President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts would cripple crucial building upgrades at city public housing developments — and zap subsidies for thousands of renters, New York’s congressional delegation warned Monday. The fiscal 2021 budget proposed by Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Benjamin Carson last month eliminates all HUD funding for big-ticket “capital […]
Ben Carson
Posted inPublic Housing
City Hall Ignores Comptroller’s Rejection of NYCHA Monitor Bill
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. The mayor’s office on Thursday refused to turn over invoices from the Housing Authority’s new monitor to the city’s top fiscal watchdog after he raised questions about millions of taxpayers dollars spent so far. […]
Posted inPublic Housing
Stringer Bounces NYCHA’s $12 Million Federal Monitor Deal
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. The city’s fiscal watchdog has rejected a $12 million contract with the Housing Authority’s independent monitor — demanding City Hall provide a better explanation for what all that taxpayer money is funding. Comptroller Scott […]
Posted inNYCHA
HUD Secretary Carson Claims Fewer ‘Horrible Things’ in NYC Public Housing
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Nearly a year after signing off on federal oversight of New York’s ailing public housing system, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Benjamin Carson declared he’s hearing less “horrible things” about NYCHA. Carson argued […]
Posted inPublic Housing
City Spends $3M for Public Housing Advice it Already Paid $10M For
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. The city spent $3 million for a consultant’s report on how to overhaul the troubled public housing system — a document that echoes key recommendations from another consultant that cost taxpayers $10 million in […]
Posted inNYCHA
Public Housing Workers Tried to Fool the Feds on Building Repairs
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. When prosecutors last year charged NYCHA with hiding scandalous conditions in many of its 174,000 apartments, they highlighted some of the most blatant tactics used to fool federal inspectors. Before investigators with the Department […]
Posted inNYCHA
Public Housing’s Federal Monitor Presented a $20 Million Bill
The Housing Authority’s new federal monitor initially proposed a first-year budget of nearly $20 million with little explanation of how all that taxpayer money would be spent, THE CITY has learned. Bart Schwartz — who released his first report Monday — has brought in an extensive team of 19 employees from his firm, Guidepost Solutions. […]
Posted inPublic Housing
NYCHA’s New $400,000 Boss Faces Backlash Over Pay and Hours
Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen At the Vladeck Houses on the Lower East Side, tenant Olivia Lingister bristled at the news that incoming city Housing Authority boss Gregory Russ will be taking home a $402,000 paycheck. One of Vladeck’s buildings is experiencing a cooking gas outage that began in April. Lingister — who’s lived most […]
Posted inPublic Housing
New NYCHA Boss to Reap Record $400K Payday
The new head of the city Housing Authority will be paid an unprecedented salary topping $400,000 — more than President Donald Trump, more than Gov. Andrew Cuomo and more than the man who appointed him Tuesday: Mayor Bill de Blasio. De Blasio announced that he’s picked Gregory Russ, head of the relatively tiny Minneapolis Housing […]
Posted inNYCHA
Meet NYCHA’s New Boss: A Fan of Private Management of Public Housing
The city’s housing authority is about to get a new chairperson: Gregory Russ, head of the much smaller Minneapolis system and a major champion of turning over public housing management to private developers, THE CITY has learned. Russ currently oversees 6,259 public housing units with 10,500 residents, plus another 15,500 tenants in private apartments receiving […]