Mayor Bill de Blasio and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson this week announced the appointment of Gregory Russ as the new Chair of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).
Russ, who has more than 25 years of experience in public housing administration, was most recently the CEO of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, and prior to that, the Executive Director of the Cambridge Housing Authority.
As per a Federal court order, De Blasio selected Russ from a slate of candidates that was jointly approved by himself, the Southern District of New York and HUD.
The announcement came almost two months after former Shola Olatoye resigned from the position in disgrace after NYCHA was caught lying about doing lead testing of NYCHA residents, among other allegations.
“In a national search, Greg Russ stands out as someone with the guts to make big changes and the heart to do right by public housing residents.” said de Blasio. “Greg has shown he can secure residents the repairs they’ve been waiting for and strengthen public housing for the next generation. He’s shown again and again that he can listen to residents, build trust and improve people’s lives. I’m thrilled to welcome him to NYCHA,” he added.
As head of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, Russ oversees 11,000 residents in Minneapolis in that city. Once he assumes the position as NYCHA’s chairman, Russ will be responsible for running the largest housing authority in the nation, which covers approximately 400,000 New York City residents.
While de Blasio set aside a $230,000 annual budget for the position, Russ ultimately agreed on a $402,628 salary, which will include a $161,900 federal fund from HUD.
The deal also includes a $15,000 moving allowance, along with a car and driver paid for by taxpayers.
The soon-to-be chair’s past includes a history of turning over public housing units to privately-run building management firms through the Rental Assistance Demonstration program (RAD). RAD is an Obama-era program that allowed private real estate developers to manage and repair public housing units across the country.
KCP has profiled the RAD program in stories here and here and here.
The city will also be shelling out expenses for Russ to travel back home to Minneapolis on weekends to his visit family.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson also shared his enthusiasm for Russ in a press release.
“The families who depend on NYCHA for housing need to see meaningful change to their living conditions, and we applaud Greg Russ for taking on this important effort,” Carson said. “Working closely with the City, the federal monitor, and – most importantly – NYCHA residents, we expect Greg will lead the housing authority in a new direction. We look forward to seeing solutions to NYCHA’s decades-old problems, and HUD will continue to advocate for the hundreds of thousands of families whose livelihoods depend on access to safe, fair, and affordable housing.”
In a statement, Russ affirmed that he would be committed to improving the conditions NYCHA residents are currently living in.
“My mission is simple: to fix residents’ homes today and to leave NYCHA stronger for the next generation,” he said. “To the hundreds of thousands of people who call NYCHA home, to the ten thousand hardworking men and women who work at NYCHA, I am ready to fight for you,” NYCHA is currently lead by interim chairwoman Kathryn Garcia, who will go back to running the Department of Sanitation when Russ begins.
NYCHA is currently overseen by the interim chair, Kathryn Garcia, who will resume her role overseeing the Department of Sanitation in when Russ starts in August.
