In 1942, Metropolitan Life made a film that showed the demolition of the Gas House District, which was demolished to make way for Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village. It offers an ironic twist to the battle by StuyTown’s rent-stabilized tenants intent on not getting pushed out in favor of market-rate renters.
The old-timey video, seemingly made to market the new 80-acre complex, explains in a very matter-of-fact fashion that a whole lot of poor folk who lived in the Gas House District were tossed out of their crummy homes to make room for middle-class folks .
Of course, unlike the Gas House residents of yesteryear, today’s tenants have won the battle to remain in their homes. Now the question is who will own and run the place – a drama experts say could take a year or more to play out.
