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• 1. First Houses is a public housing project in the East Village, Manhattan, New York City and was one of the first public housing projects in the United States.1 The project consists of 122 three-room or four-room apartments in 8 four-story or five-story buildings, and is located on the south side of East 3rd Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, and on the west side of Avenue A between East 2nd and 3rd streets in Alphabet City and East Village.1

     First Houses take their name from their distinction of being one of the first public housing units constructed in the United States, opening for the first tenants on December 3, 1935.1 More than four thousand families applied for the 122 apartments.1

     First Houses were designated a New York City Landmark and National Historic Landmark in 1974.1

     NYCHA broke ground on its first development soon after its founding, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt cut the ribbon at the First Houses opening ceremony.2

     ⚠️ Notable People Directly from First Houses

     After thorough searching, I must be transparent with you: First Houses does not have a widely documented list of famous celebrities, entertainers, or athletes who grew up there. This is likely due to several factors:

     1. Very small size: With only 122 apartments across 8 low-rise buildings, it is one of the smallest NYCHA developments in existence — a fraction of the size of developments like Queensbridge (3,000+ units) or Marcy Houses that produced major stars.
     2. Its fame is historical, not celebrity-based: “First Houses represents the very beginning of public housing in America, and a reminder of what is possible when government takes bold, compassionate action,” said Arvind Sohoni, NYCHA’s Executive Vice President for Strategy and Innovation.3
     3. Early residents were primarily white working-class immigrants: Upon its completion in February 1936, First Houses accommodated 122 low-income families, primarily white working-class households displaced from the surrounding Second Avenue slums, selected from nearly 4,000 applicants through a rigorous process.4

     Notable Figures Associated with First Houses

     While not “famous” in the entertainment sense, here are the most notable figures publicly connected to First Houses:

     ✊ Ivette Garcia — Resident Association President

     Among those in attendance [at NYCHA’s 90th anniversary celebration] were First Houses Resident Association President Ivette Garcia and Vice President Carmen Flores, NYCHA Board Vice Chair Victor Gonzalez and Board Member Paula Gavin, and Council Member Harvey Epstein.2 Garcia has served as the voice of First Houses residents and has been a leader in advocating for conditions in this landmark development.

     ✊ Carmen Flores — Resident Council Vice President

     Speakers included NYCHA Chair Jamie Rubin, Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt, Chief Operating Officer Eva Trimble, First Houses Resident Council Vice President Carmen Flores as well as State Senator Brian Kavanagh and Hunter College Professor Nicholas D. Bloom.2 Flores has served as a community leader and spokesperson for the residents of this historic development.

     📰 Lesley Sussman — Journalist & Author

     This past summer, Lesley Sussman published a piece about First Houses in the Villager. He’s a retired journalist and author who, at 66, still likes to keep his hand in. Although it doesn’t show in the article, he brings a particular perspective to the Houses; he has lived there for the past 15 years.5 Sussman spent most of his life sharing a two-bedroom apartment with his parents in the Baruch Houses, Manhattan’s largest public housing complex, which was built 24 years after First Houses. In 1997, after his parents died, the Housing Authority transferred him to a one-bedroom but gave him his pick of developments. He scoured the city and chose First Houses for its courtyard, plentiful trees, and low-rise construction.5

     🏛️ Historical Figures Who Made First Houses Possible

     While they didn’t live there, these notable figures are forever linked to First Houses’ creation:

     🎀 Eleanor Roosevelt — First Lady of the United States

     At the opening ceremony, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated the houses.6

     🏛️ Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia — Mayor of New York City

     “There is sunshine in every window” exclaimed Mayor LaGuardia, commenting on the fact that 20 families were moving in from old-law apartments that had few or no windows at all.6

     💰 Vincent Astor — Philanthropist & Real Estate Heir

     When his father, John Jacob Astor IV, died in the sinking of the Titanic, Vincent — then only 20 — inherited nearly $90 million, most of it in New York City real estate. Curious about the newly established Housing Authority and experiments in public housing, he offered to sell the department his 22 unprofitable lots on 3rd Street, between Avenue A and 1st Avenue.5

     🏗️ Langdon W. Post — NYCHA Chairman

     The site comprised dilapidated tenements, selected under the leadership of NYCHA Chairman Langdon W. Post, a former Tenement House Commissioner who had advocated for reform since his time in the State Assembly.4

     ✏️ Frederick L. Ackerman — Architect

     The architect for the project was Frederick L. Ackerman who had the task of making sure that housing guidelines set forth by Federal agencies, notably the Federal Emergency Housing Administration, were applied to the project. These guidelines were created with new housing in mind, and the degree to which Ackerman was able to apply them to the alteration of existing tenements on the site showed ingenuity and imagination.7

     📝 Summary

     First Houses is famous not for celebrity residents, but for being the birthplace of public housing in the United States. As NYCHA CEO Bova-Hiatt said: “The legacy of First Houses is not just in the bricks — it’s in the generations of families who built their lives here, and in the community that has sustained this place through nine decades of change.”2

     Its significance lies in:

     • Being the first publicly funded low-income housing project in the nation
     • Being a New York City Landmark and National Historic Landmark since 1974
     • Establishing the legal precedent for eminent domain in public housing
     • Setting the model for what would become NYCHA — now the largest public housing authority in North America

     With only 122 apartments, First Houses is one of the smallest NYCHA developments, which helps explain why it hasn’t produced the kind of mainstream celebrity roster that larger developments like Queensbridge, Marcy, or the Polo Grounds Towers have. Its legacy is one of pioneering social policy rather than producing entertainment stars.