Alicia KeysAngela LansburyEstelle ParsonsLarry DavidSamuel L JacksonTerrence Howard
Q: What do Jane Alexander, Marge Champion, Larry David, Patrick Dempsey, Giancarlo Esposito, Donald Faison, Tom Fontana, Dexter Gordon, Gloria Graham, Terrence Howard, Alicia Keys, Angela Lansbury, Thomas Meehan, Alan Menken, Mickey Rourke, Christian Slater, John Spencer, Martha Swope, Jack Warden, Jim Vallely, and Tennessee Williams all have in common?
A: At one time in all their lives they all participated in a great social experiment when they lived in a federally subsidized housing complex for artists on the Westside of New York City — known as Manhattan Plaza.

 

 

The Film

Miracle on 42nd Street is the 2020 NY Emmy-winning documentary about the history and impact of the Manhattan Plaza apartment complex in New York City. Starting with the history of the blighted Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and the facilities’ initial commercial failure in the mid-1970s, the story recounts how – in a moment of bold inspiration or maybe desperation – the buildings were “re-purposed” as subsidized housing for people who worked in the performing arts. The social experiment was a resounding success in the lives of the tenants, as well as the neighborhood and local economy. The film makes a compelling case for both the value of subsidized housing for artists in America, as well as the value of supporting the arts to the American economy. The film features on-camera interviews with people whose lives were positively impacted by the complex, including Alicia Keys, Terrance Howard, Donald Faison, Larry David and Samuel L Jackson, Angela Lansbury, and many others.

“Miracle on 42nd Street” is a 501(c)(3) non-profit production.

“Manhattan Plaza is often called the ‘Miracle on 42nd Street’, and if I did nothing else in my life but be associated with that, my life would be complete. It is the type of place to live that has to be duplicated throughout the major cities of this country.” — Irving Fischer, Manhattan Plaza Builder

 

 

Kenny KramerJim VallelyGiancarlo EspositoDonald FaisonChazz Palminteri (narrator)
 

 

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