‘Vote No on Demo,’ says NYCHA advocates at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses

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The environmental review process for the proposed demolition of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA’s) Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea (FEC) Houses in Manhattan is underway. Tenant organizers and public housing residents protested the demo at last week’s hearings.

The city’s $1.9 billion redevelopment plan is to demolish 24 buildings across seven acres of public housing development land –– one of the largest planned public housing demolitions in the city’s history –– and ideally move back in displaced, primarily Black and brown, Chelsea residents once reconstruction is complete.

The plan was launched in 2019, and the NYCHA Board approved the Master Development Agreement in October 2024. The agreement enacted the Bridge Plan, which was supposed to provide additional security, pest control, building system repairs, and common area and in-unit repairs for the FEC before and during the construction of the new buildings. This will be handled by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and NYCHA.

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At this stage in the process, NYCHA and HPD have released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which includes a detailed description of the proposed project and its environmental impacts. The DEIS also describes six alternative zoning plans the city could pursue as opposed to demolition.

“The release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement marks the next step in the environmental review process, ensuring that any proposed redevelopment is carried out in a thoughtful and responsible way,” said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt in a statement. “As this process moves forward, we are excited that we continue to move closer to the ultimate goal of delivering enhancements to 4,500 Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea residents.”

But at last week’s public hearing, dozens of dedicated FEC residents and community leaders testified against the proposed demolition. Their primary concern was the displacement and disruption of their community and its members.

“Environmental justice is not simply about the physical environment. It is about the right to remain, the right to age in place, to raise children, and build intergenerational futures in one’s home and community. What this plan fails to account for are the irreparable social, cultural, and emotional costs of displacement –– these are the very harms that environmental justice was meant to protect against,” said Renee Keitt, president of the Elliott-Chelsea Tenants Association and a leading voice against the demolition.

“There is no justice in a process that strips away communities under the guise of equity. Justice, in its broadest sense, demands fair and impartial treatment, the prevention of harm, and remedial action when harm is done. This demolition proposal offers none of that,” she continued.

Jackie Lara, a Fulton Houses tenant and organizer, said, “We’re not asking for luxury. We’re asking to stay in our homes. Rehab is cheaper. Rehab is safer. Rehab is possible. NYCHA just doesn’t want to do it because there’s no billion-dollar contract attached to it.”

In addition to fears of displacement, many spoke about the potential harmful impacts the demolition might have on air and soil quality for residents.

“This DEIS is not a road map ––– it’s a smoke screen,” said Layla Law-Gisiko, District Leader for Assembly District 75, Part A. “It glosses over contaminated soil, ignores hospital capacity, and dismisses viable rehabilitation without a single independent structural review. This project is not about fixing public housing –– it’s about transferring public land to private hands.”

The DEIS public comment period remains open until Monday, May 19, 2025.

The last public hearing on the environmental DEIS was rescheduled for May 8, 2025, due to a nationwide Zoom outage.

To sign up for the hearing in May, go to https://bit.ly/FEC-DEIS-Hearing. Written comments may be submitted electronically via email to nepa_env@hpd.nyc.gov and, in hard copy to HPD.