Photo by David Greene
There is no firehouse or hospital in the immediate area of the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative, located opposite Van Cortlandt Park South, yet residents of the cooperative have been joining in the national ritual to thank first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic by going to their windows every night at 7 p.m. and diligently applauding.
A recent visit to Building 11 in the complex, which was built between 1927 and 1970, found residents banging on pots and pans, blowing horns and cheering on the front line workers, hospital workers, and paramedics who have been helping and treating the thousands of victims of the novel coronavirus since the pandemic unfolded in the City in early March. Many residents are seniors who have not left their homes in weeks because of the statewide “PAUSE” lockdown.
Longtime resident, Steve Bobkner, said, “They’re applauding the workers here. It’s louder than fireworks. I hear a cowbell, car horns – it’s like a Yankee game”. Bobkner said that the housing complex has now become the new arena, however, and that the game has become one of life or death. “It starts at 6:58 p.m. and slowly, in a wave, it peaks and goes on for five minutes,” he said.
ZIP code 10463 which covers parts of Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil, Marble Hill and Van Cortlandt Village, where the housing cooperative is located, has registered among the highest numbers of positive COVID-19 cases in the borough, recently surpassing some areas of the South Bronx, traditionally singled out for a range of socio-economic related problems, including poor health.
Still image from “A Greater Good: Amalgamated Housing Cooperative” video by National Cooperative Bank, 2012.
Amalgamated is an example and an inspiration to advocates of moderate income cooperative housing. The United Housing Foundation (UHF), which has built tens of thousands of homes for families of moderate income over the years, was created by the leaders of the cooperative who drew on their initial experience with the Amalgamated complex.
According to its website, the cooperative’s mission is to provide quality housing and a strong community for people of moderate income, and to operate and live in accordance with its ideals, including democratic governance, shared responsibility, constant education, and mutual respect.
It is the oldest limited equity housing cooperative in the United States, and was sponsored by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers’ Union under the leadership of Sidney Hillman. It was also the first co-op created by its founding president and manager, Abraham E. Kazan, known as “the father of cooperative housing in the United States”.
The first 303 “pioneer cooperators” began moving into the building on Nov. 1, 1927, and it is now home to 1,482 families who live in eleven buildings across the complex.
An education department has been in operation in the complex almost since inception, covering activities for “cooperators” of all ages, from playgroup and nursery for toddlers, to a NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) program for seniors.
Still image from “A Greater Good: Amalgamated Housing Cooperative” video by National Cooperative Bank, 2012.
Referring to the nightly tributes, another longtime Amalgamated resident, Glenn Leahey said, “It’s loud every night down here on Gale Place, Orloff Avenue and Van Cortlandt Park South. A group of guys play music, sometimes starting at 6:50 p.m., then at 7 p.m. – five minutes of banging pots, beeping car horns and kazoos. Some are playing instruments from their apartments, even a saxophone.”
Leahey said that the applause and cheers usually end with a tune by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, or the more “contemporary” John Lennon or Billy Joel. “It’s nice to see and hear so many kids and elderly now involved,” he added. “Four weeks strong now, the loudest was this past Saturday night, but I don’t know why. There’s another group on Bailey Avenue and West 238 Street. A friend on Facebook posted a video, but Amalgamated is louder and has the music.”
Two videos from 2012, and 2014 respectively, tell the story of both the cooperative’s rich history as well as present day life, and can be viewed here and here.
On May 7, Council Member Brad Lander and City Council Speaker, Corey Johnson, held a virtual town hall with various front line workers across the City, and were joined by former presidential candidate and State Sen. Elizabeth Warren to discuss a new NYC Bill of Rights for Essential Workers. Warren has been working on similar legislation at a federal level. Lander is asking people to sign the following petition to call for the implementation of the New York City bill: bit.ly/nyc-essential-workers .
More details on the bill’s package can be found here: https://www.landerfornyc.com/essential-workers-bill-of-righ…
An event celebrating NYC Housing Co-Ops will be held on Oct. 27, 2021 at 7 p.m. at The Amalgamated Co-Op, located at 98 Van Cortlandt Park South, The Bronx, NY 10463. See attached flyer for more information.
Flyer courtesy of The Amalgamated Housing Co-Op
*Síle Moloney contributed additional reporting to this story.
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Thanks for the article and for including my quote. My building on Gale Place includes dozens of workers from our local North Central Bronx, MOnefiore and Colombia-Presbyterian hospitals, as well as from local nursing homes, including St. Patrick’s Home, just 3 blocks away, which reportedly has lost @50 patients to COVID. Add on the buildings’ MTA, food service, grocery store, police and fire dept. and so many other frontline workers, we HAVE to be loud: these are our people.
🙂
Thank-you Glenn for the input. But if so many hospital worker’s live in the area, maybe folks should wait until 7:30 p.m. until they get home? They deserve to here it, not just on their days off:)
We lived in 3951 Gouverneur Avenue. Even though I’ve been gone for decades, a large part of me never left.
I have never been as proud as I feel reading this.
Thank you.
Stay together. Be Well,
Terry
🙂
The names change but the pride remains, you’ll have to come back for a visit when this pandemic is over. Thanks for sharing & be safe:)
Thank you for this article and linking the videos. I grew up in the Amalgamated, from 1949 until I left after my first year of law school in 1969. I lived at 92 Van Cortlandt Park South, 130 Gale Place and Tower I. My memories of living here are many and wonderful. I went to the Nursery School and attended Circle Pines Day Camp. I took piano lessons and performed at my first recital at Vladeck Hall. Watching those videos brought back incredible memories. I hope this wonderful community continues to grow and flourish.
Thank you for recognizing and sharing the spirit of Amalgamated cooperators,
staff and overall community. It gives me great pride to be an active volunteer !