Upper East Side NYCHA Houses Host First-Ever Holiday Toy Drive

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Tenant leaders at two Upper East Side public housing developments came together Wednesday to host their first-ever Christmas toy giveaway, seeking to provide some normalcy for families living in the Isaacs Houses and Holmes Towers.

More than 500 toys, 100 books and a dozen gift cards were given away to families at the two New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments, according to Saundrea I. Coleman and La Keesha Taylor, co-founders of the Holmes-Isaacs Coalition.

"Being present in the community is extremely important to me especially in such a time as this," Coleman said.

Last year, the coalition helped defeat the city's plans to build a private 50-story building on top of a playground at the Holmes Towers. The group's members are also parties in an ongoing lawsuit against NYCHA accusing the agency of allowing vermin infestations, broken elevators and faulty heat and hot water systems.

The problems have continued to fester — earlier this month, Taylor said she was dealing with near-daily hot water outages in her apartment.

"This community suffers in silence often and as a single Black mother raising two boys I see it and know the pain," she said this week.

The gift drive got a helping hand from the offices of local officials including U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Councilmember Ben Kallos, and Assemblymembers Robert Rodriguez and Rebecca Seawright.

"This has been a year like no other especially for our kids," Kallos said in a statement. "This toy drive is representative of what we must do to give our children a sense of normalcy despite all the challenges we have faced."