Residents of the Yorkville development will be the first NYCHA tenants of the year to vote on whether they want to abandon their traditional public housing model for one of two options that would ensure more funding, but could change how their buildings are managed.

“At the end of the day, you know what you have with Section 9,” said resident Saundrea Coleman, who co-founded a tenant group that opposes the switch the Section 8. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Residents of Yorkville’s Stanley Isaacs Houses will be the first NYCHA tenants of the year to vote on whether they want to abandon their traditional public housing model for one of two options that would ensure more funding, but could change how their buildings are managed.

Starting Feb. 13, each resident over the age of 18 will have the opportunity to vote between three choices: to lease their buildings to private developers and switch to Section 8 as part of the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program, to switch to the state-managed Public Housing Preservation Trust that also utilizes Section 8, or to remain as Section 9, the federal government’s public housing program. 

At its core, the vote is a choice of how to deal with the decades-long, chronic underfunding of public housing—slated to only be exacerbated throughout Trump’s presidency. Both of the new choices move residents to Section 8, a federal voucher with more guaranteed funding than Section 9 that would allow residents to keep paying 30 percent of their income towards rent. 

With the buildings guaranteed a more consistent future revenue source, their managers would borrow money to fund large-scale renovations. But making the switch requires tenants to sacrifice the stability of Section 9, leading many to question if it’s worth tolerating temporary relocations—and in the case of PACT, higher eviction rates and increased surveillance—that they’ve heard about at other NYCHA developments that have converted. 

“We all want repairs. That’s our goal. We all want to live in healthy homes, but there’s other ways to get it done,” said Saundrea Coleman, a resident who co-founded the Holmes-Isaacs Coalition, a tenant group opposing PACT and what she calls the “Preservation Distrust.”

“At the end of the day, you know what you have with Section 9,” Coleman said.

Isaacs Houses is the eighth NYCHA development where residents have been asked to vote on how to fund repairs. In previous elections, four campuses have voted to join the Trust, two to remain in Section 9, and one voted for PACT (though NYCHA has converted thousands of other units to private management without a vote, which is only required when the Trust is on the table). 

NYCHA’s Stanley Isaacs Houses campus on Jan. 13, 2026. (Adi Talwar/CIty Limits)

If residents choose PACT, the buildings will be leased to developers who will receive private financing the government can’t access to renovate them. Developers will then pay back this loan and earn some profit with rents they collect as the buildings’ new managers. In the Public Housing Preservation Trust, bonds are floated to fund the renovations, which NYCHA, which maintains control of the buildings, also pays back with the Section 8 revenue stream.

While PACT has delivered significant renovations—raising $13 billion for capital repairs across 146 NYCHA developments, according to the latest tally—converted sites have seen higher eviction rates compared to Section 9. Residents don’t know which companies will take over until after the vote, and different companies have had vastly different records. Tenants at some privately managed developments have complained of eroded transparency and persistent repair issues. 

Unlike PACT, which was created in 2016, The Public Housing Preservation Trust was only established in 2022, and there has not yet been time for buildings to vote, convert, and be fully renovated. For this reason, residents don’t yet have concrete examples to look at when considering the Trust.

“A lot of us have decided to move forward with Section 9 just for fear that PACT wouldn’t be a fit for us,” said Maribel Mejia, an Isaacs Houses resident of 25 years who also doesn’t want to vote for the Preservation Trust. “It seems like there’s a lot of nice developments that are happening through PACT, but it also seems like it’s a high risk for us because, god forbid, things don’t go as planned as far as construction goes.”

The Isaacs Houses are three buildings pressed alongside the FDR highway, lined by the East River on one side and The Holmes Towers, a different NYCHA development, on another. The more than 600 units have had an anomalous last decade, scoring an 86 out of 100 in their 2015 inspection from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—one of NYCHA’s highest scores—then falling to a 25 in 2017, one of the lowest, before immediately moving up to a 79 the following year. In its 2024 inspection, the Isaacs Houses earned an 80.

