Tenant Leader Who Opposes Adams’ $1.5B Plan to Demolish/Rebuild Chelsea NYCHA Houses Ousts Incumbent

An opponent of the city’s plan to tear down a large, low-income housing development in Chelsea and rebuild it as a mix of “affordable” and market rate apartments was elected president of the tenant’s association, defeating the long-time tenant leader who had proselytized for the redevelopment plan.

The vote, said a statement from the winner, Renee Keitt, was “a clear rejection of the controversial plan to demolish the 22 buildings that make up the development,” the Elliot-Chelsea Houses.

The Elliott-Chelsea Houses, built in phases between 1945 and 1968, now occupy some of the priciest real estate in the city, just east of the High Line between Tenth and Ninth avenues from W. 25th to W. 30th Streets.

But like most of New York’s public housing, the Elliot-Chelsea houses suffer from generations of deferred maintenance, which tenants say has produced leaks, mold and inadequate heat. The city says it would cost more to renovate the apartments than to demolish and rebuild.

The city last year announced a plan to do just that, in partnership with the mega-developer, Related, and Essence Development, founded by Jamar Adams, who played three seasons as an NFL safety in Seattle and Philadelphia.

The New York City Housing Authority said it consulted closely with the tenants in drawing up plans. But Keitt said her election was a repudiation of that claim.

“They always like to say ‘resident-driven’,” Keitt said. “They’ve been consulting two people.”

Those two people, she said, where Darlene Waters, the longtime tenant leader whom Keitt defeated Thursday, and Miquel Acevedo, president of the nearby Fulton Houses. The Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea houses are all part of the $1.5 billion master plan to rebuild the complex announced by the city.

Acevedo was narrowly reelected by the tenants of Fulton Houses late last year. But at a meeting Jan. 2 of tenants at Elliott-Chelsea Houses, Darlene Waters was narrowly defeated by Renee Keitt. The announced vote was 70 to 66, with four votes recorded as no.

The vote will not be officially certified until next week.

“NYCHA looks forward to continuing our work alongside the tenant leadership and residents of Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea as we take the crucial next steps toward redeveloping the campuses and improving the quality of their lives,” said a spokesman, Michael Horgan. “Since 2019, residents have participated in unprecedented, detailed, and collaborative meetings and workshops to learn about the infrastructure and financial needs of their apartments, buildings, and campuses. Throughout this six-year engagement process, residents have overwhelmingly made their voices heard, and themselves have outlined a plan that not only addresses over $900 million in mounting physical needs at the developments, but creates a more equitable living experience for NYCHA residents in Chelsea, inclusive of modern amenities and accessibility features, while maintaining their rights and protections.”

Keitt said her first task, if her election is confirmed, will be to reach out to the thousands of tenants of the Elliot-Chelsea Houses to bring them up to speed with the plans for their homes, which she said most did not really understand.

“There is a lack of honesty and transparency in this whole process,” she said. “This comes across as a landgrab.”

Mayor Adams has said he hopes the rebuilding will be a model for the future of public housing in New York that will slowly get the city out of the landlord business.

NYCHA says it does not have the billions of dollars that would be required to properly renovate and restore the city’s public housing. So instead, the Adams administration says the answer is “public-private partnerships,” such as the one with Related and Essence Development to demolish and rebuild housing at the Elliot-Chelsea and Fulton Houses.

Under this plan 2,056 new units of low-income housing would be built in six new apartment buildings. The present land would then also be used to build 8 new buildings with 3,400 units of market rate or middle income “affordable” apartments.

The plan, the city says, would create improved housing for the current tenants of Fulton and Elliot-Chelsea housing as well as “much needed” housing for other New Yorkers.

Just two months ago, Mayor Adams announced a “bridge plan” to guarantee residents a “dignified transition” to their new housing. The plan included short-term renovations and cleanup as well as a promise that 94 percent of the current residents would not have to relocate while their new apartment buildings were being built.

“For the first-time ever in city history, we are completely rebuilding existing NYCHA developments through PACT and ensuring that all existing residents will have brand new apartments on their home campuses,” Mayor Adams said at the time.

PACT stands for Permanent Affordability Commitment Together, the process through which the city says it engaged and won approval from tenants for the rebuilding project.

“Together with NYCHA, and PACT partners like Essence Development and Related Companies, we are rewriting the future of public housing across New York City by investing in the very people who too often are left behind. After years of community engagement, today’s agreement is a critical step forward in fulfilling our duty to deliver for residents of NYCHA’s Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses.”

But Keitt, who grew up in the Elliot Houses, said the tenants were an afterthought to the real estate developers.

“This isn’t about us, the tenants,” she said. “It isn’t about the community. They just want more.”