Earlier today the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an agreement between the City of New York and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).
The agreement, made under the authority of Secretary Carson and not subject to court approval, establishes specific requirements and milestones to address the serious health and safety hazards at NYCHA properties, including lead-based paint, mold, heat, vermin, among others. It also recognizes the existence of a substantial default by NYCHA but does not impose a receiver.
The pact also establishes a federal monitor selected by HUD and the Southern District of New York (SDNY) with input from the City. The monitor will submit quarterly reports to HUD and SDNY, which will be made publicly available. The City will pay the cost of the monitor in addition to its other financial commitments. The parties expect to announce the monitor in the near future.
“The families who have endured unimaginably poor housing conditions deserve better from their housing authority,” said Secretary Carson. “Today we are presenting NYCHA residents with bold new solutions for decades-old problems,” said Carson.
The agreement sets out to provide a new roadmap forward for the embattled housing authority that in the last year has had to tackle multiple controversies including falsifying of lead paint inspections and failing to provide proper heat last winter to some 320,000 public housing residents.
“Secretary Carson and I inherited a situation that was many decades in the making, and I wish we didn’t. I wish that over those decades there had been consistent focus and support for public housing at all levels of government, but there was not. We inherited a very troubled situation. But we resolved from the beginning to do something different and to find a way to cooperate in the interest of the people. What we have done here today I think creates a strong path forward and a very tangible path forward,” said de Blasio.
The City is also committing at least $2.2 billion in funding over the next 10 years to address the issues. HUD will continue to provide funding to NYCHA, which is estimated to be $1.5 billion this year.
The plan also meets the following key principles as required by HUD in December 2018 when Carson agreed to work with the Mayor to reach an agreement to avoid receivership:
- A sustainable commitment to decent, safe and sanitary affordable housing using all tools
available
- Setting specific performance targets for lead, mold, elevator, heat and vermin issues
- Robust oversight to assure remediation objectives are met
- Milestones for measuring meaningful progress toward remediation goals and other institutional improvements at NYCHA
- Reduction of unwarranted costs and elimination of bureaucratic impediments to efficient operations
- Management of the highest quality and commitment
- Local control of day-to-day operations by NYCHA and New York City
- Strong remedies that are immediately available to address any future failure to perform, whether in the case of individuals or organizational structures
- Commitment of all relevant emergency powers available to NYCHA by New York City and New York State
- Commitment of additional financial resources from New York City and New York State for remediation and future sustainability
The announcement has left many Brooklyn lawmakers questioning the federal government’s ability to improve the living conditions at the embattled authority especially under the current Presidential Administration.
“Let me absolutely clear- I do not trust the Federal government, under the leadership of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, to truly address the needs of NYCHA residents. NYCHA is, and has long been, in crisis, and it desperately needs two things- money and management. But we have also been given many reasons to be skeptical that the current city and state executives- both of whom have served in the Department of Housing and Urban Development themselves, will properly oversee or invest in public housing in our city,” said City Council member and Public Advocate Candidate Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood).
“The Mayor and the Federal Government are shuffling the deckchairs while thousands of people shiver through the winter without heat or hot water. NYCHA residents don’t care which bureaucracy is failing them, they care about their buildings being fixed,” said City Councilman and Public Advocate Candidate Rafael Espinal (D-Bushwick, Brownsville, Cypress Hills, East New York).
“While NYCHA needs oversight, HUD has turned the announcement of a monitor into a crass political spectacle. How can we trust the federal government when the President’s top priority is funding a racist wall — and using government workers as a pawn? If the President is really serious about helping NYCHA, he should forget his racist wall and put that $5 billion towards NYCHA,” said City Councilman Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island, Bensonhurst).
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams will be testing the success of the federal monitor by the results public housing residents receive in improved living conditions.
“The ultimate arbiter of this agreement’s success will be the 400,000 rent-paying residents of NYCHA. I’ll be listening closely to their feedback in the weeks and months ahead. In the meantime, the City must fulfill existing commitments it has made to efforts like the implementation of NYCHA STAT and the expansion of RAD, while improving its response rate to repairs impacting health, safety, and quality of life,” said Adams.
Queens City Councilman and Public Advocate Candidate Eric Ulrich (R-Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach, Lindenwood, Neponsit, Ozone Park, Rockaway Beach, Rockaway Park, South Ozone Park, Woodhaven) wiehed in on the issue blaming the public housing authority’s issues on the Mayor’s lack of management skills.
“Mayor de Blasio has without a doubt been NYC’s worst landlord, and NYCHA residents deserve better. We cannot allow the Mayor to mislead New Yorkers about the deplorable conditions in public housing, nor will we stand idly by as he lies about the reasons for his careless neglect. I applaud the federal government for its bold action, and I’m optimistic that the new monitor will do a better job than the Mayor, who has proven to be incapable of making things right,” said Ulrich.
Last December, former Public Advocate and current Attorney General Letitia James designated NYCHA as the worst landlord across the five boroughs. Over 400,000 New Yorkers live in buildings owned by NYCHA, across 177,000 apartments.