A view of NYCHA’s Stanley Isaacs Houses campus and its surrounding neighborhood. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Neither public records nor resident experiences explain why the score was so low for that year, but it is used by NYCHA as an explanation for why it selected the Isaacs Houses for the vote. Officials say they select developments based on a combination of building conditions and resident interest, primarily gauged through Tenant Associations.

Residents at the Isaacs Houses report inconsistent heating, frequent leaks and broken locks, as well as persistent rodent infestations. However, the buildings are in better shape than other public housing properties, with an estimated $400,000 in repair needs per unit, about $100,000 below NYCHA’s average.

“I don’t need any repairs because I’m happy, but they said because the buildings are old, they have to fix the system,” said Gladys Muñiz, who has lived at Isaacs Houses since it first opened in 1965. She plans on voting for the Trust. 

Latasha Pryce, an English teacher who has lived in the buildings for 12 years, said the vote brings up a lot of unknowns. “I agree that you have to sacrifice some things. I think I’m just worried about, are we going from a not so great situation into a worse situation?” said Pryce. 

“Who’s gonna take over the buildings? How will we go about repairs? What’s the process to switch over to Section 8? Some developments kick you out of your apartments temporarily and everyone’s kind of juggled around until they fix your apartment. Are they going to do that here?” Pryce added, in reference to the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses.

Those Lower Manhattan developments, part of PACT, are slated to be demolished and replaced by whole new buildings, part of a massive redevelopment plan that will also build 3,500 mixed-income homes, both market-rate and affordable units. While the majority of residents will remain in their current apartments until the replacement ones are built, an estimated 120 households have to temporarily move to other NYCHA-provided apartments during renovations. 

The plan has split residents, and opponents have resisted demolition with protests and lawsuits. Their experience has resounded across the NYCHA community—for some, as a worst case scenario for what PACT could bring (though full demolitions have not happened at any of the other dozens of PACT developments, and there is no indication they would at the Isaacs Houses.)

NYCHA flyers in the hallway at the Isaacs Houses looking to dispel “myths” about Section 8. (Adi Talwar/CIty Limits)

“What I’m hearing is if you switch over they’re gonna fix up the place. But I’m also hearing that you can lose your apartment,” said Alex Beasley, who raised six children and three grandchildren in the Isaacs Houses, in reference to higher eviction rates at PACT developments and rumors that the program is a way for private developers to seize control of city-owned housing. “This is prime real estate right here. We’re on the Upper East Side.”

NYCHA, which hosted four informational meetings in recent months ahead of the vote, has pushed back against those rumors. “Neither the Trust nor the PACT plan results in privatizing public housing,” reads a set of flyers recently hung throughout the Isaacs Houses informing residents about the upcoming vote. NYCHA retains ownership of the land and buildings in both scenarios, the flyers note, and still has oversight over the developments.

The posters also emphasized the necessity of switching to Section 8 due to NYCHA’s funding needs, and said that tenants won’t lose rights and that evictions won’t increase because of the shift (in contradiction to reports from Human Rights Watch and the New York City Comptroller’s Office that found more eviction filings at PACT sites, findings which NYCHA previously disputed).

With these factors in mind, Isaacs Houses residents are still parsing through the different information they’re receiving from groups promoting all three options who are canvassing tenants about why their choice is the best path for the buildings.

“I need to do more research,” said Lissette Santos. She’s lived in NYCHA’s Stanley Isaacs Houses with her husband and four children for the past eight years. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

“Part of me would like to see the projects be under better conditions, like repairs, cleaner, newer implements such as piping and stuff like that. However, at the same time, I’m scared because I do see a lot of things of how other projects have been privatized and how there are more evictions going on than the usual evictions under NYCHA,” said Lissette Santos, who lives in the development with her husband and four children. 

“I need to do more research than what we’ve been provided. I feel like there should be more either meetings or something informing, but sometimes it can be biased.”

Voting at the Isaacs Houses can be done by mail or online from Feb. 13 through March 16, or in-person starting on March 12. More information can be found here. 

