From The Peopling of NYC

Corner of 9th Avenue and 57th Street

The Windermere Complex is an eight story, residential tenement building in Hell's Kitchen. Built in 1881, it is the second oldest large apartment complex in Manhattan.

As gentrification engulfed Hell's Kitchen, the tenants of the building refused to evacuate. In a famous 1985 incident, building managers and landlords forced tenants out, with death threats and violent, inhumane raids. Media-covered trials followed, in which few of the landlords were convicted of anything.

As of May 2006, only six tenants remain, only one of which pays rent. Court orders protect their residence in the building, and despite the ongoing gentrification, the building remains in place, practically uninhabited and in terrible condition, standing out amongst its surrounding area as a symbol of the Hell's Kitchen of the past.

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