Excellence Award Spotlight: NYCHA's Williamsburg Houses and Exodus & Dance
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has received a 2025 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award from the Preservation League of NYS in recognition of their rehabilitation of the Williamsburg Houses and restoration of public artwork Exodus & Dance, both located in Brooklyn. Since 1984, the League's annual Excellence Awards program has shined a light on the people who make positive change through preservation — including exemplary restoration projects, indispensable publications, individual action, and organizational distinction.
The rehabilitation of the Williamsburg Houses and the restoration of James Richmond Barthé’s Exodus & Dance are testaments to the New York City Housing Authority’s commitment to demonstrating pride of place at NYCHA properties. These two projects sit at opposites ends of the spectrum in terms of scale – one a multi-building, 1,600+ unit residence, the other a Works Progress Administration-era public art installation – but in both cases, the attention to detail and care taken to include the community show the importance of centering people in the process of managing these important public places.
"We are incredibly proud to accept this statewide Excellence in Historic Preservation award," said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. "The comprehensive rehabilitation of Williamsburg Houses is a prime example of the PACT program's success, leveraging partnerships and resident engagement to both preserve historic architecture and improve the quality of life for over 3,000 residents. Paired with the meticulous restoration of Barthé's Exodus & Dance and revitalization of the adjacent public space at Kingsborough Houses, we are reaffirming our commitment to preservation and renovation for NYCHA residents. We are grateful to all of our partners for their tremendous support on these projects."
"NYCHA's PACT program and the rehabilitation of Williamsburg Houses is a great example of how our partnerships are preserving historic developments and investing in our NYCHA communities," said NYCHA Chief Real Estate Officer Jonathan Gouveia. "We are very proud to receive this alongside our PACT partners and the Williamsburg community."
"It's an honor to receive this award for the restoration of Barthé's Exodus & Dance," said NYCHA Chief Asset and Capital Management Officer Shaan Mavani. "This project is a powerful testament to the importance of preserving African American artistic heritage for future generations, and the adjoining revitalized open space serves as a beacon for the Kingsborough Houses community. We extend a huge thank you to our partners who provided additional funding and support."
“Restoration of the Exodus and Dance frieze is breathing new life into Kingsborough Houses while celebrating the rich history and artistic legacy of its residents,” said Alex Zablocki, Executive Director of the Public Housing Community Fund. “The project is a powerful example of how placemaking and public art in open spaces can foster community connection and deepen residents’ engagement with their surroundings. The documentation and historical preservation aspect will serve as a blueprint for future projects that seek to empower communities and honor the legacy of NYCHA. We’re grateful to all our partners, especially the residents whose contributions made this restoration possible.”
Architect Ronnette Riley said, “This is a wonderful example of our firm, Ronnette Riley Architect, working with NYCHA’s engineers and landscape architects in rescuing Exodus & Dance from decay and giving new life to this significant piece of public art.”
About Williamsburg Houses
Completed in 1938, Williamsburg Houses was one of the first NYCHA properties built in NYC. Spanning four blocks in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, the property includes 1,621 units across 20 four-story walk-up buildings. The development is home to more than 3,000 residents, and includes shared public spaces, a community center, two childcare facilities, and 19 commercial storefronts. The renovation of Williamsburg Houses will remain a model for how NYC and others nationwide can leverage public-private partnerships to rehabilitate and preserve public housing effectively, while simultaneously protecting the permanent affordability of homes for future generations. Williamsburg Houses was comprehensively rehabilitated by RDC under NYCHA's Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT), the City's implementation of HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program.
Over the past two decades, the Williamsburg neighborhood has undergone significant gentrification, contributing to rising housing costs and greater concerns about displacement. Furthermore, following years of deferred maintenance and neglect to the property's capital needs and disinvestment in Williamsburg Houses, resident quality of life deteriorated.
Understanding these concerns, NYCHA in partnership with the development team, RDC Development (RDC) — a joint venture between MDG Design & Construction and Wavecrest Management — prioritized consistent and collaborative communication with residents during the planning period. They worked with community leaders to organize regular community meetings, where they addressed concerns directly, clarified redevelopment plans, and allayed fears of displacement. RDC worked closely with the Williamsburg Houses Resident Association and then-President Lavonne McLamb to record the needs and desires of residents and ensure that their interests were represented. This ensured that the work completed would substantially improve the health and wellbeing of residents.
Through the PACT program, the public-private partnership has delivered comprehensive home renovations; complete Lead-Based Paint abatement in all units and common areas to HPD's Lead-Free Standard, one of NYC's first public housing developments to achieve this; campus-wide capital repairs; exterior façade and roof repairs; window replacements; new security infrastructure and extensive camera systems; free Wi-Fi access; community center improvements; new playgrounds; bike racks; basketball court repairs; new water features; refreshed community garden; enhanced lighting and walkways; low-flow fixtures and high-efficiency kitchen and bathroom appliances; complete plumbing replacement; flooring, wall improvements, and doors; hydronic heating systems; and mechanical and electrical upgrades.