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post Isaacs Houses Residents Weigh Ditching Public Housing for Section 8 appeared first on City Limits.

After years of debating how to support street festivals and community-driven events struggling to keep pace with mounting police, road block and public safety costs, the St. Paul City Council seemed poised Wednesday to allocate $155,000 in event subsidies to be administered by the St. Paul Police Department’s special operations unit.

Instead of swift passage on Wednesday, the proposal has become a new flashpoint in a sensitive discussion over police-community relations, with some event organizers questioning why community groups who feel overcharged by the police should have to appeal to the same department for subsidies.

The original proposal’s goal, according to resolution author and Council President Rebecca Noecker, would be to have police distribute up to $7,000 in subsidies to up to 22 event organizers, a relatively small reduction off police overtime and road closure costs that have climbed nearly as high as $75,000 for the West Side’s Cinco de Mayo festival and $100,000 for Grand Old Day.

To qualify for the funds, Noecker said organizations would have to show their festival or event meets six criteria, including being based in St. Paul, hosting the activity in St. Paul and not charging an entry fee. The event would have to have been held for at least five years in the city, or it must take place in an area of concentrated poverty. Political campaign events would not qualify.

The “$155,000 isn’t much, but it will go some part of the way toward helping relieve that burden,” said Noecker to the council, noting the money was voted on as an annual, standing appropriation in 2024 but never dedicated last year.

“It has taken quite a while to get to the point of actually being able to roll this out,” said Noecker, who explained that no city department but the police appeared to have the staff capacity to administer the funds. “We went through a whole year last year where this did not get done.”

Alternative measure

Objecting to the prospect of giving St. Paul Police more influence over community events, Council Member Anika Bowie presented a separate resolution that would dedicate the $155,000 directly to 20 named community groups.

“Our community is under distress,” Bowie said. “They shouldn’t have to be worrying about raising funds to hire police officers while they’re under federal occupation and they’re not feeling supported by police officers. … I stand firmly opposed to divesting from community funds and investing in police.”

Bowie’s alternative resolution was not entered into the city’s Legistar software prior to the council meeting and not available online for public review, but the printed version made available during the meeting drew some pushback from council members around the prospect of picking favorites.

“I’m concerned about the specific events and event organizers being listed here,” said Council Member Saura Jost. “That’s bypassing our typical process by naming them.”

Noecker agreed. Under her original resolution, “there would be no picking winners or losers from any of us,” she said. “To me, the value of having the objective criteria … I’m thinking about if a new organization comes to St. Paul and wants to have a festival that we don’t know about yet.”

“It matters to me not at all where it’s housed and who runs it … but we need to have a staff person to do it, and we currently don’t have that staff person,” Noecker added. “This would be ready to go as of tomorrow. … The dollars can go out the door.”

Bowie and other council members asked for clarification from city staff around why the unspent funds from 2025 did not roll over from year to year and effectively double.

“This sounds like a technical error,” she said. “The funds that we have right now are not the funds we were expecting.”

The council president said she had raised similar questions with city staff, who explained Wednesday that unspent funds from annual appropriations are returned to the city’s general fund at year’s end.

“It was actually my leadership that got the questions asked to (the Office of Financial Services) and got us to this place,” Noecker said.

Public hearing

A public hearing after the discussion drew a handful of speakers expressing alarm and frustration over rising costs, which they said had grown 30% or more since 2023. Bob Cruz, executive director of the West Side Boosters and co-chair of the Cinco de Mayo festival and the Mexican Independence Day festival, said he felt “misled and deeply let down” by the process to date.

Cruz, who was skeptical of having the subsidy administered by police, said neither Noecker nor Bowie alerted him about Wednesday’s public hearing despite his outreach to both members. The Cinco de Mayo festival alone brought in 30,000 people last year from across the Upper Midwest, which he noted has a strong economic impact for the city.

“Last year, our single largest expense was the required contract with the St. Paul Police Department — $74,000,” Cruz said. “We have repeatedly raised concerns with St. Paul Police about the high cost of required presence. Their response is consistent: talk to the city council.”

