First-of-a-kind anti-obesity housing in NYC

A new co-op in the Bronx wants its residents to take the stairs — and it has rigged the building to make that choice irresistible.

The Melody, a 63-unit building in the Longwood section unveiled this week by Blue Sea Development Company, Habitat for Humanity's New York City chapter, and city officials, is the first in New York built with design elements aimed squarely at countering obesity. The backyard holds brightly colored exercise equipment for adults and climbing structures for children. There are fitness centers indoors and out.

The signature touch is the stairwells. Two flights feature silhouettes of dancing women, jazz playing through hidden speakers, and motivational signs posted throughout the building touting the benefits of exercise. Between the elevator and the stairs, a sign notes that the stairs are the healthy choice. There is, yes, still an elevator — eight stories is eight stories — but the building is designed to make you feel slightly guilty about using it.

The units are reserved for families with incomes of $90,000 or less. Fourteen of them will go to Habitat for Humanity NYC families who helped build the project with their own hands. The complex is expected to be ready for occupancy this summer.

The building is named for the neighborhood's musical legacy — Longwood's history runs deep in jazz and Latin music — which makes the stairwell soundtrack more than a gimmick. It is a small bet on an old idea: that the built environment shapes behavior, and that a building can nudge its residents toward health the way a good neighborhood always has.