Friend,
Leaky roofs, roach infestations, no heat or hot water. Over the years, I’ve heard countless stories from our members who live in NYCHA about how poor their living conditions are.
Our members and thousands of other NYCHA tenants are faced with inadequate or non-functioning heating and cooling systems, mold and mildew, pest infestations, and lead paint. These conditions can impact their health and well-being, and cause long-term damage to their homes.
NYCHA tenants have lived in substandard conditions for years because of a lack of funding for repairs and improvements. Right now, there’s a $40 BILLION repair backlog for NYCHA developments.
We all deserve safe, livable housing – and now we have a historic chance to put power into the hands of NYCHA residents. For the first time ever, residents can vote on how they want their buildings to be managed under NYCHA’s recent Transformation Plan. This vote is a major step in transforming residents’ buildings and can lead to more consistent and efficient service for residents.
This is a big deal, and we need to make sure every resident knows they have the power to decide their building’s future.
We’re already organizing with our housing allies to educate over 3,000 NYCHA residents in just 100 days before the voting period starts. Can you help us organize these tenants and build up our NYCHA organizing efforts by contributing $10, $25, or any amount you can?
NYCHA residents haven’t had the power to decide what happens with their buildings in the past, and the Transformation Plan is a crucial step in fixing a broken housing system with a process that makes sure tenants are heard.
During the voting process, residents can choose to renovate their buildings through 3 options:
Leasing them to private companies under RAD-PACT
Transferring management to the NYC Public Housing Preservation Trust
Staying with NYCHA as building management
For each development that votes, there’s a 100-day engagement period to make sure residents understand their choices and can make the most informed decision for their families and neighbors. After the 100 days, residents will have just 30 days to vote.
More people live in NYCHA than in Cleveland, Ohio – and it’s hard to make your voice heard when your landlord has an entire city’s worth of tenants. Residents have been ignored for too long, and these building votes are an important step to make their voices heard and protect public housing.
We’ve already started canvassing 800 units at the Nostrand Houses and residents there are super engaged in the process. Organizing NYCHA residents like this sets us up to keep building long-term power so we can demand more safe and affordable housing for our communities.
We’re going to keep organizing NYCHA residents to demand safe and livable public housing, and we need you with us. Can you chip in $10 or any amount you can to support this campaign and other critical housing work?
Thank you for supporting this work, today and everyday.
Cynthia Norris
Senior Director of Housing Campaigns