Res 0731-2025

Whereas, The Rental Assistance Demonstration program ("RAD") is a federal program created in 2011 and managed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") that converts Section 9 public housing to Project-Based Section 8 developments, allowing private developers to manage a public housing property, with the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together ("PACT") program being the name for RAD in New York City ("NYC"); and Whereas, The New York City Housing Authority ("NYCHA"), the largest public housing authority in the nation, administers RAD/PACT conversions among its developments, officially launching PACT in 2015 with the conversion of the Ocean Bay (Bayside) public housing complex in Queens, and, as of January 2025, lists 139 developments as part of the PACT program on its website; and Whereas, The New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust Act (S.9409-A/A.7805-D) was signed by the Governor of the State of New York on June 16, 2022, establishing the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust and requiring NYCHA to establish voting procedures which would allow NYCHA residents to decide whether to join the Trust; and Whereas, In December 2022, NYCHA published final voting procedures pursuant to the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust Act, in which NYCHA residents would vote to determine whether their development would transfer to the Public Housing Preservation Trust, undergo RAD/PACT conversion, or remain in the Section 9 program; and Whereas, These voting procedures include a 100-day resident engagement period and a 30-day voting period, with the minimum voter participation threshold for certifying results set as 20 percent of all Heads of Household at a development; and Whereas, However, developments selected for RAD/PACT conversion prior to the 2022 rules did not have any option to vote, as federal law does not require a vote for RAD conversions, and there is still no process that allows a development's residents to contest a vote's results even if they have legitimate concerns; and Whereas, At New York City Council oversight hearings in May 2022 and April 2024 on the impact of the RAD/PACT program, residents and tenant advocates offered testimony emphasizing problems with the engagement, education, and transparency from both NYCHA and the new private managers around the decision to convert a development to RAD/PACT, with witnesses at the April 2024 hearing highlighting issues like misleading language around what a RAD/PACT conversion would actually entail; and Whereas, RAD/PACT conversion monumentally affects all NYCHA tenants within a development, yet the tenants apparently have little opportunity to assert their desires within the current process; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation to implement a more robust resident engagement and voting process at each NYCHA development considering RAD/PACT conversion. CCK LS #18317 1/27/2025 2