Urban Amenities Spurring New Development in City Centers
Torres and Torres: NYCHA's undeniable improvement - NY Daily News
1. Critics, admit it: NYCHA is improving. The
mayor and chair are making bold moves to
make the authority solvent and effective.
BY RITCHIE TORRES , AIXA TORRES / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS / Sunday, June 28, 2015, 5:00 AM
SHARE THIS URL
nydn.us/1LB9YkG
227 12
New York News Politics Sports Entertainment
Torres and Torres: NYCHA's undeniable improvement - NY Dai... http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/torres-torres-nycha-unden...
1 of 6 6/29/15 9:14 PM
2. Over the years, we’ve fought many battles with the New York City Housing
Authority over quality-of-life issues — including repair times, mold and
community centers. We know from personal experience that NYCHA is not
without its serious problems.
But it’s clear to us, and should be clear to all New Yorkers, that Mayor de Blasio
has made the city’s Housing Authority a priority. For the first time we can
remember, New Yorkers have good reason to believe that NYCHA can become
a more productive, responsive landlord for the 403,000 people who call public
housing home.
Upon Shola Olatoye’s appointment as NYCHA chair and CEO in February 2014,
de Blasio, recognizing that the authority was in the worst financial shape of its
history, tasked her with two mandates: reset the relationship with all
stakeholders, including residents, employees, elected officials and community
advocates and create a long-term plan that would enable the authority to
overcome its challenges and ensure its future.
The chair and NYCHA staff at all levels, in broad partnership with those who live
in developments as well as community advocates, elected officials, union
leaders and policy experts at other city agencies and housing organizations,
examined the most pressing issues demanding practical solutions: aging
buildings in need of repair; federal funding shortfalls of more than $2 billion since
2001; a large senior population aging in place; and a waitlist the size of a small
city.
NYCHA gathered input from all involved and crafted NextGeneration NYCHA —
a realistic, comprehensive strategy to revitalize the Housing Authority into a
viable, healthy public resource that New York City can actually afford to
maintain. That plan, calling for a transformation of the authority far more
ambitious than anything in memory, requires some dramatic and unpopular
changes to the way NYCHA operates. But this chair, with the mayor at her back,
has the courage to take bold steps.
NextGeneration NYCHA focuses on 15 specific strategies to preserve and
protect public housing for future generations. The work has already begun.
Take repairs, for example. Under the leadership of Olatoye, the time it takes to
respond to a service request has declined by 90% in the past two years. In
Thinking big
STEPHANIE KEITH/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Torres and Torres: NYCHA's undeniable improvement - NY Dai... http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/torres-torres-nycha-unden...
2 of 6 6/29/15 9:14 PM
3. January 2015, NYCHA started a pilot program at 18 developments which
decentralizes property management, giving residents more decisionmaking
opportunities and improving customer service and satisfaction.
The mayor has already provided unprecedented financial support to execute the
new vision: his waiver of NYCHA’s $30 million “payment in lieu of taxes” and
relief of payments to the NYPD totaling over $52 million in 2014 and $70 million
in 2015 will fund critical repairs.
He committed $300 million in capital funds over the next three years to replace
roofs, addressing a seemingly intractable mold problem, protecting the health of
residents and reducing maintenance workload and operating expenses.
This isn’t small stuff, and there is momentum to get the authority on firmer fiscal
footing.
While we do not agree with everything NYCHA does or plans to do, we know
Olatoye is someone who we can work with over the long haul, and it’s plain as
day she has the full confidence and support of de Blasio to make the changes
NYCHA needs to protect and preserve the city’s precious public housing stock.
The financial and physical challenges a network of 328 aging developments did
not appear overnight; it would be unrealistic to think that the solutions Olatoye
has proposed will wipe away years of disinvestment and neglect in days or
weeks. But between her vision and leadership and the mayor’s support and
historic investments, the future is brighter for NYCHA and its residents.
Ritchie Torres is chair of the City Council’s housing committee. Aixa Torres (no
relation) is the resident association president of Smith Houses.
PROMOTED STORIES
Torres and Torres: NYCHA's undeniable improvement - NY Dai... http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/torres-torres-nycha-unden...
3 of 6 6/29/15 9:14 PM
4. Recommended by
MORE FROM NYDAILYNEWS
Recommended by
What Will The Housing Market
Look Like in 2020?
Merrill Lynch
An Exciting Mark Twain Adventure
Awaits In Connecticut
CT Tourism
A popular new site reveals the
truth about anyone's past. Simply
enter name and state to see what
is available online. What will youInstant Checkmate
10 Celebs You'd Never Guess
Went Full Frontal On Film
Suggest
179 Rarely Seen Historical Photos
Are Pretty Unnerving
BuzzLamp
An Expert Opinion on the 2015
Subaru Outback
Kelley Blue Book
EXCLUSIVE: Cuomo
demands state protect
transgender students
Editorial: New Yorkers get
a break
Torres and Torres: NYCHA's undeniable improvement - NY Dai... http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/torres-torres-nycha-unden...
4 of 6 6/29/15 9:14 PM
5. WE RECOMMEND
Get Thicker Hair
Naturally
COMMENTS [ Discussion Guidelines
SORT
Write a comment
POST A COMMENT
Torres and Torres: NYCHA's undeniable improvement - NY Dai... http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/torres-torres-nycha-unden...
5 of 6 6/29/15 9:14 PM
