{"nrhp_refnum":"86002518","name":"United Workers Cooperatives","other_names":["Allerton Coops","Coops"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2700--2870 Bronx Park E","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"The Bronx","state":"NY","lat":40.86659390500006,"lon":-73.86921998499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Two cooperative apartment complexes on two square blocks at 2700-2870 Bronx Park East in the northeast Bronx, New York City, built between 1926 and 1929 by the United Workers Cooperative Association.","why_significant":"The complexes are significant in architectural and social history as an early large-scale, non-profit cooperative housing venture for working people. When completed, they were the largest cooperative housing complex in America and the first cooperative housing in the Bronx. They were built and run by Communist-inclined, mostly Yiddish-speaking Jewish needle trades workers and influenced later cooperatives in the Bronx.","narrative":"Two linked apartment complexes on Bronx Park East, facing the edge of Bronx Park, were built from 1926 to 1929 by the United Workers Cooperative Association to house roughly seven hundred working families. Members, mostly Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants in the needle trades, wanted to build, own and manage their own homes without philanthropy or speculators. The first complex, in a Neo-Tudor style with half-timbered gables, wraps around a landscaped court and carries entrance ornament such as a hammer and sickle and smoking factories. The second, designed by Herman Jessor, uses expressive geometric brickwork showing Dutch Expressionist influence. Apartments were arranged for light, air and privacy, with many separate stair entrances. Raised basements held a nursery, kindergarten, Yiddish schools, libraries, a gym and meeting rooms. At completion this was the largest cooperative housing complex in America and the first in the Bronx, and its success encouraged further cooperative projects in the borough.","period_of_significance":"1926-29","architect_builder":"Springsteen & Goldhammer and Herman Jessor","architectural_style":"Neo-Tudor (first complex); Dutch Expressionistic influence (second complex)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied private residences; the buildings retain a high degree of integrity on exterior and interior, though some original doors in the second group are deteriorated or damaged.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.029766-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/86002518.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002518/880323d093-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002518/880323d093-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"ALT55-VictorM","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Workers_Cooperatives,_2700-2870_Bronx_Park_E,_Bronx_County,_New_York.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">ALT55-VictorM</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_Workers_Cooperatives,_2700-2870_Bronx_Park_E,_Bronx_County,_New_York.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316531","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Workers_Cooperatives","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7893657"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/the-bronx/united-workers-cooperatives-86002518/"}