Mayor Bill de Blasio announces comprehensive plan to renovate NYCHA apartments and preserve public housing in New York City. Image credit: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

The plan will be divided into three programs to address the $24 billion in capital need for repairs and renovations. On December 12, 2018, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a comprehensive plan named NYCHA 2.0 to renovate and preserve NYCHA housing, aimed to resolving $24 billion in vital repairs. NYCHA 2.0 is a ten-year plan that will deliver renovations for 175,000 residents, fund essential capital repairs across the rest of NYCHA’s portfolio, and launch new repair strategies for lead paint, mold, elevator, heat, and vermin issues. (more…)

Image credit: Jeff Hopkins Art.

The New York City Housing Authority’s efforts to settle with the U. S. Attorney over NYCHA’s mismanagement of public housing came to an abrupt end on November 14, 2018 when U.S. District Court Judge William H. Pauley III rejected the proposed consent decree. The U.S. Attorney had charged NYCHA in a civil complaint with fraud, deception and filing false lead inspection reports. The complaint also charged NYCHA with systematically tolerating dangerous and unhealthy contamination of lead, mold and vermin, and with inadequate maintenance of essential services, including elevators, plumbing and heating. (more…)

Mayor Bill de Blasio announces repairs. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

The repairs will be made possible through public-private partnerships. On November 18, 2018, Mayor de Blasio announced that NYCHA has committed to $13 billion in repairs to 62,000 of its units. The renovations include new kitchens and bathrooms,  replacement of windows, elevators, boilers, and roofs, and improvements to common areas. The repairs will affect approximately 140,000 residents, who will “retain all their rights as public housing residents, pay rent limited to 30 percent of their income, and remain in their buildings during the renovations,” according to the press release. (more…)

Image Credit: Office of the Comptroller.

NYCHA residences throughout the five boroughs have serious security lapses from propped open and broken doors. On October 12, 2018, the City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released the results of an investigative survey on the exterior door security at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments. Between July and August 2018, auditors visited 299 NYCHA developments and observed the conditions of exterior doors. The auditors observed 4,551 doors in development in the five boroughs. (more…)

Image Credit: NYCHA.

Son lived in mother’s apartment to care for her in her last years, but had not been granted permanent permission to live in the apartment. Victoria Aponte was the tenant of record, and sole authorized occupant, of a one-bedroom apartment located in a NYCHA-owned housing development at 150 West 174th Street in the Bronx. In 2009, Ms. Aponte’s son, Jonas Aponte, moved into the apartment to assist his mother who had been diagnosed with advanced dementia and could not live alone without regular assistance.  During Ms. Aponte’s lifetime Mr. Aponte submitted two requests for permanent permission to live with his mother. NYCHA denied both requests, stating that approval would violate NYCHA’s rules by creating an overcrowded condition in a one-bedroom apartment. (more…)