In 2025, NYCHA closed on the financing for repairs at 16 developments through the controversial PACT program, and moved ahead on renovation plans for two other public housing campuses funded through the newer Preservation Trust, officials said Tuesday.

NYCHA’s Hylan Houses in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was one of three developments this year where tenants were asked to vote on what funding model they want. (Adi Talwar/City Limits).

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) says it made progress this year in chipping away at its multibillionaire dollar repair backlog through two—at times, controversial—initiatives that convert properties to the federal Section 8 program as means to drum up new funds.

In 2025, NYCHA closed on the financing for repairs at 16 developments through the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program, which leases public housing developments to private management companies, officials said in a year-end update Tuesday.

The deals will fund over $1.6 billion in renovations for approximately 7,300 residents at those campuses, according to NYCHA, which says PACT has raised a total of $8.6 billion in repairs already completed or in construction since the city launched the initiative almost a decade ago.

Overall, NYCHA is converting more than 39,000 apartments to PACT—with plans to add another 20,000 in the years ahead. Under the arrangement, private developers collect Section 8 funds for the units they now manage, and undertake major renovation projects through financing the housing authority can’t access on its own.

It’s one of two programs NYCHA has turned to in recent years to help maintain its aging buildings after decades of federal government disinvestment in Section 9, which funds traditional public housing. A 2023 assessment found that NYCHA needs an estimated $78 billion over the next two decades to keep its properties in a state of good repair.

Curious About the Condition of Your Development?
Check City Limits’ NYCHA Repair Needs Tracker

In October, a building at the Mitchel Houses in the Bronx partially collapsed, underscoring the precarious conditions at many NYCHA developments—the majority of which have similar or more significant repair needs than Mitchel Houses does, a City Limits investigation found.

Many tenants, however, remain deeply skeptical—and some adamantly opposed to—PACT and the involvement of private companies in public housing. PACT managers have filed for eviction at higher rates than NYCHA, stirring fears about displacement, while tenants have complained of unresponsive management teams and shoddily done repairs. Thousands of violations persist across privately-run NYCHA campuses, a recent investigation by news site The City found.

As an alternative to PACT, New York launched the NYC Public Housing Preservation Trust in 2022—another effort to unlock extra repair funds by converting NYCHA apartments to the more lucrative Section 8 federal subsidy. Unlike PACT, apartments in this scenario remain under NYCHA management while the Trust, a public entity, oversees and finances the repair work.

The Nostrand Houses, the first NYCHA development that joined the Preservation Trust. (Scott Heins)

In 2025, the Trust executed its first contracts for major repairs at two NYCHA developments: Nostrand Houses and Bronx River Addition, which will collectively see $493 million in upgrades in the comings years, officials said.

This year “paved the Trust’s pathway to delivery,” Trust President Vlada Kenniff said in a statement Tuesday, saying those plans will move to “measurable construction activity” in 2026.

Developments can only join the Trust if tenants there vote to do so. So far, NYCHA has carried out votes at seven different developments since the Trust launched in 2022, where residents were asked to choose whether to join the initiative, convert to PACT instead, or remain in the traditional Section 9 program.

In addition to Nostrand and Bronx River Addition, residents at the Hylan Houses in Bushwick and Unity Towers in Coney Island previously opted for the Trust. Tenants at Randall Avenue-Balcom Avenue voted to convert to private management under PACT, while residents at two other campuses—Coney Island Houses and Throggs Neck Addition—voted to stay with Section 9.

NYCHA selected the Stanley M. Isaacs Houses in Manhattan as the next campus up for a vote, which will take place starting in February. The development, on the Upper East Side, is home to 1,131 residents in 633 units, and needs an estimated $248 million for repairs and maintenance over the next two decades, officials said.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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

The post Private Management Deals Raised $1.6 Billion for NYCHA Repairs This Year, Officials Say appeared first on City Limits.

With the Vikings no longer in contention for a playoff spot, some players have opted to get some lingering injuries fixed up.

After announcing earlier this week that edge rusher Jonathan Greenard will have surgery on his shoulder, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that safety Josh Metellus will also have surgery on his shoulder.

Both players have been played on injured reserve.

In the absence of Greenard, edge rusher Dallas Turner will take on a bigger role. In the absence of Metellus, safety Jay Ward will take on a bigger role.

