Penn South
Description
Description
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Penn South contains 2,820 units in ten 22\-story red\-brick buildings numbered from 1 to 10\., p. 188 The site is bounded counterclockwise from the west by Ninth Avenue, 23rd Street, Eighth Avenue, and 29th Street, and occupies an area of . The buildings were designed by [Herman Jessor](/wiki/Herman_Jessor "Herman Jessor").

Each housing unit has between 2 and 6 rooms. Penn South's desirability among prospective tenants has increased over the years: adjusted for inflation, the average cost of purchase was $650 per room in 1962, and it rose to $2,295 per room in 1983\. As of 2012, there were 6,000 names on a waiting list of prospective residents looking to purchase one of the units in the development. In 2014, Penn South's management opened up a lottery system in which it randomly distributed some vacant apartments to applicants who met specified criteria. Nearly 50,000 people applied for 1,200 vacant apartments.

Although the residents of Penn South were generally lower\- to middle\-class, they were also known as a group that was "rich in spirit". During the [1975 New York City fiscal crisis](/wiki/1975_New_York_City_fiscal_crisis "1975 New York City fiscal crisis"), residents prepaid their rents six months in advance so the nearly bankrupt New York City government would be able to use the funds. Additionally, Penn South was among the first cooperative developments in New York City to draw power from gas, at a time when most other developments paid four times as much money to consume power from oil\-powered generators. The possibility of Penn South generating its own power had been proposed as early as 1960, before the development had opened, due to disagreements with utility provider [Consolidated Edison](/wiki/Consolidated_Edison "Consolidated Edison") over electricity rates. The co\-op was providing much of its own power, heating, and air\-cooling by 1986\.

[thumb\|Seen from 26th Street](/wiki/File:Penn_South_on_27th_Street_from_26th_Street.jpg "Penn South on 27th Street from 26th Street.jpg")

Penn South is served by the M20 bus operating on [Seventh Avenue](/wiki/Seventh_Avenue_%28Manhattan%29 "Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)") (southbound) and Eighth Avenue (northbound), and by the M11 bus operating on Ninth Avenue (southbound) and [Tenth Avenue](/wiki/Tenth_Avenue_%28Manhattan%29 "Tenth Avenue (Manhattan)") (northbound). The [M23 Select Bus Service](/wiki/M23_%28New_York_City_bus%29 "M23 (New York City bus)") route operates crosstown along 23rd Street just south of the complex. The closest [New York City Subway](/wiki/New_York_City_Subway "New York City Subway") station is the [23rd Street](/wiki/23rd_Street_station_%28IND_Eighth_Avenue_Line%29 "23rd Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)") station on the  at Eighth Avenue. Penn South is also situated one block east of the [High Line](/wiki/High_Line "High Line") elevated park and within less than  of [Penn Station](/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_%28New_York_City%29 "Pennsylvania Station (New York City)"), [Chelsea Market](/wiki/Chelsea_Market "Chelsea Market"), [Chelsea Piers](/wiki/Chelsea_Piers "Chelsea Piers"), and the [Hudson River Park](/wiki/Hudson_River_Park "Hudson River Park"). The northern section of Penn South is located across from [Chelsea Park](/wiki/Chelsea_Park "Chelsea Park") on Ninth Avenue between 27th and 28th Streets. PS 33, a public school, is located just south of the park.


How were the buildings in Penn South designed?