In conjunction with HDC’s 2025 Conference, Challenges and Opportunities for Historic Affordable Housing, join HDC and FRIENDS of the Upper East Side for a walking tour focused on Yorkville’s affordable and progressive housing history.

Yorkville’s immigrant history made the neighborhood a laboratory for “Model Tenements,” “French Flats,” and “Light Court Tenements.” These experimental structures helped create standards that proliferated throughout the city.

This tour, led by HDC’s Preservation Manager Lucie Levine and FRIENDS’ Vice President Ronda Wist, will focus on early examples of affordable housing in Yorkville, and situate that history within the current context of the neighborhood, which has lost thousands of affordable units over the last 20 years, as historic housing has been demolished for luxury towers.

Join us to explore Yorkville’s rich history, and consider the vital role preservation plays in maintaining affordable units.