Co-op City, Bronx

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Co-op City is a cooperative housing development located in the Baychester section of the Northeast Bronx at the intersection of I-95 and the Hutchinson River Parkway. Co-op City opened in 1969 and was completed in 1971. Its 15,372 residential units, in thirty-five high rise buildings and seven clusters of townhouses, make it the largest single residential development in the United States. Co-op City also has eight parking structures, three shopping centers, an educational park, and a firehouse. The adjacent Bay Plaza shopping area has movies, department stores, and a supermarket. The apartment towers, referred to by number, range from 24 floors to as high as 33.

Co-op City is on the site of Freedomland, a former amusement park. Prior to its use as a theme park and residential apartments, a small municipal airport was established there. When traveling into the city southbound from I-95, it is one of the first sights that a traveler sees and the first vivid example of New York's urban immensity. The shares of stock which prospective purchasers bought to enable them to occupy Co-op City apartments became the subject of protracted litigation culminating in a U.S. Supreme Court decision United Housing Foundation, Inc. v. Forman, 421 U.S. 837 (1975).

Ethnic make-up

Co-op City was home to a large Jewish community in its early years after completion. Many of the early residents had relocated from other areas of the Bronx such as the Grand Concourse, and Co-op City was considered to be highly desirable. However, as Section 8-dependent tenants began to occupy the buildings and the crime rate began to escalate, the community began to disperse in ever-growing numbers and the area became heavily African-American and Hispanic (see white flight). Today, the neighborhood is changing as an influx of Russian immigrants have started to move in. From a historical standpoint, the ethnic shifts parallel that of the Brighton Beach neighborhood in Brooklyn, however, at least at this point the Russian émigré community is much smaller than its Brooklyn counterpart, where they are the neighborhood's dominant ethnicity.

Popular culture

An indirect reference to Co-op City is made in the hip-hop song "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow" by Nice & Smooth. Released in 1991 on the album Ain't a Damn Thing Changed, it contains the lyric "I go to Bay Plaza and catch a flick". Bay Plaza is a large shopping mall adjacent to Co-op City which boasts a 13 screen movie theater.

In the Dark Tower novels by Stephen King, the character Eddie Dean is portrayed as being from Co-op City, and Co-op City is portrayed as a bit more of a low-income housing project than it really is. In Eddie Dean's first appearance in the series, the second book "The Drawing of the Three", Co-op City is correctly identified as being in the Bronx, while in later novels it is incorrectly portrayed as being in Brooklyn. King rectifies the discrepancy in the final novels of the series in a creative way.

Famous Residents

• David Berkowitz - The "Son of Sam" Killer (Lived in Co-Op City from 1968 to 1971)
• Queen Latifah - Actress/ Rap Artist (Lived in Co-Op City from 1980 to 1984)
• Rod Strickland - Basketball player, who played for several NBA teams including the Portland Trailblazers and the Washington Wizards
• Stanley Jefferson - Major League Baseball player who played for the San Diego Padres, the New York Mets, and the New York Yankees
• Brian Ash - Screenwriter/Producer (Lived in Co-Op City from 1974 to 1993)

External links

• [Co-op City Unofficial Website]
• [Riverbay] - The company that manages Co-op City
• [Bay Plaza]
• ["CasalsK's" page]

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