Some Bed-Stuy public housing tenants have figured out the best way for getting the New York City Housing Authority to make overdue repairs: call a press conference. After years of leaky pipes, stained ceilings, holes in walls and rats kidnapping and devouring pet birds, the NYCHA showed up the night before a tenants' press conference with a team of repairmen. An official said the timing was just a coincidence, but Chi-Chi the canary probably wishes that press conference was scheduled a bit earlier. [NYT]
For the first time in its 75-year history, the New York City Housing Authority wants to knock down an entire high-rise complex.
The New York City Housing Authority has stopped issuing new Section 8 assistance vouchers as a result of increased demand and federal budget cuts.
Twenty-one of the city's 336 public housing developments receive no federal subsidies and have been a drain on the Housing Authority's finances for years. For the last decade, the city has supported these projects by diverting nearly $1 billion from federally subsidized developments. But no longer! The city hopes to federalize the 21 orphan projects by using stimulus money and private investments to renovate them. Problem solved? Perhaps not. Some worry that the public-private scheme would open the door to privatization. [NYT]
Renovations have forced out tenants at the Whitman and Ingersoll Houses, and remaining tenants are worried that they will be pushed out to support gentrification efforts.
