Big changes are underway at the Manhattanville Houses public housing complex—and Goddard Riverside’s Resource Center is there to make sure residents’ needs are being met.
Manhattanville entered the RAD/PACT program, a sweeping refinancing and restructuring of New York City’s public housing, in late 2024. That provided money for much-needed renovations. It also funded a social services office. Tenant Association Vice President Kathy Canto said residents needed support getting the benefits they qualify for.
“We all decided that this is something that was needed, especially for seniors and people that are not computer savvy,” she said. “They can’t fend for themselves. They come here and they can get help.”
Just like it does at its main office in West Harlem, the Resource Center’s Manhattanville branch supports residents to get whatever social services they need. It can help them apply for things like SNAP benefits, cash assistance, rent arrears, NYCHA Section 8 recertifications, Medicaid, and transportation benefits among many programs. It can connect them to a lawyer or financial counselor. It has a notary available free of charge. It helps residents with job searches and refers aspiring students to our Isaacs vocational programs and Options Center for support getting into and completing college.
“We feel that, if in fact there’s something that a resident of Manhattanville needs and it falls in the social service realm, our obligation is to go out and find that benefit for that person,” said Resource Center Director Wayne Tyre. “And that’s what we do.”
Canto moved into Manhattanville as a child, when the buildings were brand new. Over the years, in a pattern that’s all too familiar to public housing residents, the development’s six 20-story buildings went into decline. Underfunding and poor oversight meant repairs went undone and problems piled up.
Now all the apartments are being overhauled by the new management. Canto still has questions about how RAD/PACT will change public housing, but there is hope that a rebirth is possible as management addresses long-standing building issues, social service providers support residents’ day-to-day needs, and the community continues to work toward shared goals.
“I would love for this development to be back the way it used to be many years ago. It was a beautiful development and it was one of the best developments; it was very well known,” she said. “We’re trying to pick that up again and take it back to the way it was.”