Residents at Eastchester Gardens aren’t just watching their public housing development undergo a more than $391 million transformation. Some are being paid to help inspect the work themselves.
The Bronx development is undergoing extensive repairs and upgrades through the New York City Housing Authority’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together, or PACT, program.
Eastchester Gardens is home to more than 1,850 residents, converted to the Project-Based Section 8 program in March 2025. NYCHA continues to own the land and buildings, determine residents’ rent and oversee the performance of its PACT partners.
The renovations include upgrades to apartments and common areas, with new flooring, windows, appliances, heating and air-conditioning systems and other improvements.
Residents have also had a hand in shaping the renovations, including selecting some finishes inside the apartments.
For longtime resident Ms. Brown, who has lived at Eastchester Gardens since she was 11 years old, the changes have been decades in the making.
“I’ve been here since I’m 11 and I’m 67 now, so it’s been a lot of years,” Brown said. “You walk the grounds … where they’ve already been reconstructed, the grass is beautiful.”
A key part of the project is the Resident Inspector Program, a paid opportunity that allows Eastchester Gardens residents to monitor conditions and construction progress throughout their own development.
Resident inspectors walk through buildings and common areas, checking staircases, elevators, doors, roofs and grounds for potential issues. They document their findings, take photographs and report concerns to management and the construction team.
“We’ve been told that plenty of times. But we believe as we’re seeing it,” one resident inspector said about the improvements.
The resident oversight is also supported by the Little Lamb Agreement, named in honor of public housing advocate Dr. Samuel Little and resident leader Gerri Lamb.
NYCHA says the first-of-its-kind agreement at a PACT development gives the tenant association a formal mechanism to hold the private PACT partners accountable for the quality and timeliness of their work.
The renovations are expected to continue through the end of 2028.
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