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Urban Justice Center and New York Environmental Law & Justice Project to File Lawsuit Challenging NYCHAs Proposed Land Lease Program
Legal, Environmental, Tenants Rights Groups & Resident Associations Will Sue Housing Authority to Prevent Leasing of Public Lands to Private Developers
The Safety Net Project and the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center (UJC) and the New York Environmental Law & Justice Project (NYELJP), along with residents and resident associations from five of the eight NYCHA developments targeted for the Land Lease Program (Infill) will file a lawsuit in NYS Supreme Court to prevent NYCHA from accepting any bids to construct luxury high rise developments in these five NYCHA developments. The lawsuit demonstrates that NYCHA violated state and federal laws by failing to conduct environmental reviews and a floodplain analysis before soliciting bids from private developers. Additionally, NYCHA violated the Public Trust Doctrine by failing to obtain the necessary legislative approval before targeting parkland sites for non-parkland use. Residents will describe how NYCHAs plan will disrupt their communities and displace families, many of whom were already affected by Superstorm Sandy. PRESS CONFERENCE Our press conference is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 12th at 11AM on the City Hall Steps, and will feature: Urban Justice Centers Safety Net Project Urban Justice Centers Community Development Project NYCHA Residents from five housing developments (Campos Plaza, Carver Houses, Meltzer Tower, Smith Houses and Washington Houses) NY Environmental Law & Justice Project Resident Associations and Association Presidents for four housing developments (Campos Plaza, Carver Houses, Smith Houses and Washington Houses) Elected Officials

BACKGROUND The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) seeks to raise revenue for repairs to its housing developments by leasing public land within eight Manhattan public housing sites. In August 2013, NYCHA issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) to procure services of private developers for the construction of luxury highrise towers on 14 existing NYCHA sites, including 5 on parkland, within the 8 developments. Residents at the housing developments have expressed opposition to NYCHAs land lease plan. In the RFEI, NYCHA set a deadline of November 18th for bids by developers to build, operate and manage luxury developments on these NYCHA properties. For further information, contact: Denise Miranda, Managing Director Urban Justice Center, Safety Net Project (646) 602-5640
Online at safetynetproject.org and facebook.com/ujcsnp

Afua Atta-Mensah, Supervising Attorney Urban Justice Center, Safety Net Project (646) 602-5649