NYCHA Boston Secor (Pact 11)

Sherwood is collaborating with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to design and implement resilience strategies for the City’s public housing developments. Key goals of the expansive city-wide project include improving quality of life for residents through resilient infrastructure, sustainable design, and better integration of green spaces within the community. 

Boston Secor, in the Bronx, is one of eleven NYCHA sites where Sherwood is currently working throughout New York City. Built in 1969 and poorly maintained for decades, Boston Secor consists of four residential towers with 538 apartments serving over 1,100 residents. Through NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program in September 2024, Boston Secor was converted to the Project-Based Section 8 program, which unlocks funding to complete crucial comprehensive renovations, repairs and upgrades to the buildings and site. Through PACT, Bon Secor’s land and buildings are leased to private and non-profit development partners, who conduct the repairs and serve as on-site property managers.

Sherwood is providing civil engineering services including stormwater infrastructure; hydrologic planning and modeling; watershed planning and implementation; and community engagement to ensure the project aligns with residents’ desire for safe and sustainable living and gathering spaces. Given the poor current conditions of these communities, this work appropriately considers extreme storms and flooding as issues of health, access and equity that threaten the security and safety of residents, and prioritizes the social and environmental resilience of all NYCHA campuses.

Located at a critical point along the area’s stormwater flow and compromised by poor soil conditions, Boston Secor often experienced flooding that overwhelmed sewer systems and infiltrated the buildings. Using historic maps and digital 3D modeling, Sherwood’s team studied natural flow and drainage patterns to understand the site’s pre-development conditions as well as its context across the regional watershed. This investigation clarified that decades of urban interventions, including filling in and paving over a wetland lake to create a parking lot, were contributing to the site’s frequent flooding.

The solution is a layered approach to stormwater management that ensures spaces can remain functional across a range of conditions, from light rainfall to extreme storm events. As a foundation, green infrastructure such as increased vegetation and infiltration gardens at the surface level absorbs stormwater, reduces runoff, and maximizes retention capacity of the site, slowing and reducing the flow of water reaching the storm drain network. When this surface storage is fully saturated, other landscaped areas are allocated for strategic ponding that detains water within floodable open spaces. In extreme events, a conveyance path ensures the stormwater runoff moves safely through the site, mimicking the historic flows and providing a relieving bypass rather than creating pockets of fast-moving flooding across the site.

These site improvements will ensure the landscape supports recreational activity, community health, and climate resilience. New seating areas and play equipment, refurbished basketball courts, and enhancements to mitigate the heat island effect and stormwater runoff will create safe, accessible, attractive spaces to encourage outdoor activity across age groups. 

With its project partners, NYCHA is tackling the dual challenge of addressing critical infrastructure needs while delivering tangible social benefits to its residents. The agency’s PACT program underscores how strategic open space design within public housing not only improves daily living for residents but also serves as a critical tool for cities to address climate resilience and green infrastructure needs. By leveraging public housing land assets, cities can create multifaceted solutions to mitigate environmental challenges while fostering vibrant, sustainable communities.