General Ulysses S. Grant Houses is a public housing

Public housing

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...

 project at the northern boundary of Morningside Heights

Morningside Heights, Manhattan

Morningside Heights is a neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City and is chiefly known as the home of institutions such as Columbia University, Teachers College, Barnard College, the Manhattan School of Music, Bank Street College of Education, the Cathedral of Saint John the...

 in the borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

 of Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The complex is located between Broadway

Broadway (New York City)

Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...

 and Morningside Avenue

Morningside Avenue

Morningside Avenue is a suburban arterial road in the Toronto, Ontario, running north by north-west from the Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario to the eastern terminus of Finch Avenue East near the Rouge River valley...

, spanning oddly-shaped superblocks from 123rd Street and La Salle Street to 125th Street

125th Street (Manhattan)

125th Street is a two-way street that runs east-west in the New York City borough of Manhattan, considered the "Main Street" of Harlem; It is also called Martin Luther King, Jr...

.

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

New York City Housing Authority

The New York City Housing Authority provides public housing for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the five boroughs of New York City. NYCHA also administers a citywide Section 8 Leased Housing Program in rental apartments...

. For maximum sunlight exposure they lie directly north of Morningside Gardens

Morningside Gardens

Morningside Gardens refers to a private housing cooperative in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. It is composed of six apartment buildings of 21 stories each, for a total of 980 apartments. Some spaces that would otherwise be apartments are used by affiliated groups such as the pre-school...

, a middle income cooperative in Morningside Heights

Morningside Heights, Manhattan

Morningside Heights is a neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City and is chiefly known as the home of institutions such as Columbia University, Teachers College, Barnard College, the Manhattan School of Music, Bank Street College of Education, the Cathedral of Saint John the...

. 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

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

, two Negro

Negro

The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...

 and one Puerto Rican

Puerto Rican people

A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...

."

Notable residents

• Ray Chew
  Ray Chew
  Ray Chew is an American musician who specializes in keyboards and contemporary and orchestral arranging.Chew was a member of the Saturday Night Live Band from 1980 to 1983...
  
   (born c. 1968), musical director of the Apollo Theater
  Apollo Theater
  The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
  
  , lived here until age 7.

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