In 1963, New York University developed the Silver Towers as a middle-income housing project, which would house people who lived and worked in Greenwich Village, NYU faculty and their families. The towers, which are located in University Village on LaGuardia, West Houston, Mercer and behind Coles Sports Center, were designed by I.M. Pei, who started the designs in 1953. The project finished in 1966, and after NYU proposed plans to expand the University further, the towers were pushed to be landmarked by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Landmark Preservation Commission. NYU at first opposed, but relented under community pressure, leading the towers to be landmarked on November 18, 2008.

Within the area between the Towers, there is a sculpture created by Carl Nesjar. It is a reinterpretation of Pablo Picasso’s “Portrait of Sylvette.”

However, while the Towers are now landmarked,  the area that the Towers are located in use to be Italian working class neighborhoods, according to Harvey Molotch, NYU Professor of Sociology and Metropolitan Studies.

“Today, [the neighborhoods] would have been highly valued for their historic virtues,” Molotch explains.

This shows the downside of urban development, even development that is now preserved as a historical landmark.

*Photos: ©Danielle Elmers