The city has formed a new working group to examine how to rebuild crumbling NYCHA developments.
The Fulton Houses, Elliot-Chelsea, and Chelsea Addition face a capital deficit of $344 million to reach a state of good repair.
Without action, residents’ housing quality will continue to deteriorate.
However, when developers answered an RFP that would let the city trade NYCHA land for practical help, locals raised concerns about the remedy.
Now the Working Group will discuss the funding crisis, evaluate all options for generating revenue, and explore how these options could be implemented at the Chelsea developments.
The Working Group will also discuss the protections those programs provide for tenants, and hear ideas about other ways to guarantee that promises made to tenants are promises kept.
Ultimately, the Working Group will make recommendations on approaches that are actionable by the City to meet the $344 million capital need of Chelsea-area NYCHA developments as soon as possible.
“The reality is that Fulton Houses needs major capital improvements in order for it to habitable for the future. These conversations give the opportunity for all to be a part of preserving public housing in New York City,” said Miguel Acevedo, president of the Fulton Houses Tenant Association.
The Working Group will launch later in October, and will be comprised of NYCHA residents, elected officials, community representatives and housing organizations.
“The residents at Fulton and Elliot Chelsea Houses have waited a long time for full, gut renovations. We now have an opportunity to undo decades of neglect, and we have to take it immediately. This working group will ensure that the plan to improve these developments meets all of the residents’ needs, because they deserve nothing less,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Nearly 5,000 residents who live in NYCHA’s Chelsea Developments have been plagued by broken elevators, no heat or hot water.
In December 2018, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced NYCHA 2.0, a plan that included building mixed-income housing on Authority-owned land while dedicating 100 percent of the proceeds to addressing the capital needs of the nearest developments.
It also proposed renovating at least 62,000 NYCHA apartments through public-private partnerships using HUD Section 8 conversion programs, and an option to transfer a portion of NYCHA’s unused development rights.
Altogether, funding generated by these plans would allow NYCHA to address nearly $24 billion in capital needs over the next decade, or up to 75 percent of the Authority’s $31.8 billion overall capital need.
