The City Cuts Ribbon in Inwood, Unveiling 174 Deeply Affordable Homes and a New State-of-the-Art Public Library

The Eliza is set to become an essential community hub, providing education, safe spaces for learning, and deeply affordable housing for the Inwood community

   Project features a new and improved Inwood Library, along with important community amenities, including Universal Pre-K and ACTS Center

The Inwood community celebrated the grand opening of The Eliza, the neighborhood’s new 100% affordable housing building anchored by community amenities including the new Inwood Library– Joseph and Sheila Rosenblatt Building, a Universal Pre-K, and the Activities, Culture, and Training (ACTS) Center. Various New York City agencies—including the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), Housing Development Corporation (HDC), The New York Public Library (NYPL), and the development team; a joint venture of the Community League of the Heights (CLOTH), The Children’s Village (CV), the lead developer Ranger Properties, Housing Workshop, and Alembic Community Development alongside City elected officials, Robin Hood Foundation, and other stakeholders came together to cut the ribbon on 174 new deeply affordable homes at The Eliza and the revitalized state-of-the-art public library.         

The event marked a significant milestone for the Inwood Rezoning Plan, which aims to build 1,600 new affordable homes and preserve and protect 2,500 units in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. Amidst a severe housing crisis marked by historically limited rental options, the demand for The Eliza alone, with over 80,000 applications from New Yorkers, underscores the urgent need for more affordable housing solutions. The Eliza illustrates what can be achieved when the city, private philanthropy, and community partners work together to address the pressing need for affordable housing and vital community resources for all residents. The project also advances the administration’s  Housing Our Neighbors goals to ensure that New Yorkers have access to safe, high-quality, and affordable homes they deserve.

“We came into office with a mission to protect public safety, rebuild our economy, and make this city more livable for working-class New Yorkers. With 174 units of affordable housing, a brand-new library, a Universal Pre-K, and STEM learning center on site, projects like The Eliza are key to achieving that mission,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “With over 80,000 housing lottery applications from New Yorkers, The Eliza makes clear that the path out of our housing crisis is to build more housing. That’s why we’ve set a moonshot goal of building 500,000 new homes by 2032, advanced new housing on city-owned land in all five boroughs, wasted no time implementing new state laws to create more housing, and are pushing full steam ahead to get ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’ approved by the City Council this fall. We’re grateful to all the partners who worked on bringing The Eliza to life, and look forward to welcoming their new residents, Pre-K students, and library patrons.”

The innovative concept gained traction following an initial grant from Robin Hood made possible by a gift from Sam Rosenblatt, Sarah Goos, and Jill Gordon, honoring their late parents, Joseph and Sheila Rosenblatt. That initial donation was supported by a match from the City, propelling major commitments from a development team comprised of local not-for-profits and private entities, and with commitments for financing for The Eliza from HPD and HDC.

Located at 4790 Broadway, the site of the former stand-alone Inwood Library, this project includes a fully redeveloped public library, operated by NYPL, an extensive community learning, STEM and Teaching Kitchen center operated by CLOTH and The Children’s Village, and a universal Pre-Kindergarten facility operated by the New York City Department of Education (DOE).

The housing portion of this development will feature studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for residents with rents set to 30 to 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) as provided by HPD’s Extremely Low and Low Affordability (ELLA) program.

Amenities include bike storage lockers, a shared laundry room, a recreation room, a gym, rooftop gardens, remote working spaces, an all-weather lounge a terrace with views of the Hudson River, and an on-site resident manager. Units come with energy-efficient appliances.

The redevelopment of the former Inwood Library is the second project of its kind to include affordable housing with a library on-site, following the opening of a similar project in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in 2023. The transformation of Inwood’s decades-old library into a contemporary and welcoming space will be better able to support the community. The new branch features dedicated spaces for adults, children, and teens (including a new Teen Center), as well as quiet study spaces, flexible programming rooms for workshops and classes, and a brand-new collection of books for all ages. The branch now embodies a full range of access to knowledge and resources that the library has historically provided to the neighborhood, and also signifies its commitment to education and community enrichment in Inwood. Libraries serve as vital hubs for learning, offering educational programs, promoting child advancement, literacy initiatives, and resources for residents of all ages. The new Inwood Library – Joseph and Sheila Rosenblatt Building will continue to play a crucial role in fostering a culture of lifelong learning and empowerment within the community.

Fogarty Finger is the architect for The Eliza Apartments and Inwood Library, designed in collaboration with Andrew Berman Architect who designed the Inwood Library interiors. The 20,000-square-foot library anchors the first two floors of the building, and now features an open and flexible floor plan that allows for generous spaces capable of accommodating the growing and evolving needs of the community. Berman has extensive experience in library and community facility design.

The ACT Center brings a state-of-the-art STEM Robotics learning center, a teaching kitchen, a performance space, a sensory room, and classrooms all designed to meet the evolving needs of youth and families.

The name of the residential portion of the building pays homage to Eliza Hamilton, a long-time resident of northern Manhattan, who, after the death of her husband, Alexander Hamilton, devoted her life to the welfare of the community, including bequeathing funds for the predecessor of the Inwood Library. Eliza Hamilton’s focus on literacy for all, her commitment to the well-being of Washington Heights and Inwood, and her example of engaged and productive senior years are standards that guide the design and implementation of this project.

The project’s financing sources include a tax-exempt bond financing issued by HDC, equity raised through the sale of 4% LIHTCs generated by the project, HDC corporate reserves, HPD ELLA subsidy, Reso A funds from the Borough President and City Council, and HDC HIF funds. TD Bank provided a Letter of Credit facility and serves as the construction lender. The Inwood Library – Joseph and Sheila Rosenblatt Building was generously supported by Robin Hood through a gift from the Rosenblatt family, the Mayor, Borough President, City Council, State Education grant funds, and other finance sources.

About Housing Preservation and Development

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners. For full details visit http://www.nyc.gov/hpd and for regular updates on HPD news and services, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.   

About The Children’s Village

The Children’s Village (CV) is committed to the wellbeing of children, teens, and families by advocating for, strengthening, and reuniting families; building community partnerships; creating innovative programs; and connecting people to resources that focus on equity, basic needs, and human rights. Learn more at http://www.childrensvillage.org. 

About Robin Hood

Robin Hood is New York’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy. Last year, Robin Hood celebrated its 35th year of funding, supporting, and connecting New York’s most impactful community organizations at the forefront of the battle against poverty. We are NYC’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, we have invested nearly $3 billion to elevate and fuel New Yorkers’ permanent escapes from poverty. In 2023, through grantmaking with 250+ community partners, we created pathways to opportunities out of poverty through our strategic partnerships on child care, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more. We are scaling impact at a population level for the nearly 2 million New Yorkers living in poverty. At Robin Hood, we believe your starting point in life should not define where you end up. To learn more about our work and impact, follow us on X  @RobinHoodNYC or go to robinhood.org.

About The New York Public Library

For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With over 90 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars. The New York Public Library receives millions of visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.