Plaza Borinquen 88 Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

483 East 138th Street, Bronx, New York 10454
Noon–1:00 PM

John Ciardullo had conceived of Plaza Borinquen 88 in his third year of graduate school at Harvard University. It was constructed in 1975 as part of an infill housing program, in which people are moved from substandard to new housing that is erected on vacant lots in their own neighborhoods. This practice physically renews the neighborhood without interfering with established social structures.

The architectural decisions John Ciardullo Associates made on Plaza Borinquen 88 also took that existing social structure equally seriously. The project proved beyond a doubt that, if all aspects of the private/public continuum are addressed, even in low-income urban housing people can be comfortable and in control of the spaces where their lives unfold.

Plaza Borinquen 88 is an environment where inner city residents can enjoy privacy within their homes and the free use of semi-public open spaces, while identifying with consecutively larger groups beyond the family, including those outside the community boundary.

CEREMONIAL RIBBON-CUTTING

SECURED FINANCING & FUNDING IN PART BY

New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC)
New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD)
PNC Bank
US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD)
The NHP Foundation (NHPF)