Department of Housing Preservation and Development image collection

Collection REC0022 - RG 038. Department of Housing Preservation and Development

Abstract

This collection consists of materials created by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Materials are primarily visual in nature and relate to the agency's programs and events and their work in affordable and supportive housing. Material includes, negatives, slides, photographic prints, press releases, agendas, contacts sheets, memoranda, pamphlets.

Extent

100 cubic feet

Dates

1961-2012

Creators

Physical Location

Materials are stored onsite at 31 Chambers Street in Manhattan and at 147 41st Street in Brooklyn.

Custodial History

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and its predecessors, the Housing Redevelopment Board (1961-1965) and the Housing Development Administration (1965-1977), maintained custody of the collection since the agency's 1961 founding until 2017. Before the collection was transferred to the New York City Municipal Archives in 2017, the collection was processed at HPD through a grant from the Local Government Record Management Improvement Fund. Digitization was undertaken by the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS). After processing and digitization, the collection was officially transferred from HPD to the New York City Municipal Archives, a department within DORIS.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was transferred from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to the New York City Municipal Archives (NYCMA) in 2017. The collection was accessioned by the NYCMA in 2018.

Existence and Location of Copies

Portions of Series 1: Negatives, has been digitized and is available through our online gallery.
New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development image collection includes photographic negatives, prints, and documents chronicling the Department of Housing Preservation and Development's history, programs, and events from 1961 through 2012.

The collection features images on a myriad of New York City housing related topics. Notable subjects include construction, building sites in situ, street views, excavations, accidents, facades, aerials, apartment interiors, rehabilitations, "before-and-after" photos, demolitions, and photos of City Hall events such as swearings-in, press conferences, and inaugurations. The collection also features photos of community hearings, street life, portraits of tenants, home-owners, and agency staff, as well as events like blood drives, toy drives, retirement parties, and sporting events. There are images documenting every major urban renewal project since 1961, including West Side Urban Renewal, Seward Park, Lincoln Square, Bellevue South, Morningside Heights, Washington Street, East River, Bradhurst, Camden Plaza, Atlantic Terminal, Coney Island Industrial, Children's Museum, Saratoga Square, Williamsburg, Arverne, Corona-East Elmhurst, Bronxchester, Melrose, Soundview, and Mott Haven. The collection also documents a considerable number of historic buildings across all five boroughs and holds images of every New York City Mayor since 1961. Photos of elected officials, public figures, and agency Commissioners/Administrators are also included.

Materials are primarily visual, with the majority of the collection comprised of black and white and color negatives in formats ranging from 35 millimeter to 10 x 12 inches. The collection also includes 35 millimeter slides, photographic prints ranging from 3 x 5 inches to 30 x 40 inches, computer discs, contact sheets and textual documents like press releases and brochures, event programs, flyers, agency memoranda and agendas, presentation materials, reports, and pamphlets.
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development's predecessor, the Housing and Redevelopment Board, was created by Mayor Robert F. Wagner in 1961. Wagner created the organization in direct response to the Committee on Slum Clearance, headed by Robert Moses, and its effect on lower-income communities. The agency's primary objective was the total reorganization of urban renewal efforts, including taking over all ongoing Title 1 and rehabilitation efforts.

The agency grew and became the Housing Development Administration in 1965 and remained so until 1977, when it became the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Since that time, the agency's primary mission has been the rehabilitation of vacant or heavily damaged pre-war housing, and the creation of new affordable housing in areas with the greatest need, including private home-ownership, affordable rental housing, supportive housing, housing for the elderly, and housing for people with disabilities. Today, HPD continues to pursue these goals through housing policy and support programs.

Sources

  1. Manhattan Projects: The Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal in Cold War New York, by Samuel Zipp, Oxford University Press, 2010.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development image collection is arranged into eigth series based on physical format or function. Series 3 has been further arranged into two subseries. Within these series, materials are arranged to reflect the original institutional order or are arranged chronologically. Please see arrangement notes on the series and subseries level to determine which is used.
Title
Guide to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development image collection, 1961-2012
Status
Completed
Author
Caitlin Biggers and Jill Reichenbach
Date
2016
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Sponsor
Processing and digitization was made possible by Local Government Record Management Improvement Fund grants.

Revision Statements

  • 2023: Revision of original finding aid and EAD encoding by staff archivist Kelli O'Toole.