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Toomey
PARKCHESTER
LEGEND
2 - D
THE HOUSING
PROJECT BUILT
BY THE METROPOLITAN
INSURANCE COMPANY
OF NEW YORK
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A general layout plan of the entire estate.
RENTING PLO
Parkchester is a community built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in the Borough of the Bronx, New York City. Work was started in 1938 when little in the way of new construction was being undertaken. The aim of the Company
to was reduce unemployment, provide modern accommodations for families of moderate income and establish opportunity for sound, permanent investment of Company funds.
The plan was extraordinary. It called for the complete transformation of 130 acres of land, most of it clear of buildings of any type, into a parklike suburb expressing modern standards in respect to convenience, openness and sunlight. The community is but a half-hour subway ride from midtown Manhattan. It is but a short distance from Bronx Park, Van Cortlandt Park, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and the Triborough Bridge.
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There are 58 buildings. Fifty-one
apartment structures, consisting of 171 units, seven to thirteen stories high, accommodating 12,272 families. There are also five ramp garages with a combined capacity of about 3,500 cars, a central heating plant and a 2,000 seat motion picture theatre. The buildings contain more than 200 automatic elevators. Windows command views of Long Island Sound and Manhattan,
The buildings cover only 35.5 acres, or 27.4 per cent of the land. Landscaped and recreational areas take in 66.6 acres, or 51.4 per cent of the land. Streets and parkways cover the remaining 27.4 acres or 21.2 per cent of the land. The structures represent the best type of fireproof construction.
Apartment layout and equipment were the product of long deliberation. Kitchens and bathrooms are complete. Living rooms and bedrooms are light, airy and large. All floors are of parquet oak. Windows are of the latest type of casement-wind and water tight. Those in bedrooms have special ventilating sections. All heating is accomplished by radiators concealed from view
Parkchester design represents a complete deviation from the conventional block system characteristic of most city development. Two broad parkways cross and divide the community into four major sections or quadrants, each a village in itself. At the centre of the community where the parkways meet is a park containing fine old trees, flower garders and a large fountain. Each of the quadrants con- tains an inner park area surrounded by recreational sections, tree-bordered paths and gardens. Accordingly, apartment windows frame picturesque and extended views.
The recreational areas are 22 in number. In them are 6
wading pools, 6 basketball and volleyball courts; 4 roller skating ovals; 10 pieces of climbing apparatus; 22 shuffleboard courts; 7 paddle tennis and badminton courts; 3 horseshoe courts; 8 handball courts; 39 chair swings for small children, 30 safety seat swings; 20 slides; 14 sand boxes; 8 areas with sidewalk games marked, and a large play field.
The play field is used for softball, touch football, soccer, track and field events, archery and boxing and provides excep- tional opportunity for folk dancing and pageants. Parkchester employees, members of the Recreation Staff, supervise play- ground activity and carry out sport and play programs.
Parkchester has been in operation since early in 1940. Safety measures are basic elements of the general plan. Even the oval centre park serves more than an esthetic purpose.
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It acts and was designed to act as a check to traffic speed
on the parkways.
The landscaping program carried out called for the planting of some 3,700 trees (maple, birch, oak, pine, honey locust, linden, elm, flowering dogwood, crab apple, thorn, magnolia, silver bell and others). Also 35,000 hedge plants and shrubs (including azalea, native holly, mountain laurel, lilac, rhododendron and snowball) and 300,000 ground cover plants. Thousands of tulips and pansies bloom in spring Heliotrope and petunias blend attractively in summer. The florai season only ends with the bloom of masses of chrysanthemums in the fall.
Interesting to all visitors is Parkchester's statuary, which adorns building entrances and catches the eyes of pedestrians at corners close to roof lines. Nine sculptors created the figures, drawing upon mythology, domestic and child life, industry, agriculture, sports and the animal and bird world for their subjects. Delineation of animals and birds has in some instances been light and fanciful. The Proud Rooster, the Solemn Puffin and the Puzzled Monkey are some of such characterizations.
Store sections are conveniently located. Shops are not scattered but are grouped in definite locations. A major shopping centre functions near the Parkchester or 177th Street Station of the Interboro Rapid Transit. In addition, "neign- borhood" store centres, established in other parts of the com- munity, serve the day-to-day need of residents.
The first branch opened by Macy's in New York City, a store with a frontage of almost 700 feet on each of two streets, is located in the major shopping district. The theatre is there, too, as well as a bowling centre with 32 alleys; club and banquet rooms and a restaurant. There, too, is a public library. Physicians and dentists have offices in this section. Near-by are the post office and branches of the National City Bank, the Bronx County Trust Co., the First Federal Savings and Loan Association, the New York Telephone Company and Western Union.
Residents travel by subway to Manhattan. The Pelham Bay branch of the I.R.T. system is part of the Lexington Avenue route connecting directly with Grand Central and other important East Side points as well as the financial dis- trict. Buses operate through the community. Buses and near-by street cars make connections with the West Side subways,
There are more than 42,000 rooms in Parkchester. There are more than 7,000 three and over 4,000 four room suites. Rentals which were established in 1939 included gas and electricity and were as follows:
Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Five rooms
$32 to $34 monthly $39 to $53 monthly $52 to $64 monthly $63 to $71 monthly
Plans for construction began to unfold in the latter part of 1938. In 1939 as many as 5,000 workers were occupied at one time; 110,000,000 bricks, 120,000,000 pounds of structural steel, 15,000,000 square feet of flooring-figures such as these suggest the magnitude of the undertaking. As steel swung into the sky thousands of families placed their names on file, indicating interest in apartments. A model suite was built near the boundary of the property. Later this replaced by several model suites in a newly finished building within the community.
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