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For 37 years, the ballerinas playing Clara in Ballet Minnesota’s annual production of “The Classic Nutcracker” have worn the same ankle-length burgundy dress, finished with a pink petticoat and lace ruffles.

Cheryl Rist, who handles costumes for the company, found the dress in 1988 and modified it for the ensemble’s first Clara. She keeps it repaired, cleaned and ironed.

“It’s still in good condition,” said Rist, 71, of Woodbury, who tends to refer to the dress as she or her. “She still looks good on stage. I have her here now at my house because I was going to iron her and get her ready.”

Rist can’t remember the name or location of the store where she purchased the dress or how much it cost.

“I actually got it at an antique place,” she said. “It had the right feel to it. It didn’t look like what it looks like now. It was totally redone after we bought it. I added tons of ruffles. I wanted one that looks like a coat dress. On stage it reads very well.”

Rist chose a burgundy dress “because the color helps tell the story,” she said. “Clara’s mother loves that color. She wears an old-fashioned magenta color. The Sugar Plum Fairy wears a very dark magenta. It’s all connected to Clara’s dream. It’s all connected to her reality.”

Stagecraft

Clara wears the dress to her godfather Drosselmeyer’s annual Christmas party. When the ballerina leaves the stage, she immediately rips the dress off — revealing a nightgown underneath — and returns to stage, Rist said.

Rist designed the dress “to basically fall off Clara when she goes off stage,” she said. “Clara has, like, maybe 10 seconds to get back on stage, so it had to be a drop-away dress.”

The collar and the ruffles on Clara’s dress are also the collar and the ruffles of her nightgown, Rist said.

“The buttons are just big snaps that she just pulls open,” Rist said. “She runs off stage, rips the front of the dress open, and it falls down, and she goes back on.”

“It’s like a trap door,” explained Clara Jang, 13, of Woodbury, one of the ballerinas playing Clara in this year’s production. “You just step out of it so you can be ready for your next scene quickly.”

A helper off-stage is assigned the task of unsnapping the bow off the back of Clara’s dress, Rist said.

Wearing the dress

The dress can be adjusted for each ballerina’s height, Rist said.

Ballerina Clara Jang rehearses in the dress worn by the character Clara in the Ballet Minnesota production of “The Classic Nutcracker” at the company’s studio in St. Paul. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Cindy Chen, 13, of Woodbury, is the other ballerina playing Clara. She said it’s an honor to dance the role and wear the dress.

“Being able to add my name (to the list) makes me feel very happy,” she said. “I’m proud to go on stage in this mostly hand-made dress.”

The two teens share the four performances: three open to the public, one for schoolchildren. Cindy will perform on Friday afternoon and Saturday night; Clara will perform at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

As for Clara Jang performing the role of Clara in the “Nutcracker”: Grace Jang said her daughter’s name had nothing to do with the ballet; “we just liked the sound of it.”

Ballerina becomes a seamstress

Rist, a longtime ballerina, serves as co-founder, director and teacher at the Classical Ballet Academy in St. Paul, the school connected with the company, Ballet Minnesota. She co-founded the academy with her husband, Andrew Rist, the show’s choreographer.

Cheryl Rist, who also made the Sugar Plum Fairy’s tutu, learned to sew after she became pregnant with the couple’s first child and had to stop dancing.

“I was 28,” she said. “The doctors told me I couldn’t dance when I was pregnant.”

Rist had friends in the costume shop, which was located on another floor at Hennepin Center for the Arts in Minneapolis. “They said, ‘Well, why don’t you just come down here and do extra stuff that we need?’” she said. “While I was there, somebody came in asking for an RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) tutu because in those days, you couldn’t order tutus online. They looked at me and said, ‘Do you want to learn how to make a tutu?’”

Rist became a master at making tutus and other costumes, but she also continued to dance for another three to four years.

“Those were my best years actually,” she said. “When I came back to dancing, I had to redevelop my muscles in the right way.”

Retire the dress?

Rist said she expects Clara’s dress to remain in the rotation for at least the next few years.

“It’s still in good condition. It still looks really good on stage,” she said. “Eventually, it’s going to be replaced, but it’s going to take a while to find one. I’m going to start looking. It takes about two years to find something like that dress — just to find the lace and everything.”

