"Lydia Díaz was living in a dilapidated New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) apartment in 2021 when she got the news. Her building, part of the Harlem River Houses, would be the latest handed to private developers as part of the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program. The conversion would bring millions of dollars for renovations, but also make her a Section 8 tenant of a new private landlord."
"Upset that they were denied a voice in the decision to join PACT and worried they would lose rights in exchange for poor-quality repairs, Díaz and other tenants sued to stop it. But it was too late. The new companies took over, remodeled the buildings, and started managing them as they saw fit, all without the outside oversight that existed under full public control."
NYCHA handed more than 39,000 public housing units to private developers under the PACT program since 2016. The PACT conversions bring millions for renovations and often rehouse tenants as Section 8 renters under private landlords and management companies. Tenants report being denied a voice in PACT decisions and worry about losing rights, receiving poor-quality repairs, facing eviction attempts, and higher costs. In one example, Lydia Díaz’s Harlem River Houses building was converted, renovated, and taken over by Harlem River Preservation LLC and management company C+C, and Díaz has faced three eviction attempts since the takeover.
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