“Now this community is gentrified with condominiums that are coming up from all over…We’re the forgotten ones,” said Miguel Acevedo, the tenant association president at NYCHA’s Fulton Houses for the last 14 years. “When I took this role, I wanted to make sure that we’re part of any conversation that happens in Chelsea.”

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The apartment on the first floor of 419 W. 17th St. has the elements of a cozy home. On one wall, awards are on display. On another, a colorful mural of children. Tables are stocked with food and snacks.

This space, however, is not a dwelling but the office where NYCHA Tenant Association President, Miguel Acevedo, spends a lot of his time. 

Everything behind the blue office door is connected to the Fulton Houses: The awards are recognition from events that brought residents and the greater community together, such as their “family days” and National Night Out, which aims to build a relationship with law enforcement. The mural commemorates three youth, the “Fulton Angels,” who lived at Fulton but were unfortunately killed in three separate incidents. And the snacks on the tables are part of a food pantry to make sure that “no one misses a meal in Fulton Houses.”

Acevedo, who has been the TA president for the past 14 years, was recently reelected to continue the post in the community where he was raised (a conversation with Acevedo’s opponent in that election can be found here.) Despite having a full-time position outside of his TA role, Acevedo said he strives to be a consistent and reliable source for his neighbors. His phone rings at all different times of the day.

In the coming months, the Fulton Houses could go through a historic transformation under NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) initiative, which partners with private developers to undertake public housing repairs under the federal government’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. 

In the case of Fulton and the nearby Elliott-Chelsea Houses, officials and the companies Related and Essence Development are vying to knock down its existing buildings and construct brand new towers in their place. The proposal has divided the community, leaving some tenants looking forward to the change and others skeptical of what lies ahead.

Acevedo, who supports the demolish-and-rebuild plan, told City Limits he is concerned about current conditions at the public housing development, including unreliable elevator service and mold. Though he acknowledged the fears that come with such an ambitious plan, he believes a fresh start is what the community needs. 

Throughout Acevedo’s 14-year tenure, he’s embraced the changes in the surrounding Chelsea community, including the opening of a private school called Avenues The World, construction of the High Line and Google setting up shop in the neighborhood.

The TA president said that when he sees redevelopment, whether it’s an apartment building, hotel or a restaurant, his goal is to bring his residents to the conversation. “You have to have that voice and the passion to make it happen and to make sure that these developers don’t forget that we’re here,” said Acevedo.

City Limits sat down with Acevedo for a conversation about his role as TA president and his thoughts about the potential changes the Fulton Houses could see in the coming years.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. 

What was it like growing up in Fulton?

I was born and raised in Fulton Houses. I came back after getting divorced and I raised eight kids of my own here.

Growing up in Fulton, it’s the weirdest thing. Growing up here, everybody left their apartment door open. [Anybody] could walk into someone’s apartment during dinner time and the parents of your friend would tell you to, ‘Sit down, have dinner with us.’ That’s how friendly everybody was. No one cared about anybody doing any negative things. Everything was just so positive. It wasn’t that we were neighbors, no. We were family altogether.

Are there any events that the community still celebrates together?

When I took over as Fulton TA president, first thing was Christmas. It’s such a festive day where people are not only giving and receiving but it was about giving back to my community. First thing I did was a tree lighting event and almost everybody comes out and we do the tree lighting right in front of this office. We wait until 6 o’clock. All the politicians come, the police department comes. Then we wait until 6:15, we sing Christmas carols and then we turn the lights on and then we give out hot dogs, churros, hot chocolate. We give gifts to the kids. It’s to show the kids especially that everybody cares about them. We’re all there for them.

We do ‘family day’ two times a year for the residents of Fulton Houses. We have inflatables,we have rides, we have the NYPD who barbecue at the event. What I do with that is create a relationship with the NYPD, and especially the kids from this development, so they know them. And God forbid, [if] they go in the wrong direction and the same police officer who flipped that hamburger for them is the same one that they can catch before we lose them. That’s why I make sure the NYPD is the one on the grill.

What we did which was not done in many places was National Night Out, which is similar to family day but it’s a police event where the police come together with the community, so this is where the NYPD gets to meet them individually. It’s another big event here. We literally close off the street. So it’s a street block party. Even tourists come here to celebrate and have a hamburger with us. We say, ‘everything for everybody.’ It’s a way to bring the community together. 

How long have you been TA president?

I’ve been TA president like I always tell everybody, too long. I’ve been doing this for 14 years.

Before I became TA president, I took custody of my son and daughter and I moved back in with my mom. I moved back in with her and I saw that the community wasn’t the community like in the beginning of this conversation. Things were missing. We were here and it was just a public housing development, especially with the gentrification of the community where all these condominiums started coming up and all you see [is] people walk by but they don’t recognize the development.

Most people who didn’t grow up here were afraid to walk by because they hear all this negative stuff about the projects. I don’t even call it projects, I call it development. A project is something that’s being built, we’ve been here for 60 plus years. We’re not a project. We’re here. We have people who are here who may not be as rich as the other people, but we’re rich in love and that’s what we do. We care about being people and enjoying our lives with whatever we have.

What are the pride points of being TA president?

