Elected officials toured NYCHA’s Red Hook Houses on Thursday to highlight the deteriorating conditions inside the apartments, and to demand more federal funding for the city’s public housing system. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nydia Velázquez, along with state Sen. Jabari Brisport and Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, demanded a greater financial allocation from President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan — saying the currently-proposed $40 billion toward public housing is the US would need to be at least doubled. “For far too …
As winds change in Washington, Velazquez seeks more federal funding for public housing
Brooklyn Rep. Nydia Velazquez introduced legislation this week that would provide $70 billion in federal funding for public housing repairs across the country, as Democrats are set to take control of all three chambers of government in Washington. The bill, dubbed the Public Housing Emergency Response Act, would increase funding for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Public Housing Capital Fund, allowing the federal government to fund more repairs and capital projects in public housing complexes. Of those funds, $32 billion would go toward repairs in the New York City Housing Authority, the biggest public housing system in the country. “Public housing was created to serve as …
NYCHA wasted millions on roof repairs that should have been covered by warranty, audit finds
A new report says the city’s public housing authority wasted millions paying for roof repairs that should have been covered under a warranty — and may still cost the agency an additional $24 million in replacements. According to a new audit from New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office, covering 2000 to 2010, the New York City Housing Authority ignored roof warranties on more than 98 percent of its work orders. The housing agency was found to only have used its roof-warranty coverage on just 1.3 percent of the roof repairs – instead using public…