The Grand Avenue Business Association submitted a letter to the city council supporting Noecker’s proposal.

“Our most significant cost driver is infrastructure, many parts of which are city operated,” reads the letter, signed by executive director Kim O’Brien and board chair Holly Weinkauf. “In 2025, our police costs exceeded $95,000, which was 34% higher than it was in 2023 despite a shorter footprint and no major incidents.”

Other speakers questioned why the police would charge community-driven events any money at all to protect the public, which is core to their taxpayer-funded mission.

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By JESSICA DAMIANO

Have you dreamed of creating a calm and cozy spot at home to relax and recharge, but don’t think you can spare the space?

You don’t need a “man cave,” “she shed” or even a whole room to retreat to. Just one corner will do.

One corner, warm lighting, a cozy chair and some plants, says interior and plant stylist Hilton Carter, who specializes in “nature nooks” — tiny wellness sanctuaries that calm the mind, body and spirit.

Carter has hosted plant-forward specials for HBO and PBS, launched a plant and accessories line with Target and authored six books (his most recent is “Unfurled: Designing a Living Home.”)

Nature nooks, he says, improve a home emotionally as well as aesthetically.

Carter, 48, found himself leaning toward plants a decade ago. “I was feeling overwhelmed by the hustle and grind working as a freelance filmmaker in Los Angeles when a project took me to Glen Mills, Pennsylvania,” he said.

There, he popped into a garden-themed café.

“I was all knotted up, and I walked in there and felt a change. It felt like a vacation,” he said.

Not long after, Carter moved to New Orleans and bought a fiddle-leaf fig tree he named Frank. “I was at a crossroads in life, which all of us face, and I faced it with this plant,” he said, adding that he made a vow to love it and keep it alive. “Everything I’ve accomplished since then was all due to that moment.”

A nature nook doesn’t need a lot of plants

Today, Carter, who lives in Baltimore with his wife and two children, has roughly 150 plants at home and another 200 or so in his studio, including Frank, now 14 feet tall. But creating a nature nook with as few as five plants can reap emotional benefits, he said.

Before buying any plants, choose your site, Carter said.

“There is no minimum or maximum size” for a nature-nook corner, he says. The important thing is “how lush you decide to make it.”

Next, assess lighting. “If one side of the corner has a nice-size window and it gets southern-facing light for eight hours of the day, there are particular plants that you could go wild with that could thrive in that light,” Carter said.

“But let’s say you have a north-facing window on one wall and it’s a standard-size window. You probably will want to bring in artificial light.”

Don’t get just any grow lights, though.

“Find those companies that make beautiful grow bulbs. Some have two-color tones, some (replicate) daylight and others make warmer lights” that make the space inviting but still help plants thrive, Carter said.

If relying on natural light, consider the seasons. “It may be brighter in the winter because all the leaves on the trees are gone, but in summer that’s a whole different situation.”

Assess your light and bring that information to a plant shop for guidance.

A comfortable place to sit

Bring in “some sort of accent chair facing whatever direction is going to provide you with joy: facing out the window, where the joy is having that sun caress your face, or facing in if you’re reading,” Carter said.

Select plants realistically.

“Be self-aware about your ability to care for plants,” Carter said. Your nook might start out looking lush and beautiful, but if you don’t take the time to care for the plants, it will look terrible and uninviting within weeks.

Personalize your nature nook

This undated image shows interior and plant stylist Hilton Carter holding at his home in Baltimore. (Ryan Rhodes via AP)

When creating nature nooks for clients, Carter asks them about their favorite vacations or where they spent honeymoons or anniversaries, because bringing in plants from those places can trigger happy memories.

“Think about your happy place,” Carter advised. “Get a sense of what you want to replicate and where you want to be transported to.”

A nature nook is an “escape from the chaos of the world,” he said.

When choosing plants, consider their foliage and how they look together. The glossiness of a burgundy Ficus elastica next to a Monstera ‘Thai Constellation,’ for instance, is striking, he says.

