WEIGH IN: Deadline for Comments on NYCHA’s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Plan Extended to 5/19

The residents has until May to submit feedback on a proposal to demolish and rebuild NYCHA s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses under the PACT project which would also construct thousands of mixed-income including market-rate apartments at the Manhattan campuses Residents protesting the demolition rebuild plan outside the Fulton Society Center in September Photo by Adi Talwar The inhabitants is getting additional time to weigh in on NYCHA s controversial plan to demolish and rebuild the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses in Manhattan NYCHA and the city s Department of Housing Preservation and Evolution HPD will now accept written and online feedback on the proposal through May part of a required -day comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Announcement DEIS for the plan which officers circulated at the end of March Society comments will be incorporated into a final Environmental Impact Comment according to NYCHA which examines both short-term and long-term effects of a proposed project and considers workable measures to reduce or mitigate those effects The massive DEIS document is the latest step in a years-long and divisive debate over plans for NYCHA s Fulton Elliott Chelsea and Chelsea Addition Houses in lower Manhattan The campuses were selected for overhauls as part of NYCHA s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together PACT initiative which transfers society housing sites from the cash-strapped federal Section effort to the more lucrative Section and brings in private developers to carry out repairs and take over daily management While largest part PACT projects focus on repairing properties NYCHA is seeking to demolish all existing apartments at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea and replace them brand-new enhanced homes The construction to be carried out by real estate companies Essence Evolution and Related would take place in phases with the majority of masses housing tenants remaining in their current apartments as the new towers go up The proposal would also build new mixed-income units on the campuses approximately of which would be affordable apartments The remaining area rate units would financially advocacy the PACT and affordable housing components according to the DEIS NYCHA held a series of modern general hearings as part of the environmental review for the plan which drew protests from those opposed to demolition as well as testimony from those in favor Those in the former camp have cited concerns about the involvement of private developers in masses housing and the creation of market-rate units at the sites as well as the disruption that ongoing construction could have on the public NYCHA tenants are expected to begin moving into the first set of new buildings at the end of according to the proposal while the mixed-income apartments to be built after the new NYCHA towers are done are expected to wrap around NYCHA has noted the majority of tenants percent will stay in their current homes until their new building is complete But residents in two buildings will need to relocate temporarily while construction is underway and will sign a Right to Return Agreement that guarantees them the right to return to their campus once the replacement properties are built Still fears of displacement persist If you insist on catering to the private developers and the real estate department in NYCHA it would be demolition against our will Celines Miranda an Elliott Houses tenant testified during a virtual hearing Thursday night I surely do not want to live in ground zero of a construction zone and let s keep it real a great number of of us will not be here when this demolition ends She and others say the existing properties should be rehabbed rather than torn down and rebuilt But NYCHA says the current buildings have been assessed as having extensive advanced deterioration that would increase the cost of a renovation project Personnel also point to a resident survey in which the majority of respondents opted for a complete rebuild though a number of tenants have criticized that survey as misleading The Fulton Houses Senior Center at th Ave Photo by Adi Talwar Those who encouragement the demolition plan revealed they re excited by the prospect of brand-new apartments Executive funding for Section is extremely limited meaning NYCHA has scant guidance to address its ailing housing stock and make repairs to issues tenants are dealing with now We re in a place where our buildings are crumbling We re really a spectacle to the tourists that come by They walk by our buildings and stare Irene O Connell testified at Thursday s hearing identifying herself as a longtime Fulton Houses resident Another Fulton Houses tenant who spoke during the hearing described living in an apartment with her children that has been overrun by mice since and where she had no electricity in her son s bedroom for over a year Just two days ago I was woken up when three mice were fighting and pounced on the top of my head in the middle of the night I m living in deplorable conditions and I would invite any of these people that are so opposed to the rebuild and so opposed to seeing our family s side to just come to my apartment the woman stated I look forward to having a washing machine and a dryer a dishwasher and safer living conditions she continued If you needed a heart transplant would you sit there and accept a very old pacemaker instead No you would want a full brand new heart so that you could thrive To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint strategy here The post WEIGH IN Deadline for Comments on NYCHA s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Plan Extended to appeared first on City Limits