The dress is worn for just four performances and one dress rehearsal a year at The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University, and then cleaned, placed on a hanger and stored, she said.

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Rist replaces one or two of the dresses used in “The Classic Nutcracker” each year. This year, she focused on restoring and repairing the Sugar Plum Fairy’s costume, she said.

“I took it totally apart and took off all the jewels, which is a ton of jewels, so it could be dry cleaned,” she said. “I have to put it back together.”

Clara Jang said she has loved “The Nutcracker” since watching her first production of it when she was in kindergarten.

“We watched some of it in class, and we listened to some of the music, and ever since then I’ve just been in love with the character of Clara,” she said. “It’s been a really special experience getting to be in this role. I feel destined to dance the role of Clara, since we share the name.”

Ballet Minnesota’s ‘Nutcracker’

What: The Classic Nutcracker
Where: The O’Shaughnessy, on the campus of St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul
When: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20; 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21
Tickets: $20-47
Purchase online: oshag.stkate.edu/events/

By LORNE COOK

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are about to attempt something they’ve never tried before. The chances of failure are significant. Their actions this week could set dangerous precedents and a wrong move could undermine trust among the bloc’s 27 member countries for years to come.

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At a summit starting on Thursday, many of the leaders will press for tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets held in Europe to be used to meet Ukraine’s economic and military needs for the next two years.

Ukraine is on the verge of bankruptcy. The International Monetary Fund estimates that it will require a total of 137 billion euros ($160 billion) in 2026 and 2027. It must get the money by spring. The EU has pledged to come up with the funds, one way or another.

“One thing is very, very clear,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers on Wednesday. “We have to take the decision to fund Ukraine for the next two years in this European Council.”

European Council President António Costa, who will chair the summit, has vowed to keep the leaders negotiating until an agreement is reached, even if it takes days.

High-risk loan

The European Commission has proposed that the leaders use some of the frozen assets — totaling 210 billion euros ($246 billion) — to underwrite a 90 billion-euro ($105 billion) “reparations loan” to Ukraine. The U.K., Canada and Norway would fill the gap.

The plan is contentious. The European Commission insists that its reasoning and legal basis are sound. But the European Central Bank has warned that international trust in the euro single currency could be damaged, if the leaders are suspected of seizing the assets.

Most of the frozen assets belong to the Russian Central Bank and are held in the financial clearing house Euroclear, which is based in Brussels. Belgium fears Russian reprisals, through the courts or in other more nefarious ways.

Euroclear fears for its reputation. It believes the commission’s idea is legally shaky and that international investors might look elsewhere, if it transfers the Russian assets to an EU debt instrument, as von der Leyen’s plan demands.

Last week, the Russian Central Bank announced that it’s suing Euroclear in a Moscow court. The chances that the case will succeed appear limited, but the move does increase pressure on all parties before the summit.

Unlikely plan B

The commission, the EU’s powerful executive branch, has proposed a second option. It could try to raise the money on international markets, much in the way it underwrote a major economic recovery fund after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Belgium prefers this option. But plan B would require all 27 leaders to agree for it to work, and Hungary refuses to fund Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sees himself as a peacemaker. He’s also Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe.

In contrast, plan A — the reparations loan — only requires a majority of around two-thirds of member countries to pass. Hungary can’t veto it alone. Slovakia might say no. Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Malta remain to be convinced.

Even if all six countries reject the loan to Ukraine — which would only be refunded if Russia ends its war and pays hundreds of billions of euros in war damages, something many Europeans doubt Putin would do — they still wouldn’t have a blocking minority.

Running a steamroller over Belgium, which has a great stake in the outcome and deep concerns about the loan, could undermine the entire European project, making it infinitely more difficult to find voting majorities on other issues in the future.

But on the eve of the summit, it remained unclear precisely how the plan would work, what kind of guarantees each country would give to reassure Belgium it doesn’t face Russia alone, and even whether the leaders can actually approve it outright this week.

“It’s a really new approach. Everyone has questions,” according to a senior EU diplomat involved in the negotiations, which continued on Wednesday. “You’re talking about mobilizing public finances. Parliaments might need to weigh in. It’s not easy.”

The diplomat was appointed to brief reporters on the latest developments on the condition that he not be named.