Leon Levy Foundation Grants $493K to Digitize and Expand NYCHA Archives in Partnership with LaGuardia Community College
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (June 4, 2025) — The Public Housing Community Fund (PHCF) recently announced a $493,000 grant made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation to support the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).
In revitalizing and expanding NYCHA’s archival collection in partnership with LaGuardia Community College and the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. The effort is a component of Revitalizing NYCHA’s Archives: Honoring our Legacy, Building our Future, which will be funded by the grant and is expected to take place over three years. PHCF and NYCHA’s shared vision for the project is to ensure that critical chapters of New York City’s history are accessible for perpetuity to a broader audience while also helping NYCHA communities to further understand and appreciate their shared histories.
“In order to honor NYCHA’s history, we are preserving and enriching the archives to ensure that NYCHA residents and New Yorkers can foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of public housing in the city for the years to come,” said Alex Zablocki, Executive Director of Public Housing Community Fund. “As the largest public housing organization in the country that is currently home to over half a million residents, there’s no question about the importance and magnitude of NYCHA’s archival collection, and we are grateful for the Leon Levy Foundation’s ongoing commitment to historic preservation.”
“A primary focus of the Foundation over 21 years has been to help New York’s most prominent civic and cultural institutions organize, catalogue and archive their historical material. We are pleased to support the Public Housing Community Fund in helping preserve, share, and sustain NYCHA’s important records,” said Shelby White, founding trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation.
“For nearly a century, NYCHA has been home to generations of New Yorkers, whose stories have been deeply woven into the fabric of New York City,” said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “Through this generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, we will be able to preserve and honor the distinguished legacy and cultural impacts of the nation’s largest public housing authority and its residents. We send our sincere appreciation to the Leon Levy Foundation, as well as our partners at the Public Housing Community Fund, LaGuardia Community College, and LaGuardia Wagner Archives, for recognizing the importance of this project and for their collaboration in celebrating the impactful history of NYCHA communities across the five boroughs.”
“Preserving NYCHA’s history — both of the Authority and the residents we serve — is a critical component of our work,” said NYCHA Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Barbara Brancaccio. “This generous grant allows us to revitalize and expand upon NYCHA’s robust archives, digitizing and preserving them in perpetuity for residents, New Yorkers, and the general public to enjoy and interact with — and encourages us to celebrate the rich and storied legacy of generations of public housing residents across New York City.”
LaGuardia Community College and the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives are proud to be the repository for the New York City Housing Authority’s Archive,” said Jennifer Jensen, Director of the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. “Scholars, researchers, and New York City residents benefit from a hundred years of documentation on NYCHA’s 335 housing complexes and the storied history of its residents. The collection uncovers the stories of people who have built and lived in the city and point at the future of urban housing. The archive is also a tremendous educational opportunity for our students, offering them the unique distinction of studying from original documentation—an experience that expands their understanding of New York, and how it relates to their lives —showing them that their stories are a part of our city’s history.”
Revitalizing NYCHA’s Archive will help capture the full breadth, depth, and culture of the nation’s largest public housing organization with a three-pronged approach. The largest emphasis will be on the expansion and digitization of NYCHA’s existing archives in conjunction with LaGuardia Community College and the LaGuardia Wagner Archives. As part of the undertaking, a project processing archivist who is trained and well-versed in New York City history will ensure that these invaluable historical assets being added to the existing collection, are meticulously organized, preserved, and made available to the broader public on the archive’s website.
By not only expanding the archives, but also digitizing selected series of the collection, Revitalizing NYCHA’s Archives ensures that the rich history and contributions of NYCHA and its residents are celebrated and remembered for generations to come. NYCHA’s extensive collection of photographs, documents, and artifacts will be transferred to the LaGuardia and Wagner Archive at LaGuardia Community College, where they will be properly scanned, catalogued and made accessible online.
The oral history component of Revitalizing NYCHA’s Archives will capture the personal stories and experiences of current NYCHA residents to further enrich the archives and preserve community narratives. PHCF’s Oral Historian at Kingsborough Houses will expand their role by scaling the production and recording of oral histories across more NYCHA communities.
The project culminates in a comprehensive “StoryMap,” an interactive web-based platform that will showcase content featuring maps, videos, historic documents, oral histories, and photographs. The StoryMap component will feature NYCHA collection materials currently not on display to the public and make the collection even more accessible. It will represent a comprehensive timeline of NYCHA’s history across all five boroughs with a particular focus on art and culture.
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LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), a Hispanic-Serving Institution, located in Long Island City, Queens offers more than 50 associate degrees and academic certificates, and more than 65 continuing education programs to prepare New Yorkers for transfer to senior colleges and rewarding jobs and careers. An institution of the City University of New York (CUNY), the College reflects the legacy of our namesake, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the former NYC mayor beloved for his advocacy of the underserved. Since 1971, LaGuardia’s academic programs and support services have advanced the socioeconomic mobility of students from Queens, NYC and beyond.
About the Public Housing Community Fund (PHCF): The Fund for Public Housing, Inc., D/B/A Public Housing Community Fund, is a public-private partnership founded as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 2016 to support the New York City Housing Authority and its residents. In September 2021, the PHCF’s Board of Directors approved a new Strategic Framework, which will drive its Strategic Plan from 2021-2025. In 2023, the Fund launched its new brand and name, Public Housing Community Fund, reaffirming our mission to support more than half-million New Yorkers living in public housing communities.
About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA): The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the largest public housing authority in North America, was created in 1934 to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. NYCHA is home to 1 in 17 New Yorkers, providing affordable housing to 520,808 authorized residents through public housing and Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) programs as well as Section 8 housing. NYCHA has 177,569 apartments in 2,411 buildings across 335 conventional public housing and PACT developments. In addition, NYCHA connects residents to critical programs and services from external and internal partners, with a focus on economic opportunity, youth, seniors, and social services. With a housing stock that spans all five boroughs, NYCHA is a city within a city.
About the Leon Levy Foundation: The Leon Levy Foundation, founded in 2004, is a private, not-for-profit foundation created from the estate of Leon Levy by his wife and Founding Trustee, Shelby White. The Foundation continues Leon Levy’s philanthropic legacy and builds on his vision, supporting the preservation, appreciation and expansion of knowledge in the ancient world, Arts and Humanities, Nature and Gardens, Neuroscience, Human Rights, and Jewish Culture. To learn more, visit: www.leonlevyfoundation.org
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