Fight for NYCHA Legal Expense Fund

Fight For NYCHA is preparing to refile its Article 78 Petition against NYCHA and other related parties to stop the unlawful RAD/PACT conversion and demolition of Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea, public housing developments in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Some of the last members of Fight For NYCHA need to raise $10,000 so that they can hire a lawyer to fight their lawsuit in Court.

In 2021, four individuals filed an Article 78 petition in New York State Supreme Court to stop the RAD/PACT conversion of Fulton Houses, Elliott Houses, Chelsea Houses, and the Chelsea Annex. They made the filing without a lawyer. Thanks to some of the money raised here, they were able to hire a lawyer to litigate the motion practise. Although the lawsuit was dismissed for lack of being ripe, the dismissal was made without prejudice. In the Court's decision, the Judge ruled that the Section 9 Petitioner had standing. We are currently updating our Article 78 Petition to refile to win.

LINK : https://archive.org/download/weaver-et-al-v-nycha-et-al-notice-of-petition-and-petition/Weaver_et_al_v_NYCHA_et_al_Amended_Petition.pdf

We have been searching for pro bono legal counsel to represent us. Unfortunately, we were told by an attorney that large legal nonprofits have conflicts of interest in lawsuits against New York City and New York City agencies, like NYCHA, because large legal nonprofits are partnered with other nonprofits that do business with the City of New York and NYCHA.

As a result, we plan to use all of the money raised from this Go Fund Me on legal expenses and to hire an attorney to represent us in this case. Litigation is our last resort to keep public housing public, and we can't do it without your help. Please donate what you can.

Fight For NYCHA is an unincorporated collective of tenants and activists, who are supporting NYCHA tenants to self-determine the future of public housing in New York City. We oppose Mayor Eric Adams's plan to use RAD/PACT to put public housing into the hands of private landlords. We know the money exists to save NYCHA, because U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez had a bill (H.R. 307) in the last Congress that would fully-fund public housing. We need to unite to stop privatization ! #KeepPublicHousingPublic and #SaveSection9 !