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. (read 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. (read 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. (read more…)

Image Credit: NYCHA.

DOI faulted the failure of NYCHA and the NYPD to enforce lease conditions against criminals and criminal activities at NYCHA projects. In 1996, the NYPD and New York City Housing Authority entered into a Memorandum of Understanding designed to prevent crime and create a safer environment for residents of NYCHA’s public housing developments. NYPD agreed to provide NYCHA with all arrest and complaint reports concerning serious criminal activity committed by NYCHA residents within NYCHA developments. In exchange for this information, NYCHA agreed to ensure that criminal offenders who posed a threat to safety would be removed from public housing. The agreement intended to monitor criminal activity to improve the safety and quality of life for NYCHA residents. (read more…)