{"id":196002,"date":"2026-04-13T21:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196002\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T21:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:37:09","slug":"nycha-offers-new-carrot-to-24-seniors-blocking-1-2-billion-manhattan-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/196002\/","title":{"rendered":"NYCHA Offers New Carrot to 24 Seniors Blocking $1.2 Billion Manhattan Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city housing authority offered a new concession to 24 elderly tenants<\/a> who are holding up a contentious $1.2 billion plan to raze and rebuild several dilapidated Manhattan public housing developments, giving the holdouts the option of transferring to senior housing similar to their current home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two-dozen residents at Chelsea Addition, ranging in age from their late 60s to mid-90s, have balked at a plan that would force them to move out for three years and return when the new building is expected to be complete. They say they\u2019re not going anywhere.<\/p>\n

The housing authority\u2019s signature plan \u2014 backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> \u2014 involves demolishing 18 NYCHA buildings in the Fulton, Elliott and Chelsea Houses and Chelsea Addition, and replacing them with six new towers for the residents of those developments, while erecting nine additional buildings that would include 2,500 market rate apartments and 900 affordable units<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The entire project is now on pause<\/a> while an appeals court considers litigation to pull the plug. The housing authority\u2019s new offer to find Chelsea Addition residents seniors-only housing \u2014 after first insisting they move to non-senior public housing \u2014 emerged in court papers filed late Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last month state Appellate Division judges temporarily barred the New York City Housing Authority from \u201ctaking any action in furtherance of its plan to convert, dispose of, demolish, and redevelop the Chelsea Developments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authority\u2019s lawyers called that language \u201ctoo broad\u201d and say it forced a halt to all activity related to the project. Management asked the court to let them continue working on the underlying financials of the project, and continue working with tenants on relocation plans while the appeals court considers the litigation.<\/p>\n

Late Monday the appeals court judges denied NYCHA\u2019s motion to modify the temporary restraining order.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of former state Sen. Tom Duane and several tenants, alleges that the project violates federal housing law and was pushed through without the usual engagement with the community board, city council and the planning commission that most major developments require. A decision on that question may not come for months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese transfers would allow these residents to move into senior-only (public) housing in another NYCHA development during the construction of the replacement buildings and they would then have the option to remain in their new unit permanently, thereby avoiding the need to relocate twice,\u201d the housing authority argued.<\/p>\n

\"NYCHA\u2019sNYCHA\u2019s Fulton Houses in Chelsea, Jan. 30, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

In an affidavit, NYCHA Vice President for Real Estate Jonathan Gouveia claimed 11 seniors at Chelsea Addition had \u201cexpressed interest\u201d in transferring to other seniors-only developments.<\/p>\n

Yu Zhen Story, a 79-year-old Chelsea Addition tenant who is refusing to relocate<\/a>, says that on March 27 \u2014 two days after THE CITY reported on the situation at Chelsea Addition and one day after the Appellate Division issued its order temporarily halting the project \u2014 NYCHA sent her a letter offering a transfer to a seniors-only development on the Lower East Side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never expressed interest in transferring, nor did I ever request that my name be put on a waiting list,\u201d she said in an affidavit filed Sunday.<\/p>\n

The housing authority\u2019s Gouveia also said that \u201cunder NYCHA\u2019s conservative reading of the Court\u2019s very broadly worded Temporary Restraining Order, NYCHA has ceased all engagement with residents regarding the transfer and relocation process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NYCHANYCHA resident Yu Zhen Story spoke about being forced to move from her Chelsea Addition home, March 17, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

Noting the letter Story received, John Low-Beer, an attorney representing Duane and the tenants, called Gouveia\u2019s statement \u201cfalse,\u201d\u00a0 and said , \u201cWithout permission from the court, NYCHA has already been doing the very thing it now asks the court to permit \u2014 contacting the elderly residents of Chelsea Addition\u2026to offer them apartments elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYCHA spokesperson Michael Horgan said \u201cseveral tenants who are required to relocate from Chelsea Addition are on the waiting list for transfers to senior-only developments.\u201d He said the transfers depend on vacancies, adding: \u201cTo the extent residents of Chelsea Addition are not selected from the transfer waiting list for other senior developments, they must nevertheless relocate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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