BY SCOTT STIFFLER | A special session of the Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4) Chelsea Land Use (CLU) committee set for August 19 has taken on a heightened sense of urgency since it was first scheduled (a matter documented in our article of August  5).

As noted in an August 14 email to the community from LEAPS at Penn South, “Earlier in the summer, many Penn South residents signed the petition opposing the demolition of Chelsea’s Public Housing. Since then, things are moving rapidly, and we have to keep organizing to save our Chelsea NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority] homes and preserve public housing and our community! Last week Senior residents in the Chelsea Addition building of Elliott-Chelsea Houses received 90 day vacate orders as NYCHA moves forward with plans to demolish.” LEAPS also noted they’ve “launched the Chelsea Public Housing Legal Defense Fund to fight back with legal representation and grassroots pressure…Support the GoFund Me to hire lawyers to represent tenants.”

The LEAPS-provided link (underlined in the above paragraph, phrase beginning with, “Senior residents…”) takes readers to Gothamist reporter Joe Hong’s dense-with-details article of August 4, 2025, titled Senior NYC residents at Elliott-Chelsea Houses receive orders to vacate. “Before construction can begin at the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses,” writes Hong, of the public/private partnership that would see Related Companies create and manage a mix of affordable and market rate households on what is currently NYCHA-exclusive property, “114 households have to move from two existing buildings. More than two-thirds of those households come from a building known as the Chelsea Addition, which exclusively houses senior tenants. Tenants are being offered units in other NYCHA-owned buildings on the complex that aren’t tailored specifically for those aged 62 and older…Some said they feared leaving behind the community and safety of a building meant for older New Yorkers.”

That such a scenario could be put into play (and has now come to pass) was in large part what motivated MCB4 to schedule August 19’s special session.  At the July 21 CLU meeting (viewable here), committee members and Chelsea-based NYCHA tenants alike took the occasion to bemoan the fact that despite nearly a half-decade of vetting, MCB4 had yet to generate a single letter declaring how they stand on the matter of demolition vs. renovation of the Chelsea NYCHA buildings.

Said CLU member David Holowka, our August 5 report noted, “I think we kind of owe it to all of the members of the public and the many residents who come out [to testify at MCB4 meetings]–some of whom have become as familiar to us as our fellow CB4 members–to take a position and I’m very concerned about the time frame and the fact that there are no [regular committee] meetings in August. The next full board meeting is Wednesday [July 23]. There’s not another one until September third…Given that time frame, I think we need to talk about how we’re going to continue this discussion and get a position issued in a full board meeting as soon as possible.”

Two days later, during the Public Session of MCB4’s July 23 Full Board Meeting. Chelsea resident and “Don’t Demolish, Renovate” advocate Lizette Colon took the board to task, demanding they “stop using the excuse that you don’t understand all the details as a reason not to seek tenant-driven solutions…We cannot accept your neutral stance.” 

Leaving no ambiguity as to their stance, the August 14 LEAPS email urged renovation-minded allies to, “Attend Community Board 4’s Land Use Committee Meeting on Tuesday, August 19th, 6:30 PM to ask that they unilaterally oppose the demolition. Show up in person if you can!”

If the CLU takes a stance as a result of the August 19 meeting, that stance will be reflected in a letter likely to be voted on by the full board of MCB4 at their September 3 meeting. Click here for more info, and to attend the meeting via Zoom.

NOTE: The in-person location of August 19’s meeting is the Hudson Guild Center,  441 West 26th Street (btw. 9th & 10th Aves.). If attending online, use this  Zoom Registration Link or view it on MCB4’s YouTube channel. The Conference Call-In Number is 646-828-7666 (when prompted, the Webinar ID number is 161 647 0667). 

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