 1967, Senator Robert F. Kennedy visited the apartments to speak with residents about the pollution issue. Kennedy proposed building a "vaporproof barrier" over the roadway. The towers were cited in the debate over the construction of the Lower Manhattan Expressway in the late 1960s, and a 1973 study commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency found that the level of carbon monoxide exceeded federal guidelines and recommended sealing the lower levels of the building to keep out the dangerous gas.
In 1972, 300 tenants went on a rent strike to protest a planned increase in annual rent. The tenants were able to negotiate a smaller increase. The provisions of the Mitchell–Lama program expired after 20 years, allowing the development to be privatized, and in 1987, the buildings were purchased by a group of real-estate investors led by Mendel Schwimmer and David Bastricer.
As of 2004, the apartments housed 4,000 people, the majority of whom were working-class. Residents continued to complain of air and noise pollution, although the buildings remained popular. They were reported to be in a deteriorated state.
See also
Hudson Yards (development), another New York City real estate development built over an active transportation artery
Gisssen, David (2016). "Exhaust and territorialisation at the Washington Bridge Apartments, New York City, 1963–1973". The Journal of Architecture. 21 (5): 734–746.
Caratzas, Michael (Spring 2004). "Past Meets Futurism Along the Cross-Bronx: Preserving a Significant Urban Expressway". Future Anterior: Journal of Historic Preservation, History, Theory, and Criticism. 1 (1). University of Minnesota Press: 25–35. JSTOR25834928.
Aerial view of the buildings in 1965