A controversial plan to tear down and replace thousands of public housing apartments in Manhattan is one step closer to reality following a key vote on Wednesday.
The New York City Housing Authority’s board approved the proposal to replace 18 buildings across the Fulton and Chelsea-Elliott Houses — where around 4,500 people live — and also allow for thousands of additional market-rate units on the two campuses.
The plan would be the largest such replacement project in the history of NYCHA, which runs the nation’s largest public housing system but has faced decades of disinvestment compounded by mismanagement and scandals . The agency has turned to private developers and managers to take over building operations through a program that changes the source of federal funding for the apartments.
The demolition-and-replacement proposal has earned support from Mayor Eric Adams and members of NYCHA’s board. It represents a major change in how the city’s public housing is managed and developed, with tenants set to move into new apartments once construction is completed in phases over the next seven years.