NYCHA houses (New York, Hempstead, Union: middle-class, section 8, apartments)

[EbonyIce]

Hi all,
Im new to the forums so please pardon me if I have this in the wrong section.

I have 2 questions.
In NYC, there are NYCHA housing apartments that are small houses. Usually 2 family, an upstairs and a downstairs. I know of one set in Brooklyn, NY that extends from Ralph Ave & St. Johns Pl around to Sterling Place and Howard Ave.
The problem is that for the life of me I cant locate where any others are.
And yes I have already asked at a local housing office, but they give you such a run around with info.

Does anyone happen to know where there are any others like those? It doesnt matter if its in Brooklyn or not. Just gave those as an example. The problem is when you say NYCHA housing, folks automatically assume you mean within a project building, but thats not what Im looking for.

Secondly, Does anyone know which NYCHA housing areas within Long Island and/of Staten Island are decent areas to relocate to?

Thank you all in advance for your help.

[PortRichmonder]

I know the kind of small house projects you're talking about. There was one on Staten Island named Markham Gardens that they razed a handful of years ago. They also have a bunch of rows of houses like that in front of (and as part of) the West Brighton Houses on Staten Island but I'm almost sure they're for the elderly.

Long Island isn't NYC so they have no NYCHA. The South Beach Houses, Berry Houses and Todt Hill Houses on Staten Island are all ridiculously safe by public housing standards (pretty much in general, as well). I'd imagine your chances of getting into any of them wouldn't be very good though. Good luck in your pursuit nonetheless.

[EbonyIce]

PortRichmonder,

Thank you so much for your reply. It was very helpful! I appreciate all the info..Would you happen to know of anymore of them in either Brooklyn,Queens or anywhere?
Im still searching but do they have a particular name for them so I can tell the difference between the small houses and the apartment buildings?

Have a good one!

[PortRichmonder]

You are very welcome but no other developments consisting of homes come to mind other than the one I mentioned and the one you mentioned. Sorry. As far as a name for them, I looked around Google a little and I'm tempted to say that a separate name for them doesn't even exist. Sorry, again. This leaves you in a bit of a hard spot, I know. Best of luck with your search though. If you find anything significant out, be sure to report back!

[checkmatechamp13]

Originally Posted by EbonyIce

Hi all,
Im new to the forums so please pardon me if I have this in the wrong section.

I have 2 questions.
In NYC, there are NYCHA housing apartments that are small houses. Usually 2 family, an upstairs and a downstairs. I know of one set in Brooklyn, NY that extends from Ralph Ave & St. Johns Pl around to Sterling Place and Howard Ave.
The problem is that for the life of me I cant locate where any others are.
And yes I have already asked at a local housing office, but they give you such a run around with info.

Does anyone happen to know where there are any others like those? It doesnt matter if its in Brooklyn or not. Just gave those as an example. The problem is when you say NYCHA housing, folks automatically assume you mean within a project building, but thats not what Im looking for.

Secondly, Does anyone know which NYCHA housing areas within Long Island and/of Staten Island are decent areas to relocate to?

Thank you all in advance for your help.

In Long Island, there are a lot of "housing projects" that are groups of townhouses.

Here is a website that might be helpful for Nassau County: Nassau County, Long Island New York

If that doesn't work, you can try this website and asking for the numbers of other housing authorities in Nassau (like Uniondale, Bellmore, etc): Incorporated Village of Hempstead

Also, have you tried applying for Section 8, which I believe has similar income requirements as NYCHA?

Originally Posted by EbonyIce

PortRichmonder,

Thank you so much for your reply. It was very helpful! I appreciate all the info..Would you happen to know of anymore of them in either Brooklyn,Queens or anywhere?
Im still searching but do they have a particular name for them so I can tell the difference between the small houses and the apartment buildings?

Have a good one!

He's right that South Beach, Todt Hill, and the Berry Houses are very safe. I would say that most of the Staten Island projects (with the exception of maybe Stapleton) are safer than the average project.

