Politicians Respond To NYCHA's Plans For Chelsea's Fulton Houses

CHELSEA, NY — Politicians urged NYCHA to tell residents its preliminary plans to demolish and rebuild two public housing buildings in Chelsea "as soon as possible," pols wrote in a letter to the authority Monday.

Sunday morning, Politico reported that the New York City Housing Authority is considering tearing down two of Fulton Houses buildings and replacing them with one larger building.

Before demolition, residents would be relocated into newly built apartments on a parking lot at the 11-building development, which is located on West 17th Street between Ninth and 10th avenues.

Under the plan, the new building to replace the demolished apartments at Fulton Houses would include 70 percent market rate units and 30 percent of units set aside for public housing residents in order to fund the development's capital needs.

Politicians wrote to NYCHA's interim chair Kathryn Garcia Monday, demanding the housing authority engage with Fulton Houses' residents.

"We are writing to strongly urge [NYCHA] to present its proposal for the Robert Fulton Houses to the development's tenants as soon as possible," a slew of politicians led by Rep. Jerrold Nadler wrote. "Tenants need to hear plans under consideration for their community directly from NYCHA and be given a real opportunity to ask questions, receive direct, honest answers, and provide meaningful input."

"To be clear, we will not allow any plan to advance that does not protect and preserve the Fulton Houses community, that involves the displacement of residents from the Fulton Houses property, or that diminishes tenants rights or affordability," wrote the pols, which included Nadler, Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried.

The pols "reserve[d] judgement" on any proposal without further details — though acknowledged NYCHA's need for cash.

There’s no way around it, NYCHA needs money. Today I led the officials representing Fulton Houses in making clear we will not accept a plan that is made without resident input, or that does not protect the Fulton Houses community for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/qGdvDHvkLH
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) April 23, 2019

"No residents will be displaced,"said Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a spokeswoman for the mayor's office. "Every Fulton resident will receive either brand new or completely renovated apartment[s], and we look forward to discussing our concepts with them during our resident engagement process."

The city's proposal is an effort to raise funds for the cash-strapped housing authority, Lapeyrolerie.

The project is expected to fund Fulton Houses' $168 million capital needs in full, and all 944 apartments at Fulton Houses would be either new or renovated, she said.

When the plans were reported on, Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized reporting on the plans, tweeting not to "believe the rumors and misinformation," telling NY1's Errol Louis on Inside City Hall that the "writing left a big question mark,"and then blamed the New York Post for a lack of clarity on the project's "timing" in the newspaper's article. He emphasized the city would not demolish buildings without relocating tenants at the development — a detail included in both Politico and the Post.

The plan comes at a time when the de Blasio administration's plans for NYCHA properties in order to fund billions in capital needs at existing buildings are under heavy scrutiny.

Last week, a plan for an all-below-market-rate building in Hell's Kitchen was reportedly ditched, and Monday Borough President Gale Brewer sued over a project to build a half-affordable, half-market rate tower at the Upper East Side's Holmes Towers.

Details for the Fulton Houses plan in Chelsea will be finalized during the process when the city solicits proposals from developers, which won't happen until after resident engagement, said Lapeyrolerie.

Resident engagement is expected to begin in the "coming weeks," she said, though details on that process remain to be seen.