Randall-Balcom & Throggs Neck Addition Residents Decide the Future of Their Homes

On April 29, NYCHA announced the final results of two separate, concurrent resident votes at Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue and Throggs Neck Addition. Residents have weighed in on the future of their homes, with Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue residents electing to join the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program and residents of Throggs Neck Addition voting to remain under the traditional Section 9 model. Residents of the Bronx developments began voting online March 19 and started receiving ballots to vote by mail in the days following. In-person voting was available to residents from April 7 through April 22, with a brief pause from Friday, April 18 through Sunday, April 20 for the Easter holiday. After the initial tallies were conducted and preliminary results were announced on April 23, mail-in votes postmarked no later than the final day of voting were accepted and counted toward the final results. A total of eight additional mail-in votes from across both sites were received, and the voting results were certified by a third-party election administrator earlier today.

Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue selected the PACT program, which will unlock significant funding to complete comprehensive renovations at the development, as well as provide new property management and enhanced social services. Rent will continue to be calculated at 30 percent of annual income, and tenant rights and protections will be preserved.

Based on the final tally, residents from Throggs Neck Addition have elected to keep their development under the traditional Section 9 model. As a result, it will not be converted to Project-Based Section 8 through the Trust or PACT program at this time.  Traditional Section 9 receives capital and operations subsidy from the federal government, which has disinvested in public housing in New York City and across the nation for several decades.

“We are ecstatic that Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue has voted in favor of PACT, a program that is already enhancing the quality of residents’ lives and preserving NYCHA’s aging building stock across the five boroughs,” said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “Residents from both Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue and Throggs Neck Addition have made their voices heard, and we remain dedicated to working closely with the residents at both of these Bronx developments as we continue our partnerships with them through the options they’ve selected.”

“Congratulations to the residents at Randall-Balcom on deciding to invest in their community through NYCHA’s PACT program,” said NYCHA Chief Real Estate Officer Jonathan Gouveia. “We look forwarding to partnering with the community to understand their priorities and to plan critical investments. The PACT program has invested over $7 billion in NYCHA communities across the city and is a proven program that has provided residents with real quality of life improvements along with professional property management.” 

“Following 100 days of engagement, the residents of Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue have made their choice clear,” said Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue Resident Association President Emily Bautista. “Now, we will begin the PACT process and work with NYCHA to outline our vision for the future of our homes. We are very much looking forward to this new venture.”

The final, certified results for Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue yielded a total of 150 resident votes, including 140 heads of household, representing 60 percent of all eligible voters and 59 percent of heads of household from the development. By the election administrator’s count, the residents of Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue have elected to enter the PACT program with a total of 78 votes, while 36 residents voted to join the Public Housing Preservation Trust and 36 voted to remain Section 9. Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue will now begin the process of converting to Project-Based Section 8, unlocking millions of dollars in much-needed funding for capital renovations to 252 apartments.

The final, certified results for Throggs Neck Addition yielded a total of 223 resident votes, including 151 heads of household, representing 46 percent of all eligible voters and 51 percent of heads of household from the development. The development’s residents have voted to remain Section 9 with a total of 124 votes, while 80 residents voted to join the Trust and 12 voted to enter the PACT program, by the election administrator’s count. Seven ballots could not be counted due to unclear voter intent. The development will remain part of the traditional Section 9 model.

NYCHA estimates that nearly $80 billion is needed to bring properties across its portfolio into a good state of repair, with estimated 20-year capital needs of nearly $121 million for Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue and nearly $134 million for Throggs Neck Addition.

According to the official voting procedures, residents are eligible to vote if they are 18 years or older and part of the household composition. Participation from a minimum threshold of 20 percent of all heads of household is required for a vote to be considered valid.

NYCHA’s Voter Engagement Team conducted 100 days of engagement at each development prior to the 30-day voting period, which included door-knocking, phone-banking, and distribution of physical materials to residents at both developments. A total of six public information sessions were held to explain the vote and ballot options to residents of the two developments. These and other engagement efforts amounted to nearly 800 total touchpoints with a total of 450 eligible voters from both developments.

The PACT program transitions developments from traditional Section 9 assistance to Project-Based Section 8 and unlocks funding for resident-selected PACT partners to complete comprehensive repairs and to oversee daily property management of the campus. Overall, 146 NYCHA developments (representing over 39,000 apartments) are in pre-development, are under construction, or have completed construction through the program. This represents over $13 billion in capital repairs for the Authority. The Authority is working to include 62,000 apartments in the PACT program in order to bring the benefits of comprehensive apartment repairs and building upgrades, as well as enhanced property management and social services, to more than 142,000 residents.

Following Nostrand Houses, Bronx River Addition, Coney Island Houses and Coney Island I (Site 1B), and Hylan Houses, Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue and Throggs Neck Addition represent the sixth and seventh developments to hold votes of this kind, in which residents had the opportunity to cast their ballots regarding the future of their homes.