In Brooklyn, I would say that the Marlboro Houses (in Bensonhurst) and the Sheepshead Bay Houses (obviously in Sheepshead Bay) are safe. In Queens, I think the Pomonok Houses (near Queens College) are safe.

Good luck!

[PortRichmonder]

I'm 90% sure that the Stapleton Houses, Parkhill Apartments, West Brighton Houses, Mariners Harbor Houses and Richmond Terrace Houses (Jersey St) all have comparable crime rates to one another. All them poor sections across the far North part of the island have crime rates that are eerily similar to one another. Designating one of those areas as "safer" or "more dangerous" than another comes down almost entirely to personal experiences/comfort level/individual word of mouth/media coverage and such.

But yeah, SI projects are much much smaller than most projects in the other boroughs so crime in terms of sheer totals is reduced quite a bit I'd imagine.

[checkmatechamp13]

Originally Posted by PortRichmonder

I'm 90% sure that the Stapleton Houses, Parkhill Apartments, West Brighton Houses, Mariners Harbor Houses and Richmond Terrace Houses (Jersey St) all have comparable crime rates to one another. All them poor sections across the far North part of the island have crime rates that are eerily similar to one another. Designating one of those areas as "safer" or "more dangerous" than another comes down almost entirely to personal experiences/comfort level/individual word of mouth/media coverage and such.

But yeah, SI projects are much much smaller than most projects in the other boroughs so crime in terms of sheer totals is reduced quite a bit I'd imagine.

Maybe its just me, but I just feel more unsafe in the Stapleton neighborhood than in the Mariners' Harbor neighborhood. Maybe its just because Stapleton is much more run down than Mariners' Harbor (at least in my opinion). I've had a couple of incidents in Stapleton (I was doing an internship, and in front of the building I was working in, somebody set a mattress on fire and put it under the hood of a car, and another time a group of 5-6 kids came up to me asking for money for food)

I've also been in the area just south of the West Brighton Houses, generally on my way to/from the Broadway YMCA further south on Broadway. Similar to Stapleton, there was a man who asked the people at the intersection (cars passing by and people waiting at the bus stop) for money for food, and I was walking down a side street and a person came up to me and offered me weed.

Mariners' Harbor, nothing of the sort happened to me, and I've been there more often (and at later/darker hours) than Stapleton and West Brighton.

[PortRichmonder]

Originally Posted by checkmatechamp13

Maybe its just me, but I just feel more unsafe in the Stapleton neighborhood than in the Mariners' Harbor neighborhood. Maybe its just because Stapleton is much more run down than Mariners' Harbor (at least in my opinion). I've had a couple of incidents in Stapleton (I was doing an internship, and in front of the building I was working in, somebody set a mattress on fire and put it under the hood of a car, and another time a group of 5-6 kids came up to me asking for money for food)

I've also been in the area just south of the West Brighton Houses, generally on my way to/from the Broadway YMCA further south on Broadway. Similar to Stapleton, there was a man who asked the people at the intersection (cars passing by and people waiting at the bus stop) for money for food, and I was walking down a side street and a person came up to me and offered me weed.

Mariners' Harbor, nothing of the sort happened to me, and I've been there more often (and at later/darker hours) than Stapleton and West Brighton.

Yeah, like I said it's mostly based on personal experiences and comfort and such. Like I've lived in Port Richmond for 22+ years and go through those begging for money/getting offered drugs occurrences pretty much weekly at the very least (trust me, that's the wild stuff. Smh). Yet since I know the area very well and am so used to it I rather navigate it than most other seedy parts of the Island/city/country/world regardless of what crime statistics say. I think most people operate that way whether they know it or not.

