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Forest Houses (NYCHA), Morrisania, the Bronx — history and key milestones

Forest Houses (listed as “FOREST” in NYCHA’s Development Data Book) is a mid‑20th‑century NYCHA public-housing campus in Morrisania (Bronx Community District 3). It is a classic “towers in the park”–era site: 15 residential buildings of 9, 10, and 14 stories, on roughly 17.72 acres, bounded by Tinton Avenue, Trinity Avenue, East 163rd Street, and East 166th Street. NYCHA records a completion date of November 12, 1956 and a total of 1,350 apartments (with 1,345 current units as of the January 2024 data snapshot). 1

What makes Forest Houses especially notable historically is that it sits at the intersection of:

  1. postwar clearance/rebuilding in the South Bronx,
  2. later “infill” development on NYCHA land (the Arbor House project), and
  3. high-profile community/cultural programming (the Gramsci Monument). 2

1) Before Forest Houses: clearance and neighborhood change (early 1950s)

Forest Houses was built in a period when NYC and NYCHA were still actively using large-site clearance and rebuilding to reshape older neighborhoods.

A particularly concrete window into that change is a Bronx African American History Project oral history (interview conducted in 2004) in which Bronx resident Ron Carson recalls that in 1953 his family was forced to move (to the Patterson Houses) because their Tinton Avenue neighborhood was being demolished “to make way for the Forest Houses.” 2

That one detail is useful because it anchors the project’s “pre-history” in a real household timeline: by 1953, the clearance/displacement phase was already underway on or near the eventual superblock site. 2

2) Construction and opening (1956): what NYCHA built

The basic “as built” profile (from NYCHA’s own data)

NYCHA’s Development Data Book (2024) describes Forest as:

  • Program / type: Federal, Conventional, New Construction
  • Buildings: 15 residential buildings (NYCHA lists 0 non-residential buildings in this dataset)
  • Heights: 9–10–14 stories
  • Apartments: 1,350 total (and 1,345 current units as of the January 2024 snapshot)
  • Population (public housing): 2,686 (in the same snapshot)
  • Site area: 17.72 acres
  • Boundaries: Tinton Ave / E 163rd St / Trinity Ave / E 166th St
  • Completion date: 11/12/1956
  • Development cost (as built): $19,576,000 (as reported in the data book) 1

A second NYC planning reference point

A NYC City Planning Commission report (for a separate nearby zoning action) also summarizes Forest Houses as 1,350 units across 15 buildings generally 9 to 14 stories—consistent with NYCHA’s own counts. 3

3) How Forest Houses fits NYCHA’s larger Bronx/postwar building wave

Forest Houses opened in 1956, during NYCHA’s post‑World War II expansion into the Bronx—an era that produced multiple large developments, many using the same broad site-planning logic: taller buildings, open space between them, and “campus” management rather than traditional street-by-street tenement patterns. NYCHA’s own data book classification (federal + conventional + new construction) places it squarely in that mid-century public-housing production pipeline. 1

4) A major “next chapter”: building new affordable housing on NYCHA land (2008–2012)

Beginning in the late 2000s, NYCHA and the City leaned more heavily into a strategy often described as infill development: using underutilized NYCHA land to build additional affordable housing (often with HPD and private/nonprofit partners) and generate revenue/capital benefits for NYCHA.

2008: NYCHA/HPD partnership model expands

A 2008 City Limits article describes NYCHA selecting private developers to build/renovate affordable housing on several South Bronx public-housing sites—including Forest Houses—through a partnership model with HPD. The article explains the structure at a high level: NYCHA provides the land and generates revenue, while HPD/NYCHA structure the proposals and affordability—while also noting concerns about oversight and long-term impacts if not carefully regulated. 4

The Forest Houses infill project (“Forest House” / Arbor House): what it was

NYC’s official Consolidated Plan Annual Performance Reports (APRs) track a specific new-building project at Forest Houses:

  • 2011 APR: describes a planned 8-story building with 123 affordable units (up to 60% AMI), landscaped space, 40 underground parking spaces, and a rooftop space planned as the first urban rooftop greenhouse associated with an affordable housing project; it also documents that a developer was selected in October 2008, the project closed in December 2010, construction began January 2011, and projected completion was December 2012. 5
  • 2012 APR: reports the same 8-story / 123-unit project was nearing completion, featuring a rooftop hydroponic greenhouse producing vegetables, with site amenity improvements (walkways, benches, basketball court). It also notes a lottery had occurred and that tenanting would include 31 NYCHA-preference tenants. 6

