NYCHA development
overhaul across the five
boroughs
BY BILL PARRY
The city has reached an agreement with
the federal government that provides a
new roadmap forward for NYCHA and
the 400,000 residents who live in its 334
development across the five boroughs.
In a joint appearance by Mayor Bill de Blasio
and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Sec-retary
Ben Carson on Jan.30, they announced a
federal monitor would be selected by HUD and
the Southern District of New York with input from
City Hall to address the longstanding issues at
the housing authority’s properties.
“The families who have endured unimaginably
poor housing conditions deserve better from their
housing authority,” Carson said. “Today we are
presenting NYCHA residents with bold new solu-tions
for decades-old problems.”
The search for the federal monitor will begin
immediately, according to Mayor de Blasio. The city
will pay for the cost of the monitor who will provide
quarterly reports to all the agencies involved.
“What we have done here today creates a strong
patch forward, a tangible path forward,” de Blasio
said. “It will change and improve the lives of public
housing residents. We wanted to make sure there
would be results.”
The agreement, made under HUD’s authority
and not subject to court approval, establishes
specific requirements and milestones to address
the serious health and safety hazards at NYCHA
complexes, including lead-based paint, mold, heat,
vermin, among others. It also requires the existence
of a substantial default by NYCHA but does not
impose a receiver.
The Mayor said that means NYCHA remains
“under local control.” As part of the agreement, the
city is committing at least $2.2 billion in funding
over the next 10 years to address the issues while
HUD continues to provide funding to NYCHA,
which is estimated to be around $1.5 billion a year.
“This is a very positive outcome, one that I
believe can bring meaningful change to living
conditions of the many thousands of families who
depend on NYCHA for their housing,” Carson said.
“But there is still a lot of work to be carried out.
We look forward to continuing what has been a
productive working relationship with the Mayor
and his team. HUD will continue to advocate for
the hundreds of thousands of children, women
and men in New York City whose lives and liveli-hoods
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depend on having safe, fair and affordable
housing. They deserve nothing else.”
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney said more
needed to be done at the state and federal level
to end the third world conditions that exist at
NYCHA developments.
The state and Federal governments must do
their part to help the residents of NYCHA by sig-nificantly
increasing the amount of money invested
in public housing,” Maloney said. “As a member of
the Housing, Community Development, and Insur-ance
Subcommittee, I will be closely monitoring the
implementation of this agreement and will work
with my colleagues in the New York delegation to
make sure that the voices on NYCHA’s residents
are heard loud and clear in the halls of Congress.”
Comptroller Scott Stringer was incredulous over
the agreement, especially that a federal monitor
was central to the plan.
“Now they want a monitor? NYCHA already
has monitors — its residents who have suffered
from decades of disinvestment,” Stringer said.
“They’re the parents who sought help when their
children had lead poisoning. The grandmother
who has to huddle near a stove when it’s colder
inside her apartment than outside. And the family
dealing with health issues because of rampant
mold in their home. The time for talk and political
stunts is over. Cut the long overdue check from
the federal government to fully fund the needed
repairs, listen to the real NYCHA monitors, put a
plan in place, and get to work.”
Real Estate
Photo via Twitter/@NYCMayor
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