Also, I could see how Stapleton could be more intimidating since it's denser while the Harbor is mostly single-family homes, the projects and then more single-family homes. Most of the Harbor (most blocks West of Harbor Road) is really livable with very diverse, safe blocks consisting of genuinely hardworking people. Them projects are what the entire area's reputation is built on. Stapleton is much seedier as an overall neighborhood. And West Brighton's seedy section is arguably even smaller than the Harbor's. You can literally travel like 4 or so blocks East of Henderson/Broadway and be in what feels like a different planet. It's insane. The majority (or at least half) of what falls under the "West Brighton" title is actually Upper Middle-Class, white and quite attractive. The differences are crazy. Kinda cool, but crazy nonetheless.

[checkmatechamp13]

Originally Posted by PortRichmonder

Yeah, like I said it's mostly based on personal experiences and comfort and such. Like I've lived in Port Richmond for 22+ years and go through those begging for money/getting offered drugs occurrences pretty much weekly at the very least (trust me, that's the wild stuff. Smh). Yet since I know the area very well and am so used to it I rather navigate it than most other seedy parts of the Island/city/country/world regardless of what crime statistics say. I think most people operate that way whether they know it or not.

Also, I could see how Stapleton could be more intimidating since it's denser while the Harbor is mostly single-family homes, the projects and then more single-family homes. Most of the Harbor (most blocks West of Harbor Road) is really livable with very diverse, safe blocks consisting of genuinely hardworking people. Them projects are what the entire area's reputation is built on. Stapleton is much seedier as an overall neighborhood. And West Brighton's seedy section is arguably even smaller than the Harbor's. You can literally travel like 4 or so blocks East of Henderson/Broadway and be in what feels like a different planet. It's insane. The majority (or at least half) of what falls under the "West Brighton" title is actually Upper Middle-Class, white and quite attractive. The differences are crazy. Kinda cool, but crazy nonetheless.

Part of it may be that, because I live on the West Shore, (near what used to be the Staten Island Hotel), I'm more comfortable in Mariners' Harbor than other so-called-hoods because I spend more time in that area.

You're right that it is probably the character of the different areas. You see a lot of single-family homes on nearby streets (Brabant Street, Grandview Avenue, South Avenue, etc) than you do in either West Brighton or Stapleton.

I think part of Mariners' Harbor's reputation comes from the fact that, like a lot of the North Shore, it is predominantly minorities (according to the last census, less than 20% of the people there were White), and people from other areas associate that with crime.

I've noticed that about West Brighton (I wouldn't say 1/2 of the area, since the areas west of the housing projects couldn't be considered upper-middle class). Most of the houses east of Bement Avenue are pretty nice, as are the houses south of Forest Avenue. Yet the housing projects give the whole area a bad reputation.

[PortRichmonder]

Originally Posted by checkmatechamp13

Part of it may be that, because I live on the West Shore, (near what used to be the Staten Island Hotel), I'm more comfortable in Mariners' Harbor than other so-called-hoods because I spend more time in that area.

You're right that it is probably the character of the different areas. You see a lot of single-family homes on nearby streets (Brabant Street, Grandview Avenue, South Avenue, etc) than you do in either West Brighton or Stapleton.

I think part of Mariners' Harbor's reputation comes from the fact that, like a lot of the North Shore, it is predominantly minorities (according to the last census, less than 20% of the people there were White), and people from other areas associate that with crime.

I've noticed that about West Brighton (I wouldn't say 1/2 of the area, since the areas west of the housing projects couldn't be considered upper-middle class). Most of the houses east of Bement Avenue are pretty nice, as are the houses south of Forest Avenue. Yet the housing projects give the whole area a bad reputation.

Yeah, West Brighton is kind of that one really blighted area around the projects, the diverse, more livable but not as safe (not as safe as the nice parts, that is) blocks that run from about Clove Road to N. Burgher (not including the projects, which are in between) and then everything else (Hart Blvd, Castleton past N. Burgher, Bard Ave, Bement Ave, Forest Ave and everything below it, etc) is as nice as you'll find on the far North side of the Island. Every inner city area on the Island has a part that is much more livable than the core of those neighborhoods. West Brighton's is by far the largest and nicest (although them parts of New Brighton by St. Peter's HS feel almost country in spots).