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There are 36 brownstones on West 89th, 90th, 91st, and 93rd streets that look like every other brownstone on the block. They are public housing. The New York City Housing Authority owns them, and together they hold 236 apartments in a development called the WSUR Brownstones. By early 2027 the housing authority expects to hand management of all 36 to a private company, and according to City Limits, NYCHA has already signaled what that work will likely mean for the people living there.
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A NYCHA spokesperson said no decisions have been made, but that temporary relocation will likely be required for most or all residents given the expected scope of work, which includes renovating apartments and common areas along with new windows, heating, and plumbing. In a typical relocation of this kind, tenants move into vacant units in their own development or nearby, sign an agreement guaranteeing the right to return once the work is finished, and have their moving costs covered by the private partner. For this project, none of the specifics have been set: not where the swing units would be, not how long anyone would be out, not whether households would be kept in the neighborhood.That matters more here than it would at a conventional NYCHA campus. These are 36 separate small buildings, three to six stories, with no elevators and no large tower nearby to absorb displaced households. The nearest NYCHA properties with vacancies are a different development entirely.
The change comes through a program called the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together, or PACT. The housing authority keeps ownership of the buildings and the land, a private partner takes over day-to-day management, and the apartments convert from the Section 9 public housing program to Project-Based Section 8, which carries a larger federal subsidy. The brownstones are one of 10 developments in the Manhattan portion of a citywide effort covering 27 developments and more than 5,000 units. NYCHA is pursuing the arrangement to reach repair money it cannot otherwise get, against a backlog it puts at $78 billion.
Residents do not yet know who the manager will be. NYCHA’s application deadline for interested partners passed in April, and tenants still have not been told which companies bid. The housing authority says teams clearing initial review will submit final proposals this summer, that resident leaders will interview the finalists and take part in a scoring exercise that feeds into the decision, and that a meeting laying out timelines is expected in the fall. Victor Gotay, vice president of the tenants association, told City Limits that the group was promised a say in the selection and has not seen one materialize. “We’re afraid of being afraid,” he told the outlet. Another longtime resident, Veronica Lopez, said she is uncertain how repairs and operations will go under a private manager and worries residents will lose protections after the conversion, despite NYCHA’s assurances that PACT tenants keep the rights they had before.
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The buildings themselves are not treated alike. Twenty-six of the 36 sit inside a city-designated historic district, which brings design standards from the Landmarks Preservation Commission and a prohibition on demolition by neglect, requiring an owner to keep a building in good repair. The other 10 have no such protection. NYCHA says it does not expect major differences in how the two groups are rehabilitated and will respond to each building’s needs.According to NYCHA’s development records, the cluster runs from 47, 49, and 51 West 89th Street; 15 through 23 and 38 through 42 West 90th Street; 22 through 42 and 64 through 70 West 91st Street; and 125 through 143 West 93rd Street. The tenants association is led by president Cynthia Tibbs, with Gotay as vice president and Mark Thomas as sergeant-at-arms. A partner for the Manhattan cluster is expected to be named by early 2027.
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