1 Jackson Houses is named after **Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)**, the 7th U.S. President. The development has seven 16-story buildings with 868 apartments. Completed on **July 31, 1963**, the 7.88-acre Bronx development is bordered by Park and Courtlandt Avenues, and East 156th and East 158th Streets.
Neighborhood Context
4 Jackson Houses is located in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. The broader area is often identified as part of the Melrose neighborhood. 15 Melrose is considered part of the socioeconomic South Bronx. 15 The neighborhood until the 1960s was mostly Irish and Italian. It is now primarily Latino.
Construction & Historical Context
Jackson Houses was completed in 1963, during the peak era of NYCHA’s post-war public housing construction. 5The Authority boomed in partnership with Robert Moses after World War II as part of Moses’ plan to clear old tenements and remake New York as a modern city. Moses indicated later in life that he was disappointed at how the public housing system fell into decline and disrepair. The majority of NYCHA developments were built between 1945 and 1965.
Physical Details & Management
3 Jackson Houses has 864 current units out of a total of 868, with 4,114 rental rooms. The total population is 1,915 residents in public housing. There are 317 families on fixed income, representing 39% of families. There are 7 residential buildings and 1 non-residential building. 2 Jackson Houses is managed by Morrisania Air Rights. According to NYCHA’s property map, the development includes facilities such as a bulk storage room, grounds shop, boiler room, plasterers shop, carpenters shop, and a **senior center** at 325 East 156th Street. 3 Jackson Houses is not a senior-only development, and electricity is not paid by residents.
Political Representation
3 Jackson Houses falls within City Council District 17, represented by Rafael Salamanca Jr., Community District Bronx 1, and Congressional District 15, represented by Ritchie Torres.
Notable Residents & Community Leadership
6 Daniel Barber is the Chair of the Citywide Council of Presidents (CCOP) and Resident Association President of Jackson Houses. 6 He has lived at Jackson Houses since August of 1972. He was 3 years old when his entire family moved to NYCHA. His mom and aunt chose Jackson Houses, and they are still in the same units they had when they first moved in. They were four blocks away from where they used to live so it didn’t uproot them out of their community. 6 Barber has expressed that “if residents come together, we can save public housing, which gave so many of us the opportunity to have a place to call home.”
Major Incidents & Infrastructure Challenges
Electrical Fire Emergency
4 Following a fire that caused significant damage to the main transformer room in the basement of Building 1, the fire destroyed vital electrical switches and distribution panels, and power was knocked out in the entire complex. 4 As temperatures soared past 90 degrees, generators were employed as a temporary measure. However, the generators were unable to fully meet the demands of peak summer usage and, with more than 2,300 people without air conditioning or elevators, the project was deemed an emergency by NYCHA and fast-tracked. 4 Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic several months into the project, STV’s team played a pivotal role in getting power fully restored to the complex months ahead of schedule, with final construction cost coming in under budget. 13 The $12.3 million project was completed within schedule and under budget. 4 The Andrew Jackson Houses Electrical Feeder Replacement was honored with a Project Achievement Award by the national chapter of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) in the Residential/Mixed Use category.
Facade Deterioration
8 DOB Local Law 11 records show facade compliance has been an issue at Jackson as far back as 2007, when a “safe” designation was switched to “unsafe.” 8 NYCHA installed sidewalk scaffolding to protect passersby from falling bricks until they could fix the problem, and that’s how things stayed at the Jackson Houses — for years. 8 The question arose: why did NYCHA not do anything for seven years to address a problem red-flagged by their own inspection in 2016? 8 A chunk of the facade of a Jackson Houses building in the Bronx smashed the sidewalk shed below in April 2023.
Elevator Upgrades
11 Jackson Houses became one of the first NYCHA developments to receive installations of automatic voltage regulators (AVR) for its elevator operations. By automatically boosting voltage to acceptable operating levels, the new equipment allows elevators to operate more reliably.
Landmark Sustainability Project: Geothermal Heating
Jackson Houses has become a centerpiece of NYCHA’s green energy transition:
17 CSA designed a highly efficient, all-electric, closed-loop, vertical geothermal heat pump system for the heating of all domestic water at 1,744 apartments in 17 apartment buildings (across both Jackson Houses and Eastchester Gardens), and new efficient boilers for the central steam plants in each development. This is the first project of its kind at NYCHA and one of the largest geothermal heat pump systems in the Northeast U.S. 23 The project replaced centralized fossil-fuel heating and hot-water systems with a closed-loop geothermal network, using borefields drilled 500 ft into bedrock to feed high-efficiency heat pumps delivering year-round domestic hot water. 14 The team delivered the project ahead of schedule and within budget. By switching the apartment complex from gas/oil to geothermal, the project avoids direct greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to long-term environmental resilience. 20 On November 20, Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) New York region presented NYCHA’s Asset and Capital Management division with a “Best Project” award in the residential/hospitality and excellence in sustainability categories for the geothermal projects at Eastchester Gardens and Jackson Houses. 17 This project is aligned with New York State and New York City’s goal to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050.
NYCHA’s Broader Funding Context
26 NYCHA needs more than $78 billion to fully restore and renovate all of its buildings, but the federal government has provided only a fraction of the funding needed. NYCHA recognizes that many of the conditions in its buildings are unacceptable and unsafe. Renovations are long overdue but necessary. PACT is a critical tool that, through partnerships with private and non-profit development partners, allows NYCHA to modernize homes and provide enhanced community services.
