The Stapleton Projects Project - Part Fourteen - Warren Street to Fulton Street to Patten Street to Meadow Street

After a lengthy hiatus, welcome back to the lost buildings and homes wiped out by the construction of the Stapleton Housing Projects. Here's a large number of photos from a block that once existed along Warren Street between Hill and Gordon. Unlike many of the other blocks I've recreated, there are no stores. The only things that isn't a house is the original Holy Trinity Ukrainian Church (click HERE for its history).

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church - the congregation moved to Vanderbilt Avenue in 1957 when the city decided to build the projects.

The Stapleton Projects Project - Part Twelve - Hill Street between Warren Street and the old ball field

Hill Street formed the southern boundary of the lost backstreets and it still exists today. Between the projects and I.S. 49, nothing remains of the homes that onced lined the short stretch. Unlike most of the other streets I've resurrected, Hill Street's buildings are all residential. Not an especially interesting observation, but I just thought I'd point it out.

North side of Hill Street

South side of Hill Street

1917 Street Map

Aerial View from today

The Stapleton Projects Project - Part Ten - Meadow Street between Gordon and Patten Streets, McKeon between Gordon and Patten, and Warren between Meadow and McKeon

A typical backstreet block, a mix of commerical and residential with a definite worn-out appearance. Even with my antipathy toward urban renewal and dislike of housing projects that pack people together like rats, these pictures show a pretty run down neighborhood. If this is what it looked like in the late thirties, I imagine twenty years only made it worse. Between the publication of the map (1917) and the photos (ca. 1940), several lots became vacant, not, I'd wager, a sign indicative of good neighborhood health.

When I see people, especially kids, in these pictures, I love it. They add a dimension of life to them that make it easier to imagine these lost place alive again. Then I realize these kids are in their eighties at least - if they're still alive.