POTW: Housing Starts: The Riverside Buildings and the Push for Affordable Housing in Brooklyn | Brooklyn Public Library

Erected by philanthropist Alfred Tredway White, the Riverside Buildings between Joralemon, Columbia, and Furman Streets were designed as a high-quality alternative to the period's crowded tenements. Operating on a “philanthropy plus 5 percent” profit model, the 1890 complex offered the working poor units featuring open ironwork stairwells for ventilation and fire safety, as well as a large internal courtyard with a playground and fountain.

While four of the original nine buildings were destroyed to make way for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the remaining structures at 24–32 Joralemon Street and 10–30 Columbia Place are currently at the center of a local preservation effort. A residents' association is currently working to protect the historic courtyard and its old-growth trees from a proposed underground parking garage development.

Summary by Dispatch AI — read the full story at Bklynlibrary.