Table of Contents

Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments 1. Early Precedents 2. Legislating the Tenement 3. Rich and Poor 4. Beyond the Tenement 5. The Garden Apartment 6. Aesthetics and Realities 7. Government Intervention 8. Pathology of Public Housing 9. New Directions 10. Epilogue Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index

Promotional Information

Since its emergence in the mid-nineteenth century as the nation's "metropolis", New York has faced the most challenging housing problems of any American city, but it has also led the nation in innovation and reform. Plunz traces New York's housing development from 1850 to the present, exploring the housing of all classes, discussing the development of types ranging from the single-family house to the high-rise apartment tower.

About the Author

Richard Plunz is an architect and a historian teaching at Columbia University where he has served as the Chairman of the Division of Architecture. He recently edited Design and the Public Good: Selected Writings by Serge Chermayeff, 1933-1980.

Reviews

Housing, historically one of most perplexing problems, turns out to be a fascinating perspective from which to assess our incomparable city. Professor Plunz provides an erudite, revealing, and relentlessly engaging portrait of a great urban place and its people.