Going Green May Give Economic Uplift to Henry Street Settlement

By Hannah Vanbiber (hvanbiber@gmail.com)

These 1830 circa Federal-style row buildings, 

which have been named National Historic Landmarks, 

house the administrative offices of Henry Street Settlement. 

Photo by Hannah Vanbiber

MANHATTAN—In 2009 Evelyn Mercado and her children were forced to leave their apartment in the lower east side when she lost her job. Like so many in the city, Mercado was homeless, jobless and without any resources to provide for her boy and girl.  Unlike so many others, she had somewhere to turn.

The Henry Street Settlement, located in her neighborhood, provided shelter for Mercado and her two children in its Urban Family Center. Today she has a job, her own apartment and childcare.

Mercado is one of thousands that the Henry Street Settlement has helped since it was established in 1893. The settlement provides grants, health-care, educational and arts programs for under-privileged people in Manhattan’s lower east side. But with its administrative offices located in three historic buildings, Henry Street Settlement has yet another responsibility: historic preservation.

The Abrons Arts Center was started by the 

Henry Street Settlement to encourage arts in the neighborhood 

and awards grants to promising students. 

Photo by Hannah Vanbiber

A green restoration project, announced April 13, aims to make this job simpler and cheaper for the settlement’s staff. This plan would reduce the cost of facility maintenance, allowing Henry Street to spend more on its programs and on clients like Mercado.

“It doesn’t sound very sexy, but even simple things like changing what type of light bulbs we use can save money,” said Susan LaRosa, the settlement’s director of marketing and communications.

The Municipal Art Society of New York approached the settlement with its green restoration project. As part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative, MAS chose Henry Street Settlement as a demonstration project of energy-efficient historic restoration.

“The project is aimed at helping us get more bang for our buck,” said Renee Epps, the settlement’s chief officer for facilities and operations. “This in turn lets us focus on programmatic needs.”

"Henry Street Settlement is dedicated to helping people
from cradle to grave,” said Renee Epps, the settlement’s
chief officer for facilities and operations.
Epps also sits on the MAS preservation committee. 
Photo by Hannah Vanbiber

The goal is to implement renovations that can improve the buildings’ energy efficiency without compromising their historical and structural integrity.

The new project at Henry Street Settlement should “realize at least a 25 percent reduction in energy usage, and lower costs to operate its headquarters,” according to an MAS press release. The plan will be replicable for other historic landmarks in the city. Based on the anticipated success from the Henry Street project, MAS and the Landmarks Preservation Commission plan to develop a how-to manual for improving the efficiency of other New York City historic buildings.

“Though the long-term impact is hard to judge right now,” said Epps, “the beginning stages are promising.”

Because of the age of the buildings in the 

Henry Street district, minor upkeep such as window 

and air-conditioning repairs are difficult to manage. 

Photo by Hannah Vanbiber

“We currently have the amount of staff we need to run our programs,” added LaRosa, “but there is always greater need than anyone can meet. With the expected reduction in operation costs, instead of helping, say, 100 people in one of our youth programs, we could help 150.”

A modest gain, perhaps. But to families like the Mercados, it makes all the difference.

For More Information:

Henry Street Settlement

Municipal Arts Society

MAS Press Release

Henry Street Goes Green by hvanbiber