“But if you met your wife in the Pacific Northwest and you’re looking to create a look that’s similar to that, you’re going to get your more shaded plants — ferns, Norfolk pines, things that refer back to that space,” he said.

And don’t overlook pots. A beautiful terracotta planter that fits the space’s vibe will evoke emotion and set the mood of the nook.

Some practical concerns

Consider how tall plants will grow, and how high the ceilings and windows are.

Carter also advises being mindful of the type of flooring. “Use planters that will protect the floor” in case water drains out.

Toxicity is another important matter. “Do you have pets? Do you have kids? What kinds of plants will thrive and keep them safe?” he said.

Enjoying your nook

This 2025 image provided by Hilton Carter shows a plant-centered seating area at his home in Baltimore. (Hilton Carter via AP)

Once your nature nook is in place, create a routine. Maybe drink your morning coffee there or read there in the evenings. Using the space regularly can be transformative, Carter said.

“I’m much more patient, more kind, considerate and I’m a better listener because of plants,” he said. “I think I’m entirely a more loving individual than before.”

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

By Linda Gassenheimer, Tribune News Service

Looking to add more flavor and keep salmon fillets moist, I sautéed them on a bed of creamy spinach and seasoned them with garlic and dill. The result was tender, flavorful salmon with a touch of freshness from the herbs.

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For a colorful and easy side, I mixed quick-cooking couscous with roasted red peppers. The couscous takes just five minutes in the microwave—no pot to wash and dinner’s ready in a flash. It’s a quick, vibrant meal that’s as delicious as it is simple.

HELPFUL HINTS:

Minced garlic can be found in the produce section of the market. Six crushed garlic cloves can be used instead.

Pearl couscous is also called Israeli couscous.

A quick way to chop dill is to cut the leaves with a scissors.

COUNTDOWN:

Assemble ingredients.

Microwave couscous.

Make salmon.

SHOPPING LIST:

To buy: 2 6-ouncre salmon fillets, 1 bag washed, ready to eat spinach, 1 container reduced fat sour cream, 1 bottle ground nutmeg, 1 container minced garlic, 1 bunch fresh dill, 1 lemon, 1 container quick cooking pearl couscous, 1 can roasted red pepper.

Staples: olive oil, salt and black peppercorns.

Garlic and Herb Salmon and Creamy Spinach

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

6 ounces fresh washed-ready-to-eat spinach (about 6 packed cups)
2 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch black pepper
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 6-ounce salmon fillets

Remove large stems from spinach. Mix sour cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg together in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine garlic, olive oil and dill. Add spinach to a large skillet and sauté 2 minutes or until spinach starts to wilt. Spoon out any liquid. Pour the sour cream mixture over the spinach and mix it in to the spinach. Spread the spinach mixture over the skillet. Arrange the salmon on top of the spinach. Spread the garlic mixture on top of each filet. Cover the skillet with a lid and cook 5 minutes, a meat thermometer should read 125 degrees. Squeeze lemon juice over fish. Lift spinach and fish to two plates spooning any left sauce over fish.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 358 calories (47 percent from fat), 18.6 g fat (4.2 g saturated, 7.9 g monounsaturated), 87 mg cholesterol, 39.7 g protein, 8.2 g carbohydrates, 2.9 g fiber, 451 mg sodium.

Pimento Couscous

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

1/2 cup quick cooking pearl couscous
3/4 cup water
1 cup sliced canned roasted red pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add couscous to a large microwave safe bowl. Add water. Cover bowl with a plate or plastic wrap. Microwave on high 5 minutes. Remove and stir couscous. Most of water should be gone and couscous should be soft. If needed microwave, covered, for another minute. Add roasted red pepper, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Return cover to bowl and let sit while making the salmon dish.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 169 calories (29 percent from fat), 5.4 g fat (0.8 g saturated, 2.3 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 5.0 g protein, 25.9 g carbohydrates, 3.0 g fiber, 14 mg sodium.

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