2010: NYCHA formally transfers land/development rights for the infill building

NYCHA’s own 2011 Development Data Book (a different NYCHA PDF than the 2024 development profile) records a key legal/real-estate milestone:

  • On December 29, 2010, NYCHA transferred ownership of a 0.64-acre parcel and development rights at Forest Houses to Forest House, LLC (a Blue Sea Development Company subsidiary) for construction of a one 8-story LEED-certified building containing 123 affordable rental units (plus a superintendent unit). 7

This “land + development rights transfer” is one of the clearest documentary markers of how NYCHA infill actually happens in practice (it’s not just a conceptual plan—there’s a formal conveyance/transaction behind it). 7

5) Forest Houses as a cultural site: the 2013 “Gramsci Monument”

In 2013, Forest Houses became nationally/internationally visible as the host site for Thomas Hirschhorn’s “Gramsci Monument,” a summer-long participatory artwork.

NYCHA’s May 15, 2013 press release states:

  • the project was developed on the grounds of Forest Houses in Morrisania,
  • built with and by residents (with resident leadership involvement),
  • funded entirely by Dia Art Foundation, and
  • open to the public July 1 to September 15, 2013. 8

The release also notes Hirschhorn visited 46 public housing sites around NYC before selecting Forest Houses—useful context for why this campus, specifically, became the project’s setting. 8

6) Forest Houses in the “health, sustainability, and investment” era (2017–2019+)

Urban farming / food access

NYC’s 2017 mayoral press release about expanding NYCHA urban farms explicitly includes Forest Houses among the sites where residents would gain access to “farm fresh produce grown in their own backyard.” 9

NYCHA’s Sustainability 2019 page similarly lists Forest Houses as one of the developments included in the Farms at NYCHA initiative. 10

7) Ongoing conditions and oversight (modern context)

A “history” of a NYCHA campus isn’t complete without acknowledging the long period (especially from the 1970s onward citywide) in which NYCHA’s buildings aged faster than capital budgets could keep up—leading to chronic repair backlogs.

Two recent, well-sourced examples tied specifically to Forest Houses:

  • Lead paint / health risk reporting: THE CITY reported in February 2021 on lead hazards affecting a Forest Houses family, explicitly noting the development was built in 1956, when lead paint was still widely used. 11
  • State inspection findings (water intrusion, pests): New York State’s published assessment of NYCHA conditions describes observed significant water intrusion damage and associated issues at Forest (and other sites), while also noting Forest’s construction completion year as 1956. 12

8) A compact timeline (dates you can cite)

  • 1953: Oral-history account describes neighborhood demolition and a forced move “to make way for the Forest Houses.” 2
  • Nov 12, 1956: NYCHA lists Forest’s completion date as 11/12/1956. 1
  • Oct 2008: City planning APR documents developer selection for the Forest Houses infill project. 5
  • Dec 29, 2010: NYCHA documents transfer of land and development rights for the 8-story, 123‑unit LEED-certified infill building. 7
  • Jan 2011–Dec 2012: City planning APR describes construction period and projected completion for the 123‑unit building. 5
  • July 1–Sept 15, 2013: Gramsci Monument open period at Forest Houses (NYCHA press release). 8
  • 2017–2019: Forest Houses appears in NYC/NYCHA documentation about expanding urban farming/healthy food access on NYCHA campuses. 9

9) If you want to dig deeper (best “primary-ish” next sources)

If you’re doing a report, community-history project, or walking tour script, these are the most productive next steps:

