Things to Like, and Not Like, in FY2026 NYCHA Annual Plan

By Mary Alice Miller
Among those who gave testimony at the recent public hearing on the NYCHA Fiscal Year 2026 Annual Plan, amendments to the FY2025 Plan, designated plan for Elderly Only Developments and Buildings, and changes to the Tenant Selection and Assignment Plan, disapproval outweighed approval.
Moderator Shauna Castillo, senior director of resident initiatives, gave a brief overview of the annual plan and significant amendments.

On June 13, 2025, NYCHA released the draft fiscal year 2026 annual plan and the draft significant amendment to the fiscal year 2025 annual plan for public review. The amendment is for the following disposition and conversion activities. FHA repossessed houses, FHA homes. NICHA’s FHA homes portfolio consists of 149 FHA units across 123 properties under Baisley Park Management.

Most properties are occupied and located in the borough of Queens with single-family homes. The maintenance of these homes is costly and inefficient for NYCHA property management, and many of the homes are in poor condition.

NYCHA intends to dispose of the 104-unit residential building currently operated by Henry Street Settlement as an NYC Department of Homeless Services, DHS shelter in the Lower East Side. DHS will work with Henry Street Settlement to renovate the building and continue its operation as a shelter site. disposition through section 18 and renovation timelines are to be finalized.

NYCHA has prepared a newly designated housing plan for its current portfolio of elderly-only developments and buildings and requests authorization to extend the designation for 5 years. This proposed designation encompasses 7,378 units in buildings originally constructed for and intended to be occupied by elderly families. These units are in 31 elderly-only developments and 11 elderly-only buildings throughout the five boroughs of New York City. All the units located in NYCHA’s elderly-only developments and buildings are in federally aided public housing developments.

NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt outlined improvements “that most impact residents, like lead-based paint, mold, heat, elevators, pest and waste management, and apartment inspections, as well as top-to-bottom building and apartment revitalizations carried out through major housing preservation programs. The results are tangible and they’re making a difference for residents and their quality of life across our hundreds of developments in all five boroughs.”

She acknowledged that more work needs to be done. “We’re proud of the progress we’ve made and we’re confident about our roadmap for continued improvement,” Bova-Hiatt said. “Resident safety remains a core focus through programs that serve our youth as well as our collaboration with other city agencies that foster safety in creative and comprehensive ways.”
NYCHA employee Matine Sarsy shared her experience as a current employee.

“We have over 600,000 work orders and more than 8,000 vacant units as a direct consequence of multiple NYCHA departments independently entering work orders inflated to unimaginable levels,” said Sarsy.

“My proposal is straightforward. I say boost the number of neighborhood planners and refocus their roles on unit repair management. This would not only cut down on duplicate, outdated or mismatched trade skill orders, but also improve repair coordination without having a painter show up before covering a hole, for example.”

Neon Walters, resident of Van Dyke Houses for 44 years, spoke of people who urinate in elevators being moved from building to building, delivered packages getting stolen, absentee maintenance workers, and drug dealers who distribute drugs like they are giving our free government cheese.

Van Dyke Resident Association President Lisa Kenner suggested a size limit on pet dogs. Fifty-pound pit bulls impede maintenance workers from entering resident apartments.

“I love Van Dyke. I was born and raised there. My mother taught me, “This is your home, and if you don’t take care of it, nobody else is going to take care of it,” said Kenner. But, she added, I’m not going to be here forever. I’ve been here 20 years. I ain’t know I was going to be here that long as the president.

But you can’t leave because if you leave, our development will fall. So I’m trying to train somebody because these are going to be my last three years. I’m trying to train somebody so I can sit down. When I started, I didn’t even have any gray hair. Look at the gray hair I got now.”

Sariah, a new tenant at Seth Low Houses in Brownsville said, “My daughter and I, we live in a one-bedroom and we do know that in our building certain apartments are getting lead abatement, but it’s extremely noisy and we hear a lot of banging on the walls and we don’t know where the noise is coming from.” Sariah added, she also complained about smoking and roaches in the building.

Council member Gail Brewer, representing the Upper West Side, spoke about the housing affordability crisis and challenges NYCHA faces. “The federal government is a disaster. Housing-assisted units could be cut based on the budget bill by 42%,” said Brewer. “The issue is, how does this plan prepare us?”

Miss Kasanova, a tenant at Vladeck Houses in Manhattan, said, “When I first moved here, we had great caretakers and everything. And I would say ever since the pandemic in 2020, I haven’t had my hallway floor mopped or shined. Literally, it was dirty for years to the point where I myself started cleaning up in the development, me and a few of the other neighbors.”
Elizabeth Valdez from LaGuardia Houses on the Lower East Side spoke of vandalism and the seemingly lack of effective use of surveillance cameras to address the issue and hold tenants accountable.

Joel Cuperman from the Environmental Justice Initiative spoke of the lack of an effective alarm system at the Smith Houses.
Selma Legree, Tenant Association President for Brownsville Houses, spoke about irresponsible dog owners who leave dog waste, the need for working intercoms, and assistance for elders who need help with their annual recertification and paying rent.

Stacy Torres, District Leader Layla Law-Gisiko, and architect David Hoka were among many who gave testimony against the demolition of approximately 24 buildings comprising Fulton and Elliot Chelsea Houses that were to undergo planned renovation.
NYCHA board chair, Jamie Rubin said, “NYCHA’s history, particularly in the last several decades, has been a difficult one. The federal government, state, and city have all disinvested from NYCHA over the years.”

NYCHA board members and representatives from the NYPD were in attendance.
The purpose of this public hearing is to obtain the views, comments, and recommendations of the public on the draft fiscal year 2026 annual plan. The Plan is not final and may be amended before submission to HUD.

NYCHA’s Final Agency Plan will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by October 18, 2025. Following NYCHA’s submission, HUD has 75 days to review and approve the plan.