Kingsborough Houses-Kingsborough Extension


Kingsborough Houses-Kingsborough Extension, also known as Kingsborough Houses, is a housing project in Brooklyn, New York covering 15.97-acres in Crown Heights, and is bordered by Ralph and Rochester Avenues, and Pacific and Bergen Streets. The project consists of 16, six-story buildings with 1,148 apartment units. It is owned and managed by New York City Housing Authority.

History

Construction of the Kingsborough Houses finished in 1941 and cost $5,160,000. Upon its completion, 36 employees worked on-site at the development, with nine in the office and remaining 27 employed on the grounds. The development opened with a majority of white residents, but by the late 1950s over two-thirds of residents were African-American.
The Kingsborough Extension was later completed in 1966 and is devoted to housing senior citizens.

Artist and architect

The cast-stone frieze, Green Pastures: The Walls of Jericho, created was created by Richmond Barthé through the Works Progress Administration in 1938. Originally intended for the Harlem River Houses, an African-American public housing development, Barthé created the site-specific work for an amphitheater. The piece consists of scenes from the Old Testament through the eyes of an African-American child, inspired by the play The Green Pastures. After completion, the panels were placed in storage until 1941 when they were installed at the Kingsborough Houses, a majority white development. By 2018, the frieze was in disrepair with NYCHA unable to fund due to capital needs.
Landscape architect, Gilmore Clarke, designed the development's grounds in a style reminiscent of city parks of the time.
The Kingsborough Extension was designed by architect Morris Ketchum, Jr.