Failed reports of lead poisoning and over 3,500 instances in which residents went without heat during the blistering cold months of 2018- 2019; the NYCHA system continues to stem further and further away from its early plans of a new and better quality of living for low income residents. And with plans of demolishing homes and gentrifying neighborhoods, residents have decided enough was enough and have started to fight back.

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Over the course of 8 months, tenants, supporters and organizers gathered to speak on their perspective about the faulty system that is NYCHA. For some residents, their concerns lay within their living conditions and the likelihood of gentrification within their neighborhoods. For others, it’s a matter of making their voices heard no matter the circumstances. “Kids are coming up to me and asking me if they are gonna have a home tomorrow. I mean it just breaks your heart. It shouldn’t be happening,” says Fulton House resident, Linda Ocasio. Ocasio, like many NYCHA residents, is concerned with Mayor De Blasio’s 2.0 program. Although there is promise of proper maintenance and revitalization, privatizing NYCHA could lead down a slippery slope of exaggerated rent increases and gentrification.