Isaacs Houses Tenants Vote to Stay in Section 9 Public Housing, Early Tally Shows – City Limits

Tenants at the Upper East Side NYCHA development were the latest to vote on what funding model they want for their buildings, rebuffing two newer initiatives that officials say would unlock additional repair money by converting properties to the federal Section 8 program.

Tenants at NYCHA’s Stanley Isaacs Houses on the Upper East Side spent the last month voting on what funding model they want for their three buildings—and are likely to remain in traditional public housing under Section 9, according to an early tally of the ballots.

NYCHA announced the preliminary results on Tuesday, and warned that the numbers could change over the coming week as additional mail-in ballots are counted. But so far, 280 Isaacs Houses residents voted to remain in the federal Section 9 program, rebuffing two newer initiatives that officials say would unlock additional repair money.

Both those options—Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) and the state-managed Public Housing Preservation Trust—convert NYCHA apartments to the Section 8 program, a federal voucher with more guaranteed funding.

Just 12 Isaacs Houses tenants voted so far for PACT, which leases NYCHA buildings to private developers who then carry out substantial renovations with financing the government can’t access on its own.

NYCHA has already converted, or is in the process of converting, some 44,000 of its apartments to PACT, which officials say has raised more than $16 billion for repairs. But many public housing residents remain deeply skeptical of the switch to private management, pointing to higher eviction rates at PACT sites and mixed results when it comes to repair work.

Under the Preservation Trust, NYCHA management remains in charge of the buildings, while the Trust—a public entity the state created in 2022—can issue bonds to finance major repairs. Residents at the Nostrand Houses in Sheepshead Bay were the first to vote to join the Trust in 2023; officials are moving forward with a $400 million repair project there, with construction expected to start this summer.

The Trust came in second so far in the Isaacs Houses vote, with 200 ballots, according to NYCHA. A final count will take place March 24. “Residents have made their voices heard and cast their ballots to help shape the future of their homes. No matter their choice, we remain dedicated to continuing our support of Isaacs Houses residents,” NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt said in a statement Tuesday.

Isaacs Houses tenants previously told City Limits they were worried about the unknowns of leaving Section 9, despite decades of government underfunding for public housing that’s fueled deteriorating conditions across NYCHA. The Yorkville development, home to 1,131 residents in 633 apartments along the FDR highway, has an estimated $248 million in capital repair needs over the next 20 years, officials said.

“We all want repairs. That’s our goal. We all want to live in healthy homes, but there’s other ways to get it done,” Saundrea Coleman, a resident who co-founded the Holmes-Isaacs Coalition, a tenant group opposing PACT and the Trust, told a City Limits reporter earlier this winter. “At the end of the day, you know what you have with Section 9.”

Isaacs Houses is the eighth NYCHA development where residents have been asked to vote on how to fund repairs. In previous elections, four campuses voted to join the Trust, two to remain in Section 9, and one voted for PACT (though NYCHA has converted thousands of other units to private management without a vote, which is only required when the Trust is on the table). 

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