Concerned public housing tenants are sounding off on a controversial, city-backed plan to tear down up to 18 buildings in Chelsea to make way for new residences — with several telling top officials they oppose the proposal during a public hearing on Wednesday.
At the forum on major changes to the New York City Housing Authority’s annual plan, agency administrators and board members heard criticism from several tenants across the Fulton and Chelsea-Elliott Houses, which could face the wrecking ball under a plan put forth by private developers selected to manage the properties.
Jackie Lara, a Fulton Houses resident who has lived in her apartment with five family members since 2002, said she thinks the plan could lead to displacement, as has been the case in the wake of public housing teardowns throughout the country.
“They’re hurting my family and they’re hurting a whole bunch of families,” Lara said. “I hope we’ll come into an agreement and there’s no demolition and that [they] fix our developments.”
But NYCHA and the developers, Related Companies and the firm Essence, have tried to quell displacement concerns, saying tenants will retain their lease rights, continue to pay 30% of their income toward rent and get units in new buildings. Around 100 households, or about 6% of tenants, would be forced to move during the rebuilding process.
Related and Essence say they’re revisiting a previously rejected proposal to tear down the buildings because the initial plan to repair the Chelsea-Elliott and Fulton Houses would be more expensive than demolishing the complexes.
Wednesday’s demonstrations and testimonies come after tenants gathered to protest on the campus last month, and mark the latest front in a battle over the future of the cash-strapped public housing agency.
The hearing in Lower Manhattan took place at the same time as NYCHA and Essence presented their plan to Manhattan Community Board 4, which represents the public housing developments and would…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply