5 NY politicians who grew up in public housing

They are titans of business (Howard Schultz of Starbucks and Ursula Burns of Xerox), renowned entertainers (Jay-Z and Whoopi Goldberg), Supreme Court justices (Sonia Sotomayor) and major political players. All of them linked by a shared past of growing up in NYCHA housing. City & State recently spoke with lawmakers who grew up in New York City’s public housing. Here are some of their memories:

City Councilman Ritchie Torres, Throggs Neck Houses, Bronx

“You have your share of rough-and-tumble in public housing, but when I think of NYCHA housing as being the core of affordability, it’s real for me,” Torres said. When Torres was 12, he said, his stepfather abandoned his family. “If we had been living in private housing, we probably would’ve no longer been able to afford it. We might have gone into a homeless shelter, and my life would never be the same again.” Instead, Torres got to stay at the complex in the far East Bronx, where he would play wrestle and practice his impression of The Rock in the Houses’ green space.

State Sen. James Sanders, Hammel Houses, Queens

“I remember playing Popeye with my brothers. Popeye was a cartoon on television back then, and of course to play Popeye, you have to get a spoon and put it in your mouth. Popeye has a pipe. We were around four or five years old. Then we decided to play Superman, and we put towels on our backs and we went to the window and we were considering jumping. My mother caught us and taught us that there were things worse than jumping.”

City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, Williamsburg Houses, Brooklyn

“I grew up when New York City Housing Authority apartments were the premiere affordable housing stock in New York City. I was proud of being a public housing resident living in a safe, habitable home with a responsive and respectful management office. I became a tenant organizer and a legal services housing lawyer because I believed everyone should be afforded an opportunity to live in a safe and habitable home. When I first entered the City Council, I sought and was appointed the chairwoman of the then-Subcommittee and eventually Committee on Public Housing. As someone who grew up in public housing, preserving public housing is very personal to me.”

U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, Eastchester Gardens Houses, Bronx

Engel remembers being a 12-year-old sleeping in the same bedroom as his grandmother in a walkup tenement in the South Bronx. His parents applied for public housing and got a three-bedroom apartment in the northeast Bronx for $87.80 a month. “Obviously having gone through that, I have always been a big supporter of affordable housing, because it always helped my family,” he said, noting he recently sponsored legislation to have the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provide guidelines for minimum heating requirements in public housing after he heard some complaints of cold apartments. “I believe there are young people out there living in city housing who are future members of Congress,” he said.

City Councilman Barry Grodenchik, Pomonok Houses, Queens

“My childhood in the Pomonok Houses was nothing short of wonderful. I attended P.S. 201, and frequent visits to the surrounding public parks left a lasting impression on me. I made lifelong friendships at Pomonok – including with Martin Van Buren’s principal, Sam Sochet, with whom I work to this day. A little known fact is that my brother, Max Grodenchik, who also grew up in the Pomonok Houses, went on to become an actor, appearing in movies as well as on the television show Star Trek Deep Space Nine.”