Grant Houses

Grant Houses

General Ulysses S. Grant Houses is a public housing project at the northern boundary of Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. The complex is located between Broadway and Morningside Avenue, spanning oddly shaped superblocks from 123rd Street and La Salle Street to 125th Street.

Grant Houses were completed in 1956 at a cost of $29.2 million. 1,940 apartment units are contained within the apartment buildings in the Grant Houses. With eight of the buildings at 21 stories, they were the tallest housing projects in New York City when built. The buildings are managed by the New York City Housing Authority. For maximum sunlight exposure they lie directly north of Morningside Gardens, a middle income cooperative in Morningside Heights. The redevelopment projects together aimed to retain the racially and economically mixed character of the Morningside-Manhattanville area before clearance. The New York Times noted the racial identification of the first five families to move into the Grant Houses: "two white, two Negro and one Puerto Rican."

Notable residents

• Ray Chew (born c. 1968), musical director of the Apollo Theater, lived here until age 7.^[1]

Solo R&B singer Keith Sweat.

Group R&B singers of The X Girlfriends Julia Robertson and Tisha Hunter.

Hip Hop group The Fearless Fours D.J. Krazy Eddie and M.C. Tito. http://www.oldschoolhiphop.com/interviews/titodee.htm

Hip Hop group The Fantasy 3 M.C. Silver Fox http://thafoundation.com/silfox.htm

Hip Hop Historian Troy L. Smith. http://www.historicalhiphop.com/

Gary Hooker played basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Allison Dean actress in Movies notably Coming to America.

Boris Pendergrass College Football player at Rutgers University Wide Receiver.

World Class Boxer-Police Officer Tricky Rick Frazier (Richard Frazier)

References

Further reading

• "Hello to Gleam at Grant Houses," Grutzner, Charles. New York Times, August 20, 1956
• "5 Families Move to Grant Houses," Grutzner, Charles. New York Times, August 21, 1956