[nygirl1]

We'll head east now into the Co-Op city section


Co-Op City ---Long before the neighborhood of Co Op city was developed the area was known as “the dump” a swampy low lying area used for recreation as the Hutchinson river flowed through it. The land became a large amusement park in 1960 called Freedom-land but the park closed its doors in 1964. Construction began two years later on what would become one of the largest cooperative housing developments in the world. Seven years after it began constructed the new neighborhood consisting of 35 highrises and seven town house clusters was completed. It was dubbed “the city within a city” as it included its own schools, shopping centers, garages. Swamps and wetlands still exist around the neighborhood but much of the natural habitat was destroyed to make way for the massive complex.