[3] This low- to moderate-income rental housing and commercial real estate project, the largest in the world of its type, was developed with the assistance of the J.M.

[4] Housing Development Fund Corporations (HDFCs) are a New York City-specific model of cooperative low-equity homeownership.

The Bell Labs building was home to many inventions, including the vacuum tube, the condenser microphone, an early version of television,[8] and the transistor.

As of 2014, residential tenants paid an average of $800 a month in rent, including electricity, approximately one-third to one-quarter the market rate for comparable space.

[10] Westbeth is home to a number of major cultural organizations, including The New School for Drama, the LAByrinth Theater Company, the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, and Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the first LGBT synagogue in New York and the largest in the world, with more than 800 members.

In response, the LPC committed to this in 2004 as part of a broader series of area landmark designations it had agreed.

[15] GVSHP urged the LPC to act before the end of 2010, the 40th anniversary of the complex's conversion to artists’ housing.

The website hosts individual artists' pages showing the work of its artist-residents and publicizes cultural events and exhibitions sponsored by the council.

The flea market is dedicated to fundraising for projects that benefit Westbeth, the neighborhood community, local charities and disaster relief.

[20][better source needed] Westbeth Artists Housing has been home to a number of influential artists, musicians and performers including Diane Arbus – whose suicide in 1971 caused a stir in the young community – Robert Beauchamp, Barton Lidice Benes, Paul Benjamin, Karl Bissinger, Barnaby Ruhe, Black-Eyed Susan, Joseph Chaikin, David Del Tredici, Robert De Niro Sr., Vin Diesel, John Dobbs, Gil Evans, David Greenspan, Moses Gunn, director Tod Culpan Williams and his sister, former supermodel Rachel Williams, Hans Haacke, Billy Harper, Spencer Holst, Irv Teibel, Gayle Kirschenbaum, Anita Kushner, Ralph Lee, Hal Miller, Herman Rose, Barbara Rosenthal, Muriel Rukeyser,[21] Ed Sanders, Tobias Schneebaum and Anne Tabachnick.

The feature documentary Winter at Westbeth by Rohan Spong charts one year (2014–2015) in the life of the building and spotlights three long-term residents: filmmaker Edith Stephen, poet Ilsa Gilbert and notable contemporary dancer Dudley Williams of Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey fame.

[23] The film then had its international premiere at IFC Center, where it screened in competition as part of Doc NYC, ultimately receiving a Special Jury Mention.