From the Herald News:
Alexander Hamilton homes marked for demolition
The Alexander Hamilton Housing Development, the city’s largest remaining high-rise public housing complex, has been approved for demolition.
In its place, the Paterson Housing Authority will build 201 townhouses, including 32 homeownership opportunities, as part of a nationwide push to scrap high-rise complexes in favor of low-density housing developments.
“It’s about time, let’s get going,” said Paterson Housing Authority Director Irma Gorham Monday in a telephone interview.
Gorham said the authority will apply for federal rental assistance vouchers under HUD’s Section 8 program that will subsidize rents for the 314 families currently at AHP, who will have to find housing in Paterson’s tight housing market during the demolition and redevelopment. Those new vouchers would be designated solely for those Alexander Hamilton residents and not the 150 families already on the Section 8 waiting list, according to Gorham.
Though government officials heralded the news Monday, others cautioned that the housing authority still needs to provide plans on how it will transfer Alexander Hamilton residents, pay for the new project and establish a policy of which residents gets priority for the new, smaller development — a process that could take years to complete.