From an 1890s settlement house to a 1980s symbol of gentrification, the rocky evolution of Christodora House

Some New York City buildings become more than buildings—they transform into symbols. Christodora House, a 16-story fortress completed in 1928 on Avenue B in the East Village, become a symbol of gentrification in the late 1980s—when a new owner converted the then-empty structure on the edge of Tomkins Square Park into condominiums. Protestors sprang into action on the heels of the Tompkins Square Park riot in August 1988, chanting “die yuppie scum” in front of the building and smashing its brass-framed front doors. The condos were an unexpected change in a neighborhood long defined by artists and immigrants living in tenement walkups and public housing. But Christodora House itself wasn’t the interloper many East Villagers assumed. Its roots go back all the way to the 1890s, when the neighborhood was considered part of the Lower East Side, and various immigrant communities struggled to secure a foothold amid overcrowding, substandard housing, and deep poverty. Christodora House’s story…