Which NYC Housing Projects Have Produced the Most Famous People?

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) consists of 334 public housing developments that provide over 400,000 New Yorkers with homes. Based on those robust numbers, the city's various housing developments are bound to produce a number of success stories. By success stories, we mean people who have excelled far beyond their humble beginnings, leaving a lasting impact on the city and, in some cases, the world.

While NYCHA has produced several prosperous and well-known entertainers, its stories of triumph extend beyond the realm of entertainment, as well. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, former New York City Congressman Gary Ackerman, and Xerox CEO Ursula Burns—the first black woman to be named CEO of a Fortune 500 company—are all products of New York City public housing.

New York City housing projects have historically been a breeding ground for many ranks of intelligent, talented people, an inspiring fact that proves that personal possibilities are not rooted in your beginnings, but based on one's drive to succeed. These notable former residents of NYC housing projects prove that impetus can truly take you anywhere you'd like to go.

Written by Julian Kimble (@JRK316)

Neighborhood: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Address: 287 Myrtle Ave.
Notable residents: Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dana Dane

The Walt Whitman houses can be found in Brooklyn's Fort Greene section. They were named for poet and writer Walt Whitman, who lived in Brooklyn and served as the editor of the long-defunct Brooklyn Eagle for two years. The Whitman Houses were completed in 1944, made up of 15 different buildings which over 4,000 people call home.

Ol' Dirty Bastard, who's been resurrected for the current Rock the Bells tour, didn't just make "Brooklyn Zoo" because of a random desire to rep BK—it's how he characterized where he came from. Dirty grew up in the Whitman Houses, and along with cousins RZA and GZA, formed what would later become the Wu-Tang Clan. Dana Dane, originally one-half of the Kangol Crew with Slick Rick, was also born in the Whitman Houses. He would go on to host a Sirius/XM radio program BackSpin and publish a novel, Numbers, which was based on his experience growing up in the Whitman Houses.

Neighborhood: East Harlem
Address: 1844 Lexington Ave.
Notable residents: Hector "Macho" Camacho, G-Dep

In addition to being an attorney, a Harlem Renaissance author, and a civil rights activist, James Weldon Johnson was also New York University's first African-American professor. He joined the NAACP as a field secretary in 1916 and held sevaral titles during his tenure with the organization. The home on 187 West 135th Street where he lived in Harlem from 1925 until he died in 1938 was honored as a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The James Weldon Johnson houses were finished in Manhattan in December 1948, a collection of ten 14-story buildings housing nearly 3,000 residents on nearly 12 acres of land.

G. Dep grew up in the Johnson Houses, and, in his autobiography The Autobiographical Rapping Dude: The Rhyme Book, recalled finding a gun with his friends at just 10-years-old. G.Dep was given a 15-year-to-life sentence last year after confessing to killing a man outside of the Johnson Houses in October 1993. Boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho also lived in the Johnson Houses, moving there as a child after his birth in Puerto Rico.

Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Address: 205 West 61st St.
Notable residents: Erik Estrada, Daphne Maxwell Reid

The Amsterdam Houses opened in Manhattan at the end of 1948, sporting 13 buildings—some towering at 13-stories high. Over 2,300 people live in 1,082 units that cover 9 acres of Upper West Side space. In 1974, the community expanded thanks to the 27-story, 175 unit Amsterdam Addition. The best-known names to emerge from what's been called the "backbone of the Upper West Side" are Mr. CHiPs himself, Erik Estrada, and Daphne Maxwell Reid, who's best-recognized as Aunt Viv 2.0 on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Neighborhood: Staten Island
Address: 210 Broad St.
Notable residents: Ghostface Killah, Tristan Wilds

With six, 8-story buildings housing over 2,000 people, the Stapleton Houses are the largest housing development on Staten Island. They were finished in 1962, and, without question, have been made recognizable by the Wu-Tang Clan. Ghostface Killah grew up there (Building 218, to be exact) and has never been shy to share that fact in his music ("Staple-Land's where the ambulance don't come"). Actor Tristan Wilds, best known for work on seasons 4 and 5 of The Wire, as well as on the reincarnation of 90210, also grew up here. Now working on a music career, Wilds recently told the New York Daily News "I'm just a young kid from the Stapleton projects that's trying to change the world."