  1. NYCHA Development Data Books (multiple years) — for consistent “hard facts” (units, buildings, boundaries, dates). The 2024 book is already giving a very complete statistical profile. 1
  2. NYC Planning Consolidated Plan APRs — surprisingly detailed on infill and capital projects (the Forest Houses 123‑unit building is a great example). 5
  3. Oral histories (like Fordham’s Bronx African American History Project) — they capture “what clearance and relocation felt like,” which is often missing from official planning narratives Forest Houses is a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing development in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.1
  4. It consists of 15 buildings (nine 9-story, four 10-story, and two 14-story structures, typically described as red-brick high-rises), containing approximately 1,350 apartments on 17.72 acres. The complex is bounded by East 163rd Street, East 166th Street, Trinity Avenue, and Tinton Avenue (with addresses spanning Trinity Avenue, Tinton Avenue, and East 163rd/165th/166th Streets). It has housed roughly 2,683–3,129 residents in recent decades, serving as a key source of affordable housing in the South Bronx.1
  5. Construction and Opening (1949–1956)
  6. Forest Houses was developed as part of New York City’s mid-20th-century urban renewal and slum clearance initiatives, funded in part by the federal government under Title I of the Housing Act. Planning began in 1949, with NYCHA aiming to clear blighted low-rise brick and wood structures, eliminate streets (such as segments of Jackson and Forest Avenues) to create superblocks, and provide modern, walkable housing with better living conditions, open spaces, and community amenities.1
  7. The project replaced substandard housing in a densely populated, working-class area. Planners incorporated features like compact kitchens, electric ranges, and refrigerators (drawing from designs at Carver Houses in East Harlem). The site was cleared in a manner that one description likened to a “bomb blast scene,” and a civil defense test was reportedly conducted there. To foster a purely residential environment with limited internal commercial activity, two superblocks were formed, with perimeter retail and services pushed to nearby streets like Third Avenue (an approach later critiqued by Jane Jacobs for reducing “eyes on the street”).2
  8. Open spaces included parks, playgrounds, benches, play areas, green spaces, and charcoal grills (some elements designed by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg). A proposed swimming pool was never built due to budget constraints. The only pre-existing structure preserved on site was Trinity Episcopal Church on East 166th Street, retained through community advocacy. NYCHA projected the tenant population would be approximately 58% Black and 42% non-Black (mostly Puerto Rican).1
  9. The development was completed on November 12, 1956.1
  10. Mid-to-Late 20th Century
  11. As with many NYCHA projects of the era, Forest Houses offered modern amenities, elevators, and open courtyards in contrast to the tenements it replaced. It became home to a diverse, working-class community and played a role in the cultural life of the South Bronx. The development is notably associated with the rise of hip-hop culture, with several influential artists and producers having grown up or lived there, including Fat Joe, Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Showbiz, and others.2
  12. Like much of the South Bronx and broader NYCHA portfolio, it faced significant challenges in later decades, including the 1970s fiscal crisis, disinvestment, and maintenance backlogs amid citywide urban decline.
  13. 21st Century: Community, Challenges, and Upgrades
  14. Forest Houses has maintained strong community institutions, including a child care center (day care), community center, and tenant association. Green spaces and a substantial tree canopy (around 47% coverage, with many trees planted during the original 1950s construction) contribute to its environment. In recent years, initiatives like an urban farm operated by Green City Force opened in 2018.3
  15. Notable events include the 2013 collaboration between residents and Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn to create the temporary “Gramsci Monument,” a pavilion fostering dialogue, ideas, and community exchange. That same year, NYCHA and the city sold a portion of the development’s land for infill development. This led to the opening of Arbor House (also called an “arbor in the forest”), an adjacent 8-story, 124-unit LEED-certified (with some references to platinum aspirations) privately owned affordable housing building at 770 East 166th Street. Developed in public-private partnership, it targeted households earning below 60% of area median income, with a 25% preference for NYCHA residents and those on the waiting list. The project cost about $37.7 million and incorporated green features like a hydroponic rooftop farm.4
  16. Residents have advocated amid ongoing NYCHA-wide issues of aging infrastructure, repairs (elevators, heating, etc.), and funding shortfalls. Protests over neglect occurred in the late 2000s, and in 2018 Governor Andrew Cuomo toured the site and publicly criticized NYCHA’s management. Despite these challenges, the community remains resilient, with active tenant leadership (e.g., the late Erik Farmer, a longtime tenant association leader).
  17. Forest Houses continues to operate as public housing under NYCHA management (TDS #059, with its own management office). It exemplifies the promises and pressures of mid-century public housing: an ambitious response to slum conditions that provided stable homes and open space, now requiring sustained investment for preservation and modernization. For the latest on applications, repairs, or resident resources, check the official NYCHA website or the development’s management office (e.g., at 1010 Trinity Avenue).
  18. .