In the heady days of postwar urban renewal, when it appeared almost any area was open for redevelopment, Robert Moses, Chairman of the Mayor’s Committee on Slum Clearance proposed in 1959 that the three “substandard” blocks between 24th and 27th Streets, Second and Third Avenues be designated the Gramercy Park Urban Renewal Area. This would have made the area eligible for redevelopment funds provided by Title I of the federal Housing Act of 1949.
As compared to the area east of Second Avenue, the blocks between Second and Third Avenues historically contained a higher grade of housing stock and the tenements on these blocks were typically better maintained. Three buildings at 227-229 East 25th Street had received press attention in 1945 when they were converted from "condemned cold water flats" to what were described as "charming and comfortable living quarters….for people of moderate means."
Residents objected to the redevelopment proposal that would have seen the replacement of the tenements between 24th and 27th Streets with five sixteen-story buildings containing 1,275 apartments intended for middle-income families. A corruption scandal put a stop to the plan after it was revealed that the state assemblyman who represented the district had organized the real estate group selected by Robert Moses to redevelop the area. This allowed the area to remain largely intact, and with the exception of high rises that have come to dominate Second and Third Avenues, the crosstown streets in this part of Rose Hill and Kips Bay have retained their historic low-rise character.