Jackson Houses stands as one of the South Bronx’s significant mid-century public housing developments — named for a U.S. President and home to generations of New Yorkers since 1963. In recent years, it has become a showcase for NYCHA’s sustainability efforts through its groundbreaking geothermal heating system, while also embodying the challenges of aging infrastructure, deferred maintenance, and the ongoing need for comprehensive investment in public housing.
Andrew Jackson Houses — NYCHA, The Bronx, NY
Background & NYCHA Context
7 The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. In 1934, it was created as the first agency of its kind in the United States, aiming to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. 7 The majority of NYCHA developments were built between 1945 and 1965. Jackson Houses is one such post-war development, constructed in the early 1960s.
Construction & Completion
12 Jackson Houses has seven 16-story buildings with 868 apartments. Completed July 31, 1963, the 7.88-acre Bronx development is bordered by Park and Courtlandt Avenues, and East 156th and East 158th Streets. 6 The complex is located in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.
Size & Residents
2 The development has 864 current units out of a total of 868 units, with 4,114 rental rooms, 7 residential buildings, and 1 non-residential building. 2 The total population of the development is 1,915 public housing residents, with 317 families on fixed income, representing 39% of all families at the development. 6 The development houses more than 2,300 people.
Location & Addresses
4 Key building addresses include 3080 Park Avenue, 300 East 158th Street, 785 and 799 Courtlandt Avenue, 325 East 156th Street, and 765 Courtlandt Avenue, all located in the Bronx, zip code 10451. 2 Jackson Houses falls within City Council District 17, represented by Rafael Salamanca Jr., and Community District Bronx 1. It is in Congressional District 15, represented by Ritchie Torres.
Community & Resident Life
3 Daniel Barber has served as both Chair of the Citywide Council of Presidents (CCOP) and Resident Association President of Jackson Houses, becoming a long-time advocate for NYCHA residents. 3 His family has lived at Jackson Houses since August 1972 — they were given three choices of housing by the City, chose Jackson Houses, and have remained in the same units ever since, noting that the development was only four blocks from where they used to live, so it did not uproot them from their community. 3 As Barber has stated: “I strongly feel that if residents come together, we can save public housing, which gave so many of us the opportunity to have a place to call home.”
Infrastructure Challenges: Façade Issues
1 Seven years prior to 2023, structural engineers declared most of the buildings that make up NYCHA’s Jackson Houses in The Bronx “unsafe” after finding some of its aging brick facades were in potentially dangerous condition. NYCHA installed sidewalk scaffolding to protect passersby from falling bricks until they could fix the problem — and that is how things stayed at the Jackson Houses. 1 In April 2023, before dawn on a Thursday, a large panel of bricks broke loose from around the 15th floor of 3505 Park Avenue — one of the buildings flagged as “unsafe” in 2016 — and plummeted toward the street below. The masonry crashed down onto the sidewalk shed, which collapsed into a heap of wood and metal. If anybody had been underneath that shed, they likely would have been severely injured, or even killed. 1 DOB Local Law 11 records show facade compliance has been an issue at Jackson as far back as 2007, when a “safe” designation was switched to “unsafe.” Five of the seven buildings remained listed as “unsafe” as of 2023.
Major Electrical Crisis & Emergency Repairs
10 Following a catastrophic fire that destroyed vital electrical switches, distribution panels, and feeder cables at seven 16-story buildings housing more than 2,300 people at the Jackson Houses complex in the Bronx, STV was contracted as the construction manager to manage the repair and replacement. 6 As temperatures soared past 90 degrees, generators were employed as a temporary measure. However, the generators were unable to fully meet the demands of peak summer usage, and with more than 2,300 people without air conditioning or elevators, the project was deemed an emergency by NYCHA and fast-tracked. 6 Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic several months into the project, STV’s team played a pivotal role in getting power fully restored to the complex months ahead of schedule, with the final construction cost coming in under budget. 10 The $12.3 million project was completed within schedule and under budget, based on savings the construction management team was able to produce through innovative planning to gradually reduce the need for costly portable generators to temporarily power each of the high-rise buildings. 6 STV’s construction management team’s work was honored with a Project Achievement Award by the national chapter of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) in the Residential/Mixed Use: Construction value less than $50 million category.
Geothermal Sustainability Initiative
9 A $65-million pilot project introduced a groundbreaking geothermal system tailored for dense, multifamily urban housing at Jackson Houses, setting a new standard in sustainable residential infrastructure. This project won a Best Residential/Hospitality/Excellence in Sustainability award from Engineering News-Record in 2025.
Elevator Upgrades
5 The Bronx’s Jackson Houses became one of the first NYCHA developments to receive installations of automatic voltage regulators (AVR) for its elevator operations. By automatically boosting voltage to acceptable operating levels, the new equipment allows elevators to function more reliably.
Elected Officials & Governance
2 Jackson Houses is served by City Council District 17 (Rafael Salamanca Jr.), Community District Bronx 1, and Congressional District 15 (Ritchie Torres). U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand also represent the area.
In summary, Andrew Jackson Houses is a significant mid-20th century NYCHA development in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, completed in 1963. Housing nearly 2,000 residents across seven 16-story towers, it has faced serious infrastructure challenges over the decades — including dangerous façade deterioration and a major electrical fire — while also being at the forefront of innovative upgrades like geothermal heating and automatic voltage regulators for its elevators. The development has a strong tradition of resident activism, especially through longtime advocate Daniel Barber.