RDC pledged $11.7M in social service support over 30 years to uphold the primary goal of improving resident wellbeing. Residents will have access to robust social services and programming provided by two local nonprofits — St. Nicks Alliance and Grand Street Settlement. St. Nicks oversees an on-site resident services team that provides direct counseling for a range of issues, including financial education and mental health; and organizes resource delivery days for residents. Grand Street operates the on-site community center, providing structured recreational activities with academic support focused on youths and teens, and is expanding services to reach a broader range of age groups. RDC also created the Inspired Path Forward Scholarship, exclusive to Williamsburg Houses residents, offering $5,000 to 15 recipients annually in educational-related compensation for tuition, books, room and board, school supplies, and more. RDC hopes that these services and resources will offer residents more equitable access to higher education and vocational training.
This PACT partnership relied on a range of public and private stakeholders to be successful, with critical investments and resources from all government levels and partners including NYCHA, HDC, HPD, JP Morgan Chase, St. Nicks, and Grand Street Settlement. The team utilized innovative financing, including state and federal historic tax credits, not only to make necessary renovations but also to restore the development's historic architectural and design features that earned Williamsburg Houses its historic landmark status in the first place. Williamsburg Houses marks RDC’s third RAD project under PACT, totaling 4,098 units, including Betances Houses in the Bronx and Ocean Bay Bayside Apartments in Queens.
The $490 million preservation and historic rehabilitation of Williamsburg Houses utilized $142 million in state and federal historic tax credits, one of the nation's most successful and cost-effective community revitalization tools. This PACT renovation will remain a model for how New York City and others around the country can leverage public-private partnerships to rehabilitate and preserve their public housing stock effectively, while simultaneously protecting the permanent affordability of every home for generations to come.
Williamsburg Houses was jointly developed by MDG Design & Construction (i.e., Developer & General Contractor) and Wavecrest Management (i.e., Developer & Managing Agent) under the NYCHA PACT and HUD RAD programs. The leasehold project owner is Williamsburg PACT LLC, and its ownership is comprised of affiliates of the Developer, NYCHA, and a Historic Tax Credit Investor (i.e., Chase Community Equity, LLC). The public partners involved in this redevelopment effort included NYCHA and the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC). Newman Design was the architectural firm hired for this project, and St. Nicks Alliance and Grand Street Settlement are the nonprofit partners brought on as the on-site social service providers. JP Morgan Chase was the bank that served as the provider for the direct loan, as well as the tax credit syndicator.
About Exodus & Dance
Exodus & Dance is an 8-foot by 80-foot historic relief sculpture created in 1939 by James Richmond Barthé (1901–1989), an African American sculptor closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Barthé was celebrated for his nuanced depictions of Black subjects and dedicated his career to expressing the diversity and spirituality of the human form. As he once reflected: "All my life I have been interested in trying to capture the spiritual quality I see and feel in people, and I feel that the human figure as God made it is the best means of expressing this spirit in man."
In the 1930s, during the Works Progress Administration (WPA) era, Barthé was commissioned to create public art as part of the Federal Art Project. Architect John Louis Wilson Jr. — the first African American registered architect in New York State and designer of Harlem's Harlem River Houses — selected Barthé to design a site-specific frieze for an amphitheater intended for musical, theatrical, and dance performances. Titled Exodus and Dance, the relief depicts themes central to Barthé's practice: Biblical narratives and African cultural expression. The left side draws inspiration from Marc Connelly's Pulitzer Prize–winning play The Green Pastures (1930), which reinterprets Old Testament stories through the lens of African American spirituality. The right side, rendered in full Art Deco style, brings to life African dancers inspired by David Wendell Guion's 1929 ballet Shingandi.
Despite Barthé's vision, changes to the Harlem River Houses site eliminated the amphitheater, and in 1941, the sculpture was installed without his knowledge at NYCHA's Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn, where it remains today. As a federal employee, Barthé had no say in the relocation. He later expressed disappointment that his work had been placed in a development where Black Americans were not the majority of residents, fearing that its intended cultural resonance would be diminished.
Exodus & Dance remains Barthé's largest work and his first in relief. In recent years, a partnership between NYCHA, the Public Housing Community Fund (PHCF), and the Mellon Foundation led to the sculpture's long-overdue restoration. Over 18 months, conservators carefully removed, cleaned, and repaired the frieze, reinstalled it on a newly constructed support wall, and upgraded the surrounding plaza with new pavement and lighting.
Today, the restored Exodus & Dance anchors a revitalized public space at Kingsborough Houses, now a vibrant site for community events and cultural programming. The project stands as a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and the critical importance of preserving African American artistic heritage for future generations.
The Exodus & Dance project team included: Owner: New York City Housing Authority; Architect: Ronnette Riley Architect; Conservationist: Jablonski Building Conservation; General Contractor: JEMCO Electrical Contractors, Inc.; Restoration Specialist: Evergreene Architectural Arts; Masonry Subcontractor: Nicholson & Galloway; Sponsor: Mellon Foundation; Sponsor: Public Housing Community Fund.
Funding for Exodus & Dance: City Council funds (Former Speaker Corey Johnson and former CM Samuels) allocated to NYCHA $1,800,000; Federal Funds allocated to NYCHA $665,000; Private grant funding by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation fundraised by PHCF and transferred to NYCHA Capital, $830,000