New York Citys Last Women-Only Residence Reopens in Brooklyn: A Haven for Working Women
Just in time for intern season, one of the last remaining short-term residences for New York City women has returned. The Webster Apartments, a century-old nonprofit dedicated to housing female students, interns, and working women, reopened in a new Downtown Brooklyn location in May, two years after selling its aging building on the west side of Manhattan.
The reopening marks a return to the Webster's roots and commitment to a boarding house style of housing that proliferated in New York in the early 20th century but has all but disappeared. It offers a relatively affordable option for students and professionals as the city continues to deal with a deep housing shortage that's left more than half of households rent-burdened.
At the Webster, women can stay for as little as four weeks or as long as five years. Monthly rates start at $2,000 for a shared room and $2,800 for a studio, with discounts available for early signees. There's space for about 150 women. On average, studios elsewhere in the neighborhood rent for $3,540, according to Rent Hop, or $3,965 a few subway stops away on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
"We're really trying to make it feel like a home," said Tara Scott, who oversees admissions and marketing. "I think we're getting there."
The Webster Apartments opened in 1923 after Macy's executive Charles Webster and his brother donated money to establish a nonprofit residence for working women. The original location, at 419 West 34th St., was just a half-mile west of the flagship Macy's in Herald Square, where many of the Webster's first residents worked as "shop girls."
"Having been engaged for many years in the business known as a department store in the City of New York, and having employed a large number of unmarried women in that business, I have realized that the domestic environments of many of them are not conducive to their morals or health, and I have concluded to endeavor to improve the condition of some of them by giving them the opportunity to live in clean, well-ventilated, comfortable, and attractive apartments, with good moral surroundings," Charles Webster wrote in his will, where he outlined his vision for the apartments.
The nonprofit status meant rent was subsidized - women paid on a sliding scale based on their income - in a central Manhattan location. Rent also covered two hot meals a day and access to a rooftop terrace, library, and "beau parlors" for entertaining male guests, who were forbidden past the first floor.
The Webster wasn't the most famous women-only residence in its heyday. That honor belongs to The Barbizon Hotel, which was immortalized by one-time tenant Sylvia Plath in "The Bell Jar" (in the book, it was called The Amazon), and whose list of other famous former residents includes Liza Minnelli, Grace Kelly, Farah Fawcett, Nancy Reagan, and Joan Didion. But while the Barbizon fell on hard times in the 1970s, later went co-ed, and closed in 2005 to be converted into condos, the Webster has remained, along with a handful of other women's residences, most of which are affiliated with religious orders.
For many women who have lived at the Webster over the years, it has served as a haven - a place where they can feel safe and supported while pursuing their careers. From interns to professionals, the Webster has provided a sense of community and belonging that is often lacking in larger cities like New York.
As Tara Scott said, "We're really trying to make it feel like a home." And with its new location in Brooklyn and its commitment to providing affordable housing for women, it looks like the Webster is well on its way to achieving that goal.
