John,

Public housing residents are sick and tired of waiting weeks and months for repairs. That’s what we heard over and over again, through our survey of and listening sessions with New Yorkers living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments last summer.

Members of our NYCHA resident audit committee recently joined me to announce new audits of the public housing authority.

The two audits we announced will focus on NYCHA’s process for conducting repairs, and on eviction rates at developments that have gone through RAD/PACT conversion and are being run by private management companies.

I’ve heard from NYCHA residents time and time again that the support tickets they file for repairs around the home are closed before repairs are completed.

Our audit will explore what contractors NYCHA is hiring, how they’re making these decisions, and what is done when contractors are underperforming or not doing their jobs.

These aren’t new problems, but by bringing NYCHA residents into the auditing process we hope to strengthen our tools to hold the public housing authority accountable for providing safe and stable housing.

Our second audit will explore whether eviction rates have risen in developments in the RAD/PACT program. We want to find out if eviction rates in these units are different than those in the rest of NYCHA, and to make sure that this program is subject to sufficient oversight.

I recently testified to the New York City Council Housing and Building Committee, emphasizing the importance of preserving and expanding social housing* as rent prices skyrocket across the five boroughs. While it’s important that we drastically increase the number of affordable units available, we also must make sure that existing units are livable and remain affordable, including making sure that NYCHA is listening to tenants when they say appliances and fixtures in their units aren’t working.

It’s just one step to ensuring that all New Yorkers can live with dignity, but it’s an important one.

– Brad

* What is social housing? Social housing is permanently affordable housing, removed from the speculative marketplace, with mechanisms for democratic governance. Social housing is an umbrella term that includes shared-equity co-ops, not for profit rentals, supportive housing, public housing, and community land trusts. Learn more: landerfornyc.com/social-housing