After decades of neglect, Fort Independence tenants welcome change

From her 14th-floor apartment in the city-owned Fort Independence Houses, Sandra Green keeps a close eye on the weather forecast. She’s looking for the first sign of rain, anticipating the all-too-familiar task of flood-proofing each room by piling towels and comforters near derelict windows.

In the half-century she has lived in the building, extreme water damage has crept further into Green’s home, a result of decades of shoddy repairs and silenced pleas. The seals around her windows are cracked, the leaks are persistent and the trust in the New York City Housing Authority long eroded.

Across the city, NYCHA tenants wait years for fixes that never come. 

But for the first time in a long time, there’s hope on the horizon at Fort Independence.

Fort Independence Houses, 3340 Bailey Ave., is one of 14 buildings in the northwest Bronx incorporated into a $593.7 million deal closed June 24 under NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together, or PACT,  program. It’s a move that unlocked broader funding channels previously inaccessible. Through PACT, the housing authority can partner with private and nonprofit developers to finance sweeping renovations.

The project is part of a city-wide effort to address backlogs of significant repair requests in a severely underfunded agency. In NYCHA’s 2023 Physical Needs Assessment report, released every five years, Fort Independence’s estimated renovation costs totaled $79 million, but only $12.8 million worth of repairs were completed that year.

By 2023, the estimate spiked to $147 million.

The PACT transition signals a dramatic shift in how the city manages aging housing. Through a federal Rental Assistance Demonstration initiative, Fort Independence converted from Section 9 public housing to Project-Based Section 8. NYCHA still owns the land and buildings, but PACT partners manage day-to-day operations, tenant services and a full-scale rehabilitation effort.

For tenants like Green, change can’t come soon enough. The unsettling water stain on her kitchen ceiling — a byproduct of chronic flooding from the bathroom above — is more than just an eyesore. It’s a persistent reminder of ignored requests and band-aid fixes. 

“[NYCHA workers] came in, they covered and painted it real bad,” Green said. “Then it came back down again.”

In April, Green slipped on water pooling under the leak and crashed to the floor. Bloodied and unable to stand, she crawled to her couch and sought help, ultimately needing stitches on her left arm.

Still, the housing authority failed to take action. 

“NYCHA left it like this, they left these conditions,” Barbara Lauray, resident association president, said. “They knew the damages, they knew of the mold, they knew of the deterioration. They knew everything. They did absolutely nothing.”

Lauray dealt with more than her share of neglect over the decades she’s lived at Fort Independence. The stench of mold in her apartment clings to the walls behind her windows, long damaged from the decades of rainwater seeping in through the bricks. 

Lauray said the worst part was knowing no real fix was coming. NYCHA, she believes, had essentially given up on the property by the time the PACT conversion was announced and particularly in the months leading up to it.

Now, she’s cautiously hopeful. 

Over the next two years, the complex will see a complete overhaul, including modernized kitchens and bathrooms; updated electrical systems; and upgrades to heating and plumbing infrastructure.

Common areas will undergo a facelift, with revamped lobbies and new security systems.

“These guys took off from the ground running from day one, it’s unbelievable,” Lauray said. “They came in, they measured radiators, they measured doors. They’re talking about the windows and halls. They’re on the stairwells.”

The Press spoke to Lauray roughly two weeks after the PACT conversion began. The difference, she notes, is already evident, not just in how the building looks and feels but in how it’s being managed. For the first time in years, there are teams of workers cleaning, repairing and responding. 

In hallways that once reeked of decay and bodily fluids, the scent of bleach and disinfectant now fills the air. Deep cleaning crews scrubbed windows, sanitized stairwells and washed walls on every floor.

“You see how good it smells?” Lauray said, smiling as she walked The Press through the building’s seventh floor.

For many tenants, it’s the first time they’ve seen such consistent attention. Security officers now patrol the grounds, and a team of on-site managers and social workers is available to assist residents with everything from leases to applying for jobs with PACT.

With the new patrol combating loitering, residents feel a level of safety, overturning years plagued with homeless and other non-tenants setting up shop indoors.

“You don’t see weird people hanging out in the building anymore,” Doris, a mother of three who asked not to share her last name, said while lounging on a bench with a friend on a sunny afternoon. “Now you come down in the morning, have a coffee, take in some fresh air. It feels safer. It feels normal.” 

The development team overseeing the Pact Northwest Bronx project includes leaders in affordable housing transformations Arker Companies, Omni New York LLC, SBV Real Estate and Dabar Development Partners, a minority- and woman-owned firm. The general contractor, Renewal Chateau, specializes in tenant-in-place renovations, while Progressive Management has established an on-site office at 3340 Bailey Ave., the lobby of Fort Independence Houses.

Interior work is expected to take roughly two weeks per apartment, with working kitchens and bathrooms restored at the end of each day. For residents who prefer to relocate during work hours, fully furnished hospitality units will be available on-site.

“They’re not going to play with people like NYCHA did,” Lauray said. “It’s different. Very different.”

Still, trust takes time to rebuild. For longtime tenants like Green, who arrived in the 1980s, it’s hard to forget years of water-damaged bedrooms and defunct radiators.

Under PACT, NYCHA promises a better path. Rents remain capped at 30 percent of a household’s income. Tenants retain their right to organize, renew leases and pass on tenancy to relatives.

For the first time, residents have a say in the materials used in their own homes.

“The resident association got to choose the developers,” Lauray said. “We picked the stainless-steel stoves, the faucets, even the towel racks. We’ve never had towel racks.”

Beyond aesthetics, the upgrades aim to resolve longstanding health hazards — lead, asbestos and black mold among them — while improving energy efficiency through better insulation, electric stoves and new ventilation.

NYCHA plans to convert 62,000 apartments citywide through PACT by 2028, ensuring an estimated $13.2 billion in renovations. 

But, even now, not everything is rosy. 

A 2024 city audit revealed a spike in eviction filings at some PACT sites, where private managers failed to follow NYCHA’s required pre-eviction steps. The findings have led to renewed calls for tighter oversight and stronger tenant protections.

Still, for those who’ve suffered longest, the NYCHA alliance with PACT is welcome and appreciated.

“I’m not going to complain when you take a decrepit place and turn it into a castle,” Lauray said. “PACT has increased the quality of life. The resident association, we stand behind them. 110 percent.”