When I see my senior citizens, they recognize me. They say, ‘Miguel, how’s everything?’ ‘Miguel, times are hard, when are you doing your next pantry?’

What we do here is we have a pantry. As you can see to the left of me is food. Three days a week, I go to Hunts Point, Chick-fil-A, Whole Foods and I make sure nobody misses a meal in Fulton Houses. That’s what inspires me the most. They trust me and they have the confidence to tell me their financial needs are bad and if they can find a meal [for them].

You recently got reelected to TA president, what motivates you to continue holding this position?

It was worth getting reelected because I don’t want to give up on my residents yet. I have a really strong board that’s involved, but I want to make sure that we do everything together. One of the things is that we are now converted over to RAD-PACT with a [private] developer. I want to make sure that the developer commits to [its] commitment to make sure that not one resident is displaced, that not one resident is left behind, that all residents are going to be treated the same.

The thing is, there are people who oppose that transition to RAD-PACT because they want to stay in the Section 9 program. The problem with that, Congress doesn’t find funding for Section 9 anymore. When they propose a private developer to come in and redevelop this place I said it’s a great idea because there’s no money. Without money, you can’t do anything. But people who oppose the plan put fear into residents, especially senior citizens, telling them that they are going to be kicked out of public housing, moved to the South Bronx, moved to Brooklyn, which none of it is true. 

Has the conversion process been challenging?

I’ve known people for 60-plus years here and there’s times when they’re afraid because they lose trust because other people are brainwashing them and telling them what’s not true. Negativity sells easier than something positive. I understand why they’re afraid but I try to convince them that nothing is going to happen to you. You’re here til the end. The sad part is that the project is being prolonged and I want my senior citizens to be able to see the progress of what’s going to happen in the future, especially for the next generation.

When you hear RAD-PACT it puts fear in everybody because it’s change and nobody wants change, especially if you’re comfortable where you are. But with the necessary needs at Fulton Houses, you need the change. The last thing I want to see is these buildings getting condemned because of fear of change.

What do you hope the next chapter will look like for Fulton?

To be a part of the gentrification where we have decent housing. [Where] we have livable housing because that’s what we don’t have. I literally get phone calls almost every day that a person doesn’t have heat or that the elevator is broken or they’re missing this and missing that. 

Now this community is gentrified with condominiums that are coming up from all over—from Hudson Yards, here in Chelsea, Greenwich Village. We’re the forgotten ones. We’re second class citizens and that’s why when I took this role, I wanted to make sure that we’re part of any conversation that happens in Chelsea. You’re not going to put a condominium next to me and at the same time we’re not part of the conversation before that building goes up. We’re part of every single conversation.

In the beginning we weren’t part of that conversation. I was on the community board at the time, and I said it’s good to have this school for the rich kids, but you need to make sure there’s seats for the kids at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea. What I want from you guys is 100 percent scholarships. That was created. That’s how you become part of the community.

Are there any factors about being a TA president you believe are misunderstood?

People think we get paid all this money. We do this voluntarily. I do this because I want to give back because public housing was given to me when my dad passed away at 43 and left my mom with 11 kids. If it wasn’t for public housing, we may have been separated. That’s why I do this.

You take this role and you have to be committed. I can get a phone call from elected officials, ‘Miguel, we’re having conversations about the RAD-PACT, can you come to my office today at 1 o’clock?’ I have to literally get up and tell my boss I’m taking an extended lunch break and I have to make sure that what’s being done in conversations with NYCHA and elected officials is done correctly in Fulton Houses. I work. I have a 16-hour shift with this role.

When you put your heart into something, you don’t think about the hours it consumes. You do it because you want to make sure you’re getting what’s beneficial to your residents. I take every phone call because I’m committed to my residents at Fulton Houses.

What is your message to tenants, particularly those who are not feeling comfortable with the a proposal on the table?

The proposal that’s happening with Essence and Related and NYCHA is unheard of. What they want to do here is make sure we’re a real community and that we’re part of the community. They may be taking buildings down, but taking those buildings down and building brand new buildings that are going to match the community, with the condominiums that are around us—instead of the mindset when you see these red brick buildings that it’s a project and a public housing development, people get disgusted by that. Now we have the opportunity to have what our neighbors have. We can show that we can live as one community, not as a divided community because it’s a public housing development.

The conditions of these buildings are disgusting. I walk the basements, I walk where the system is to provide the heat and the hot water—it’s deteriorating day by day. We have mold, we have asbestos, we have everything here. If they facelift this and just fix the outside, it’s not going to succeed in 10 years. If you get a brand new building, you have the opportunity for it to be here for 60-plus years just like these buildings. They look good on the outside, don’t get me wrong, but when you see the inside you say, ‘You know what, something needs to be done before it’s too late.”

I would love for the residents of Fulton and Elliott Chelsea to remove the fear that they have that they’re going to be removed and displaced. My mom is going to turn 95 years old in two weeks and she has confidence in me. My grandson who’s 10 years old who lives with me has confidence in me. The same that I’ll do for my family is what I’ll do for everybody at Fulton Houses to assure them that nothing is going to harm them in any way. I won’t let it happen over my dead body.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Tatyana@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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