Chelsea Public Housing Legal Defense Fund

Stop the Demolition of Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea (FEC) Houses!

We are urgently raising funds to protect vulnerable seniors, many disabled, who are fighting to save their homes in Chelsea’s Public Housing.

PROJECT GOAL:To immediately raise $75,000 for lawyers to represent the Seniors in housing court and stop this demolition. All donations are tax-deductible and 100% of all donations will be used for legal fees only. No amount is too small to give : ) We are all in this together!

NYCHA, the public housing authority, is allowing private developers (Related Companies of Hudson Yards, and their Partner, Essence Development) to demolish the buildings on the two Chelsea NYCHA campuses and take 70% of the land to build luxury high-rise housing. The first building slated to be demolished is home to 91 senior citizens, many of whom have no families and no financial resources. Many desperately want to stay in their homes, but the privatization plans call for them to be relocated for a minimum of 3 years, while they wait for a new building.

Can you imagine what a 3-year wait means to an 88 or 91-year-old? It means that many seniors will not live to move into their “permanent” new homes. This is a cruel, callous, and wholly unnecessary overreach by NYCHA. The Senior Building is in good condition. The only reason they want to demolish it is to take the land for market-rate housing. How can we, in good conscience, allow this without a fight?

This demolition plan will subject NYCHA Residents, young and old, and our Community, to 15 years minimum of non-stop demolition, construction, and adverse environmental impacts (there are significant concerns about air quality, noise, embodied carbon, transportation). Can you imagine the health consequences of living in a demolition site for that long? Chelsea will be rezoned, and a pernicious wave of gentrification will take place as thousands of market-rate units are built on public land, raising housing prices for everyone.

Please join us in helping our Chelsea Senior Neighbors fight for their homes, their lives and our Community. As supporters of the Chelsea Public Housing Coalition, you will become part of a united group of Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses’ tenants, Chelsea community members, and local organizations fighting against the unnecessary demolition of public housing. Preserving Public Housing is Protecting Our Humanity! There are over 300 NYCHA public housing campuses in New York City. Chelsea may be first, but it won’t be the last. Let’s keep public housing PUBLIC and protect this valuable resource for those residents who need affordable housing most.

For more information, please read about the project’s history and the detrimental effects on our community in the links below.

Listen to Renee Keitt, Elliott-Chelsea Tenant's Association President Testimony here.

David Holowka’s

NYCHA's Chelsea Gold Mine

Lizette Colón, wrote a powerful letter to our electeds following a recent Town Hall about the proposed demolition. It was republished in Chelsea Community News .

Listen to Pam Wolff ( Save Chelsea)'s testimony here

Read Save Chelsea's Letter to Erik Bottcher : Stop Supporting NYCHA’s ‘Indefensible’ Plan for Ch

Layla Law-Gisiko's chronicle of the timeline of how we got here in the first place "Housing, Power, & Broken Promises: The Fight over NYCHA's Chelsea Redevelopment"

Leonard Polletta details how "Chelsea is facing a dramatic, community-shattering threat from private developers" in the Village View

*Urban planners George Janes and Alihan Polat walk us through the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed redevelopment of the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea NYCHA campuses. Here is a link to the YouTube replay and to the interactive 3D model of the FEIS alternatives.