Dozens of New York City Housing Authority tenants and advocates held a rally Tuesday protesting the demolition of two public housing complexes in Manhattan. Tensions reached a boiling point when residents clashed with members of the Fulton Houses Tenant Association.

"I know that they're building new things around. Nothing wrong with that. Everybody need a change. But just don't throw us out," said Andrea Paden, a resident of the Chelsea-Elliott Houses in Chelsea.

What You Need To Know

  • The city is moving forward with a controversial $1.5 billion plan to tear down the Fulton and Chelsea-Elliott Houses and replace them with new high-rise apartments for current tenants

  • More than 1,000 tenants voted in favor of tearing down the eight buildings that make up the two complexes, but some 4,500 people live in those two complexes

  • The plan calls for roughly 3,500 new mixed-income apartments, including 875 new affordable apartments

  • Construction is expected to be completed in about six years

The city is moving forward with a controversial $1.5 billion plan to tear down the Fulton and Chelsea-Elliott Houses and replace them with new high-rise apartments for current tenants. NYCHA says this plan is more efficient and cost-effective than repairing the apartments.

"The cost to renovations was $367 million. After a survey was done checking all the buildings in both developments, it came up to $1.5 billion, so it wouldn't make sense to try to renovate something that's gonna break," said Miguel Acevedo, the president of the Fulton Houses Tenant Association.

The decision comes after 57% of around 1,000 tenants voted in favor of tearing down the eight buildings that make up the two complexes. Residents above the age of 18 were surveyed. But some 4,500 people live in those two complexes and some say their voices have not been heard.

"It's definitely not a representation. If we want to be democratic, we have to make sure the majority, because this will impact every single resident. We can't afford to fail," said Marquis Jenkins, a community organizer with the Residents to Preserve Public Housing. "What they do in this development will set the roadmap for developments all across the city."

Private developers say they plan to prioritize construction of the new buildings first so that the majority of residents could move into them before the buildings they’re currently living in are torn down. But tenants fear they will never return home and ultimately be displaced.

"Just come in and make the apartments a little better. Make the elevator a little better," Paden said. "Make it better for us to live but don't just kick us out."

The plan calls for roughly 3,500 new mixed-income apartments, including 875 new affordable apartments. Construction is expected to be completed in about six years.