Plan To Demolish, Rebuild Chelsea NYCHA Site Spurs Working Group

CHELSEA, NY — After backlash regarding a plan to demolition and rebuild mixed-income buildings at a public housing complex in Chelsea, politicians say they will convene ten weeks of meetings with a "working group" to discuss the proposal, meant to raise cash for badly needed repairs.

A string of politicians, city officials, residents, and housing groups will begin meeting late this month to address how to fund $344 million for Fulton, Chelsea-Elliot and Chelsea Addition NYCHA developments, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

"The residents at Fulton and Elliot Chelsea Houses have waited a long time for full, gut renovations," de Blasio said in a statement.

The de Blasio administration first proposed the plan this spring to tear down two 36-unit buildings and build three new buildings with market rate and low-income housing at Fulton Houses to raise money for repairs. There are $168 million in capital needs for Fulton Houses alone. Construction would be phased so that families would be relocated into a newly constructed building before any demolition occurs, city officials have said.

Previously, the city planned to begin soliciting proposals from developers this month but have instead formed the working group to "discuss the funding crisis at NYCHA, evaluate all options for generating revenue for the Authority, and explore how these options could be implemented at the Chelsea developments," according to the Mayor's office.

"We now have an opportunity to undo decades of neglect, and we have to take it immediately," de Blasio said.

Protesters have railed against the demolition and eventual conversion into the federal program Section 8 housing through a public-private partnership — what critics see as privatizing New York City Housing Authority developments.

Politicians have said they do not support the plan's current form, though the tenant association president at Fulton, Miguel Acevedo, feels the plan is residents' chance to get necessary repairs, he previously told Patch.

"The reality is that Fulton Houses needs major capital improvements in order for it to habitable for the future," Acevedo said in a statement.

Full repairs and preserving permanent affordability require "bold action," Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been said.

"To the residents living in the Chelsea Developments, I want to encourage you to attend the open Working Group sessions to voice your thoughts and concerns to ensure that we land on a plan a set of tenant protections that meet your needs," Been said in a release.

The working group will recommend how to fund $344 million in repairs at Chelsea's NYCHA developments, which have some 5,000 residents.

The working group includes:

• A dozen residents from Fulton Houses, Elliot-Chelsea Houses and Chelsea Addition
• Rep. Jerry Nadler
• City Council Speaker Corey Johnson
• Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
• City Comptroller Scott Stringer
• Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer
• State Senator Brad Hoylman
• State Senator Robert Jackson
• Assembly Member Richard Gottfried
• Manhattan Community Board 4
• Hudson Guild
• Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been
• New York City Housing Authority Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Russ
• Community Service Society
• New York Housing Conference
• Furman Center for Real Estate
• Citizens Budget Commission
• The Legal Aid Society
• Citizens Housing and Planning Council