Neighborhood: Morrisania, Bronx
Address: 1010 Trinity Ave.
Notable residents: Fat Joe, Lord Finesse, Diamond D, Showbiz

Completed at the very end of 1956, the Forest Houses were built on nearly 20 acres of land in the Bronx. The structure is composed of fifteen buildings ranging from 9 to 14-feet in height, and the 1,349 different apartments are home to 3,376 people.

The Forest Houses are also home to three key members of the Diggin' in the Crates (DITC) Crew: Diamond D, Lord Finesse, Showbiz, and Fat Joe. In a 2011 interview with HipHop DX, Showbiz explained that the housing project inspired the name for Godsville, his joint album with KRS-One: "Because where I'm from, [Forest Houses in the Bronx], our neighborhood was called "Godsville." [In the late '80s there were] a lot of Five Percenter [Nation of Gods and Earths members], and it was nothing but Gods in there. Every guy you'd see was a Five Percenter. And at that time, the music that was [played in the neighborhood] was strictly [KRS-One]. That's all we rocked was KRS." A 1996 New York Times article highlighted how Fat Joe gave back to the neighborhood, employing many of his friends from the Forest Houses at a barbershop he owned in the Bronx. ''This is me,'' he told the Times. ''It don't feel right nowhere else. It's O.K. for a moment, but then I miss the Bronx.''

Neighborhood: Coney Island, Brooklyn
Address: 2940 West 31st St.
Notable residents: Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair

Located in Brooklyn's Coney Island section, Surfside Gardens is made up of fourteen 15-story buildings where over 1,300 people live. Two notable names to emerge from Surfside Gardens—who happen to be cousins—would go on to play in the NBA.

Basketball is more than a sport in New York City, so both Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair were celebrities before they graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School (yes, the same school Jesus Shuttlesworth attended in He Got Game). Marbury is regarded as not only one of the best point guards, but one of the best basketball players in the city's history, winning New York State Mr. Basketball following his senior year at Lincoln. After a year at Georgia Tech, he realized his childhood dream of playing in the NBA. He would go on to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves, New Jersey Nets, and the Phoenix Suns before coming back home to NYC to play for the Knicks. He had a brief stint with the Boston Celtics in 2009 before continuing his career overseas and playing for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Telfair joined the list of storied New York City high school basketblall players, also being named Mr. Basketball after his senior season. He skipped college and entered the NBA draft in 2004—the year that everybody entered the NBA draft—and played for eight NBA teams, most recently the Toronto Raptors.

Neighborhood: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
Address: 314 Pulaski St.
Notable Residents: Mos Def, Dr. Aprille Ericsson

Named after Eleanor Roosevelt, the longest-serving First Lady and a lauded human rights activist, Brooklyn's Roosevelt Houses are 16 towering buildings covering nearly 8 acres in Brooklyn, which nearly 2,000 residents call home. Mos Def has been open about his upbringing in the Roosevelt Houses, mentioning them on Black on Both Sides' "Love" and "Life in Marvelous Times" from The Ecstatic. The Roosevelt Houses also produced Dr. Aprille Ericsson, who studied at MIT before becoming the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Howard University, as well as the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in engineering from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Neighborhood: Chelsea
Address: 430 West 26th St.
Notable residents: Whoopi Goldberg, Antonio Fargas

The Chelsea Houses were finished in 1964 as two 21-story high-rises towering over Manhattan, serving as home to over 1,000 residents in almost two acres. They would be consolidated with the Elliott Houses, named after John Lovejoy Elliott who, through dedication, took one of the city's worst neighborhoods in the 1920s and scrubbed it, making it a respected place with activities for the youth. When they combined, the Elliott-Chelsea Houses were born.

Prior to changing her name to Whoopi Goldberg, Caryn Elaine Johnson spent the first 19 years of her life in the Chelsea Houses. In a 2009 New York Times interview, Goldberg spoke fondly of her years in the project building. "We didn't know we weren't supposed to do well. We were being taught by our parents that we had it as good as we had it, and we could make it better. People who didn't have it good were living in the streets, in squalor," she said. Blaxploitation film veteran Antonio Fargas, who appeared in Shaft, Across 110th Street, Cleopatra Jones, and Foxy Brown also grew up in the Chelsea Houses.

Neighborhood: Harlem
Address: 159-16 Harlem River Drive
Notable residents: Biz Markie, Kool DJ Red Alert, Jamal Mashburn

Harlem's Ralph Rangel houses were named for Ralph Rangel, a Puerto Rican immigrant who moved to New York City in 1914. He rose from a community worker in Central Harlem to become the director of Community Board #1 and the New Careers program. He would later help establish the Colonial Park Houses Tenant Association. Following his death in 1975, Harlem's eight, 14-story Colonial Houses were named in his honor.

The Rangel Houses have raised two iconic hip-hop figures. Pioneer Kool DJ Red Alert, who used his success on 98.7 Kiss-FM to help introduce acts like the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, and Monie Love. Respected DJ, beatboxer, rapper and goofball Biz Markie, also grew up in the Rangel Houses, as did former NBA player Jamal Mashburn, whose accomplishments at the University of Kentucky (Consensus First Team All-American, SEC Player of the Year in 1993) and the NBA (an appearance in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game) are still miniscule compared to having his nickname—"Monster Mash"—engraved in the basketball court behind the projects he grew up in.

Neighborhood: Canarsie, Brooklyn
Address: 9820 Seaview Ave.
Notable residents: Howard Schultz, John Salley

Brooklyn's Bayview Houses were built in 1956, bringing 23 eight-story buildings to the borough. The Bayview Houses are home to roughly 3,487 residents, who live inside of 1,610 apartments across its 34 acres. Posted in Canarsie, the Bayview Houses were the humble origin of billionaire Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who previously owned the Seattle Supersonics before selling the team to Clayton Bennett so they could piss off Seattle basketball fans and become the Oklahoma City Thunder. Speaking of basketball, former NBA player, actor and talk show host John Salley also lived in Bayview. Salley is known for being the first player to win an NBA championship on three different teams (the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers) and for being hilariously disrespected by the pint-sized Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys.

The Metro North Plaza Houses are three Manhattan buildings ranging from 7 to 11-stories high. Their 269 apartment units are home to 654 people, and the structure was completed on top of just over two acres in August 1971. Actor and Grammy-winning singer Marc Anthony was born in Spanish Harlem and grew up in the Metro North Plaza Houses. Even if you don't listen to his music (he's the bestselling tropical salsa artist of all time, but hey) you need to give props where they're due: the Puerto Rican singer and record producer held down J-Lo for 8 years. A record, for sure.

The Bernard M. Baruch Houses were name for Baruch, who got filthy rich on Wall Street, but is best known for serving as an economic advisor to the U.S. during both World War l and ll. Legend has it that he would meet officials on benches, hence the nickname "The Park Bench Statesman." Completed in June 1959, the Baruch houses are the largest NYCHA housing development in Manhattan. It contains 17 buildings, some as tall as 14 stories tall. It covers over 27 acres and is over to over 5,000 residents.

The most notable person to come from the Baruch Houses is Ursula Burns, Chairman and CEO of Xerox. Burns began her career at Xerox in 1980, working her way up the ranks before eventually being named CEO in 2009. That made her the first woman to succeed another as CEO of a Fortune 500 company, as well as the first African-American woman to be named CEO of a fortune 500 company.

