City Council District 35, currently represented by term-limited Majority Leader and Councilmember Laurie A. Cumbo (D-Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Crown Heights) has several New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments including the Ingersoll and Walt Whitman Houses, Lafayette Gardens, and Atlantic Terminal, that have been chronically underfunded and riddled with maintenance issues only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
KCP asked some of the candidates looking to succeed Cumbo on their experiences with NYCHA, and how they plan to address issues on public housing once they get in office.
Crystal Hudson, who worked in Cumbo’s office, announced last week that tenant leaders from four NYCHA developments have endorsed her bid for the open seat.
“All New Yorkers have a right to safe and secure housing without fear of being displaced; a quality education; a good job with benefits and livable wages; and the opportunity to age gracefully and with dignity in place, in our homes,” said Hudson, in a press release. “I’m so proud that my first endorsement is from the leaders of these four NYCHA developments in the district. NYCHA residents have endured unsafe and hazardous environments for far too long. I’ve seen firsthand the power, strength, and beauty of what NYCHA residents have brought to our community for generations, and I’m ready to keep fighting side-by-side with them for the housing they deserve.”
Hudson said she advocates for implementing stronger tenant protections, and fully funding NYCHA over the next three years, to solve problems with toxic mold, lead paint, unsafe conditions, no hot water, and countless outstanding repairs in the resident buildings.
Hector Robertson, an executive for a pharmaceutical and biotech company, was President of the Washington Avenue 941 Tenant Association, member of the Crown Heights Community Council, and considers himself a “tenant activist.”
A long-time resident of Crown Heights, he said he wasn’t really active in the community until an elderly neighbor needed help with repairs in her apartment. Robertson said that often the district suffers on the Crown Heights side because people in office are from either Clinton Hill or Fort Greene.
“NYCHA is a complete disaster in this country,” said Robertson.
He referenced a report that noted that public housing had such persistent management problems and severe substandard conditions in the buildings that the only way to treat the problem is to have a judicial or administrative receivership take over for a limited time. He emphasized a receivership that’s temporary to avoid privatization of any of the properties.
“At this point if money is not flowing in as they say then there’s no other choice,” said Robertson. “You have to have new ideas, new people going in and taking a look at how the contracts are actually being handled.”
“There is a lot of construction in the area of new developments. A lot of the developments have been given tax breaks and are financed by foreign investors. I would not allow any more foreign developers to come to build units in the area, as they are proving to be more and more unaffordable,” said Dierdre Levy, a DOE third grade ICT teacher. “I would like to focus more on programming, such as home buying workshops and workshops for tenant rights. Empowering our community members with knowledge will enable them to fight for what’s right.”
Levy said she fully supports the current moratorium on evictions, and admires the district for its community involvement within tenant and block associations.
“I am lucky that I won the housing lottery and am able to live and teach in my district. I hope the opportunity that I was given can be given to others as well,” said Levy.
Levy said it would be great to see and work on supporting more community efforts within NYCHA residencies. “One way that can happen is to get involved with participatory budgeting. When the process is available again, tenants and community members of the district can submit proposals and vote for various needs,” said Levy.
“I participated these past two years and saw that The Charles A Dorsey School, which was the school I taught at, teaching kids with special needs, received $200,000 to renovate the bathrooms. Advocacy and empowering community members would thus improve quality of life issues in NYCHA developments, but it takes getting support from our local elected officials. If elected, I will be fighting for better housing conditions for residents,” said Levy.
Regina Kinsey hasn’t responded in time for this posting.
