Morningside Gardens

Morningside Gardens refers to a private housing cooperative in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. It is composed of six apartment buildings of 21 stories each, for a total of 980 apartments. Some spaces that would otherwise be apartments are used by affiliated groups such as the pre-school and the Morningside Retirement and Health Service. The complex also contains playgrounds for children ten and under, a fitness center, and a crafts center including a darkroom, a ceramics shop, and a woodworking shop.

The facility was one of the first owner-occupied co-ops in NYC, with the initial construction subsidized by government (tax) money. The early development of the project, led by a team of civic leaders headed by philanthropist David Rockefeller and Columbia University president Grayson Kirk, later formed the basis of the Mitchell-Lama law, which led to many similar co-operative housing facilities, most in NYC and a small number in the local suburbs.

Morningside Gardens, which replaced a slum area, was created for middle-income families, and prides itself on its racial, ethnic and economic diversity.

When the complex opened in 1957, many of the first residents were employees of the prominent educational institutions in the neighborhood, and of the National Council of Churches and other religious organizations located in the nearby Interchurch Center.

The complex is located just north of the campuses of Columbia University, Barnard College and Jewish Theological Seminary, and just east of the campuses of Manhattan School of Music and Union Theological Seminary in the northern section of Morningside Heights. It is bordered by Broadway on the west, Amsterdam Avenue on the east, 123rd Street on the south, and LaSalle Street on the north.

Morningside Gardens is managed by an elected twelve member board of directors. This board votes for and hires a General Manager for operational managing of the complex. There is a small security force that has helped the Gardens to experience a very low crime rate.

For most of its existence, the governing board mandated that those selling their apartments not take any significant profit; this ended in 2006, when the co-op voted to allow residents to sell their units at a progressive yearly increase designed to top out at 80% of market value, or three times the previous maximum sale price per apartment.