Mitchell-Lama Independence House

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133-foot, 12-story mid-century modern residential building completed in 1967. Designed by Stanley Rapaport, it was built as part of the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing program. About three-quarters of the building’s apartments are reserved for seniors. The facade is clad in red brick, with darker brick at the ground floor, which is capped by a concrete band. The main entrance is near the center of the north facade on 94th Street, with two sets of glass door, the eastern one under a peaked, red canvas canopy extending out over the sidewalk.

The upper floors project out over the ground floor at the center section, as well as at narrow sections near the ends. The rest of the center section has a band of windows at the ground floor. To the east, the narrow projecting section has a freight entrance with a blue garage door, and the only other opening in the ground floor is a vent at the far end. To the west, the first recessed area has a grey-blue metal service door next to a single-window, and the other projecting area as well as the recessed end bay have a metal-and-glass restaurant storefront.

The upper floors have two middle bays of double-windows and two outer single-windows at the center section. Both flanking recessed bays have triple-windows, with French doors incorporated beginning at the 4th floor, where there are concrete balconies and metal panel-style railings, tucked into the outer corners and projecting out to the level of the projecting facade sections. The outer projecting section on the east side has a bay of double-windows, while the western one has two such bays. The recessed section at the east end has a bay of triple-windows (with more balconies beginning at the 4th floor) and an end bay of double-windows. Above the storefront the western, recessed end section has a single-window at the 2nd & 3rd floors, and French doors fronted by balconies above. The roof line at each projecting sections is marked by a concrete band surmounted by a metal railing.

The west facade facing the avenue has more storefront sections at the ground floor, and the upper floors have a middle section of two bays of double-windows (separated by grey mullions and with brown-brick spandrels between floors) and outer bays of double-windows. The projecting balconies from the north and south facades are still quite prominently visible from this side as well.

The south facade is similar to the north, and the east elevation is a blank red brick wall. The building contains 120 apartments.