Neighborhood: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
Address: 648 Park Ave.
Notable residents: Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Jaz-O, Sauce Money

In 1949, a tree grew in Brooklyn. The sprawling Marcy Houses were built in Bed-Stuy during the middle of the 20th century, featuring 27 six-story houses spread out across over 28 acres. The Marcy projects are home to over 4,200 residents who inhabit 1,705 apartments. On Jan. 19, 2009—Marcy's 60th birthday—New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg honored the community, christening the day "Marcy Houses Day." The Marcy Houses have also gained recognition for their beautiful gardens, and embraced the New York City Housing Authority's "green" initiative during the late aughts, replacing standard water heaters with energy conserving hot water heaters.

Enough ignoring the elephant in the room, everyone knows that Jay-Z is the tree that grew in Brookyln—Marcy, to be specific. He's rapped about it prolifically over the past two decades, perhaps most notably on "Where I'm From." The other notable Marcy celebrity is Memphis Bleek, who's still one hit away all these years later, but (per Jay) will always be a millionaire as long as Jay-Z's alive. Cough up a lung.

Neighborhood: Long Island City, Queens
Address: 10-05 & 10-06 41st Ave.
Notable Residents: Nas, Mobb Deep, Metta World Peace, Nature, MC Shan, Marley Marl, Cormega, Craig G, Roxanne Shante, Tragedy Khadafi

In the 74 years since their completion, Long Island City's Queensbridge Houses have become the largest public housing development in not only New York City, but all of North America. With over 3,000 units, it's divided into two segments—the North and South Houses—which are home to nearly 7,000 people.

Since the 1980s, no other New York City housing project has received more attention or produced more hip-hop talent than the Queensbridge houses. Yes, it even outshines Marcy. Born and raised in the Queensbridge Houses, MC Shan and Marley Marl started it all with "The Bridge" and founded the legendary Juice Crew, which also included QB natives like Craig G and Roxanne Shante. They went to lyrical war with KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions and paved the way for artists like Nas, Mobb Deep, Cormega, and Nature during the '90s. Nas spent his first 20 years at the Queensbridge Houses, two decades which inspired the sublime Illmatic.

Knicks forward Metta World Peace also grew up in the Queensbridge Houses, though he went by Ron Artest in those days. He stayed in the borough, playing at St. John's University for two years before heading off to the NBA. Though he'll always be known for his role in the Malice at Palace, he should go down in history for his foray into hip-hop, wearing his jersey to club after winning his first NBA championship with the Lakers in 2010 and making NBA analyst Craig Sager say "Queensbridge" live on the air.

Long live the Bridge.

The Bronx's James Monroe Houses were named after the fifth President of the United States, the man who assisted in the Lousiana Purchase negotiations. Prior to moving into the White House, Monroe was a senator, the governor of Virginia, and a minister to France. The Monroe Houses opened in 1961, built on nearly 19 acres of land. It is composed of 12 buildings, some up to 15-stories in height, and home to over 2,800 people. Actor and martial artist Wesley Snipes lived in the Monroe Houses and eventually transitioned from small roles (an appearance in Michael Jackson's Martin Scorsese-directed "Bad" video) to blockbusters (the Blade series) and some of the most important films of the 20th century (New Jack City). Former NBA player and current Chicago Bulls assistant coach Ed Pinckney—who was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1985 Final Four after leading Villanova University to a stunning victory over heavily-favored Georgetown—grew up in the Monroe Houses, as well.

Neighborhood: South Bronx
Address: 1090 Rosedale Ave.
Notable residents: Sonia Sotomayor, Andre Harrell

In January 1955, 28 seven-story buildings known as the Bronxdale Houses were completed in the Bronx. Built on 30-acres of space, the nearly 1,500 apartments house just under 3,500 residents. In June 2010, the Bronxdale Houses would be named after its most famous resident: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor grew up in the housing projects, and she even remembers seeing Robert Kennedy coming to visit in the late 1950s, a moment she says drove her personal mission. "Robert Kennedy was coming to visit our projects. I had never before looked down on red hair that bright," she told the Associated Press in 2010, adding "Through this chance encounter above the old community center, my interest in public service was awakened." Andre Harrell, who made the careers of Diddy and Mary J. Blige at his Uptown Records label, also grew up in the Sotomayor homes.