New York City has more than 300 public housing projects, and they’re home to five percent of the city’s population.
Mostly built between the 1940s and 1960s, these usually sprawling residences have some very welcoming signs decorated with fun icons, which belie their shady reps.
The 11 buildings that make up the Robert S. Fulton Houses, on Ninth Avenue between 16th and 19th Streets in Chelsea, were finished in 1965. The steamboat couldn’t be more appropriate.
Gaylord White was a Presbyterian minister in the early decades of the 20th century who spearheaded settlement houses in East Harlem.
This 1964 apartment house named for him is for seniors only, on Second Avenue at 104th Street.
That looks like an illustration of the waves of the East River on this sign, greeting visitors to the 10-building East River Houses, on First Avenue at 105th Street.
The very first public housing development still exists in the East Village; the sign for this project is a little less spirited.
Ephemeral New York 