UPDATED: 01/16/2025 to include election administrator’s January 8 ruling.
Residents at New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) Hylan Houses development participated in a 30-day election from November 13–December 12 to determine the future of their homes. The choices were to remain Section 9, or choose between two other options: Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) or Public Housing Preservation Trust (Trust) that would unlock funding for repairs, renovations, and maintenance.
PACT depends on partnerships with private and non-profit development partners, who will be selected based on resident input. Once the property is converted to Project-Based Section 8, NYCHA will lease the land and buildings to the development partners, who will conduct the repairs, serve as the new on-site property manager, and provide enhanced social services and community programs. They can also: modernize the homes and development through extensive renovations; invest in community spaces, amenities, and programs; and keep homes permanently affordable and preserve resident rights and protections.
The Trust was born of NYS legislation S.9409-A /A.7805-D ; the NYS Senate bill was sponsored by NYS Senator Julia Salazar. It was signed into law on June 16, 2024 by NYS Governor Kathy Hochul. The Public Housing Preservation Trust will be a new State-created public entity. It will keep rents capped at 30% of income, preserve all resident rights and protections, fix residents’ homes through capital repairs, and maintain a public workforce. Resident voices will be a critical part of the Trust and be heard from via resident representation on the publicly appointed nine-member board to resident partnership during renovation projects.
Four meetings were held from August 20–September 24.
On December 20, the votes were counted and it was revealed that although 305 were eligible to vote, only 175 voted of which: 83 votes were cast for PACT, 83 votes were cast for Trust, and 9 votes chose to stay with Section 9. The election administrator ruled that the vote was valid and a recount will take place on January 8, 2025, prior to the vote certification. If the election administrator determines the top two choices received the same number of votes after a full recount, the tie will be resolved through a runoff vote.
On January 8 the election administrator ruled it was a tie. Residents will vote on February 26 to break the tie.
The Greenline 