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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2016
Contact: media@nycha.nyc.gov, (212) 306-3322


NYCHA APPOINTS NEXTGEN NEIGHBORHOODS STAKEHOLDER COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Residents, Community Representatives, Elected Officials Will Work Directly with Selected Developer Partners, Ensuring Communications and Accountability

NEW YORK— The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) today appointed the first members of the NextGen Neighborhoods Stakeholder Committees for the first two development sites—Holmes Towers in Manhattan and Wyckoff Gardens in Brooklyn. The Stakeholder Committee is an advisory group that will work directly with the selected developer by representing the interests and concerns of residents, neighbors, and the community. To ensure a diversity of perspectives, each Stakeholder Committee is comprised of NYCHA residents, including at least one youth (ages 18-24), one senior resident (ages 64+), and one general resident (no age requirement); a resident from the community; representatives from community-based organizations and advocacy groups; and elected officials.

“We need to have our residents and stakeholders at the table,” said NYCHA Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye. “Resident and community engagement has been at the forefront of the NextGen Neighborhoods program and will continue to guide the entire process.”

NYCHA is pleased to announce the following NextGen Stakeholder Committee members:

Holmes Towers NextGen Neighborhoods Stakeholder Committee

  • Estelle Natal, Resident
  • Yolanda Cancell, Resident
  • Magali Tapia, Resident
  • George Brown, Resident
  • Carron Wilks-Ormond, Resident
  • Jennifer Boose, Resident
  • Enid Voss, Resident
  • Milagros Velasquez, Holmes Towers Resident Association Vice President
  • Loraine Brown, Resident and member of Community Board 8
  • Gregory Morris, Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center, Inc.
  • Sally Maldonado, Eisman Day Care at Holmes Towers
  • Office of Liz Krueger, New York State Senate
  • Office of Robert Rodriguez, New York State Assembly
  • Office of Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President

Wyckoff Gardens NextGen Neighborhoods Stakeholder Committee

  • Frances Angel, Resident
  • Tracy Willomon-Martin, Resident
  • Renee Alston, Resident
  • Craig Holmes, Resident
  • Vivian Iturralde, Resident
  • Rochelle DuBois, Resident
  • Raven Gray, Resident
  • William Frazier, Resident
  • Judy Vega, Resident
  • Marilyn Carter, Resident
  • Valerie Bell, Wyckoff Gardens Resident Association President
  • Beverly Corbin, Resident and FUREE member-leader
  • Monica Underwood, Resident and FUREE member-leader
  • Shatia Strother, FUREE
  • Sabine Aronowsky,  Fifth Avenue Committee and FUREE
  • Rev. Herbert Daughtry, House of the Lord Church
  • Craig R. Hammerman, Brooklyn Community Board 6
  • Office of Representative Nydia Velazquez, United States Congress
  • Office of Stephen Levin, New York City Council
  • Office of Jo-Ann Simon, New York State Assembly

Centered on resident and community stakeholder engagement, the NextGen Neighborhoods program enables NYCHA to generate revenue, which will be reinvested back into the development sites and across NYCHA’s portfolio, by leveraging a 50-50 split of market-rate and affordable housing units to be built on underutilized NYCHA property.

Unlike previous approaches that presented a finalized plan for residents after the fact, NYCHA has been seeking resident input at the front end to help shape the final plan. To that end, NYCHA has held 40 meetings and conducted floor-by-floor outreach with residents from Holmes Towers and Wyckoff Gardens since Fall 2015. Their input has helped inform the character of the mix of programs and uses at the sites as well as the pros and cons of building locations—and residents expressed their preferences for possible improvements to the sites. All of this will help integrate the new building into the community. Resident and stakeholder feedback will also help determine priorities for capital repairs, which will occur concurrently with new construction.

This dialogue with residents has also informed the Request for Proposals for developers, which NYCHA expects to issue soon. Developers will be selected by Fall of 2016, and the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2017. The Stakeholder Committee ensures residents will continue to be actively engaged with their voices heard throughout the process.

For more information on the NextGen Stakeholder Committees, please visit http://www1.nyc.gov/site/nycha/about/nextgen-neighborhoods.page.

 

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