NEW YORK—In the heart of downtown Manhattan, on a warm spring afternoon, a group of elderly men play dominoes on low park tables, while the delighted screams of children can just be heard over the hustle and bustle of traffic and city life. However, the peaceful atmosphere in the courtyards of the Fulton and Elliot-Chelsea public housing complexes contrasts the bitter fight being waged by their residents for the future of their housing and their communities.
Real estate development firms Related Companies and Essence Development, allied with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and local politicians, are pushing to demolish, and privatize the public housing complexes.
Since 2023, the 2000-3000 residents of the Fulton Houses and the 1,000 residents of the Elliott-Chelsea Homes have seen developer-funded surveys and resident-organized counter petitions on the proposed demolition.
Residents opposing the demolitions and the political allies of developers have faced off in halls of the New York City council, and in their local government. In their tenant associations, residents opposing demolitions ran campaigns to oust their pro-demolition tenant association presidents. On Feb 26, the fight continued, with anti-demolition residents and their allies holding a rally outside of the New York City Hall.
Illuminated by the golden early morning light, residents gathered at a microphone set up in front of City Hall one by one, denouncing the attempt to demolish their building before entering City Hall to attend the NYCHA hearing. Residents denounced the lack of transparency and democracy from the NYCHA and the attempt to privatize their homes.
In the course of the fight to oppose the demolition of the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Homes, residents have also taken on the fight to democratize their tenant association and local government.
In February 2023, a developer-funded third party, Housing Opportunities Unlimited (HOU), surveyed the residents of the housing complexes. With residents being given the choice between demolition and renovations to the existing apartments, which showed narrow support for demolition NYCHA and the developers argue that this means the residents support demolition.
Anti-demolition organizers argue that HOU tricked residents into supporting demolition in their survey. Celines Miranda, a soft-spoken life-long resident of the Chelsea houses and anti-demolition organizer speaking with a thick New York accent, told People’s World about the ways HOU has put their fingers on the scale for the developers.
“In one case, a resident said I want renovations, HOU left her with a paper, and when they saw she voted for renovations, they said look at your cabinets, if you want new cabinets, you’re gonna have to vote for demolition. They’re on related payroll. How is that even allowed? It’s so upsetting; it’s not a democratic process. I’ve caught them taking down our flyers. They’re also sabotaging us and violating our rights to organize. It feels like everyone is against us.”
Seeking to make their voices heard, anti-demolition residents organized a petition calling on NYCHA and the developers to stop the demolition. So far, they have been stonewalled by NYCHA and local politicians.
“In the HOU survey, only 550 chose demolition, that’s not democratic, we came up with 949 signatures that’s a lot more, our elected officials are ignoring it. They’re playing blind they’re playing dumb. We’re being ignored; it’s like they’re wearing blinders. Our elected officials, even NYCHA, it’s obvious [that] they’re all working together. We’re just stage one. If they demolish us, they’re gonna do the same with other developments,” Miranda said.
Initially, the demolitions were supported by both buildings’ tenant associations, but anti-demolition residents felt that the tenant associations were being run undemocratically and not standing up for the residents’ needs.
In response, the anti-demolition residents ran Jackie Lara and Renee Keit to oust the pro-demolition incumbents. At Elliott-Chelsea, Keit won, while at the Fulton Houses, Lara lost in a tight election. Anti-demolition organizers told People’s World that with Keit’s election, the developers have pushed the Elliott-Chelsea Tenants Association out of the process.
While fighting against the demolition and privatization of their homes, many residents feel ignored and disappointed by NYCHA. Keit, a life-long Elliott-Chelsea resident and the president of the Elliott-Chelsea tenant association, expressed the anger residents feel about how NYCHA has treated them.
“The state has defunded NYCHA for a while. The state and the city don’t want to invest in housing, and when they do, they give it to developers. They have an attitude that these people live in public housing, so we don’t have to care. People have been living in these apartments for 30-40 years, and now we are seeing neglect; we see the vacant apartments and the boarded-up apartments. The problems are embedded in structural racism,” Keit said.
Related Companies, the largest real estate developer in New York City—also responsible for the infamous Hudson Yards development project—and Essence Development want to demolish the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea buildings and privatize the lots.
Their plan for the site includes constructing about 2500 new market rate apartments and 1,000 new units classified as “affordable.” Currently, the median monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is around $5,000 per month. Based on the affordability guidelines provided by the developers, a one-bedroom apartment classified as affordable could cost up to $2,500 per month.
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