Comptroller’s Office Kicks Off New Resident-Powered Audit Process with Survey And Roundtables of NYCHA Residents

New York, NY – New York City Comptroller Brad Lander opened a survey with New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents seeking feedback and suggestions for audits of the public housing agency’s operations and management. The survey is part of a broader “resident-powered” approach to auditing NYCHA, a process that will include visits to housing developments, listening sessions, participation in Family Days, and ongoing engagement with residents to help focus the office’s audits on the issues that matter most to NYCHA residents.

The City Charter requires the Comptroller’s office to audit all City agencies and entities that receive City funds once every four years. The Comptroller’s office has put the public housing authority on its “watch list,” facing more frequent scrutiny for several years due to its ongoing financial and managerial struggles. In the last decade, the Comptroller’s office audited NYCHA regarding its financial and operating practices more than 18 times and proposed more than 169 recommendations to improve NYCHA’s operations.

Comptroller Lander is seeking input from NYCHA residents to inform his administration’s approach to making change at NYCHA through audits, oversight, and public accountability. Resident input and participation will be sought as the Comptroller’s office chooses what to audit or investigate, to gather data as part of those audits, and in following up to make sure recommendations are implemented and real change is made.

“NYCHA residents are the experts on what needs to be fixed in their homes, so they must be part of the solutions. By using our oversight tools in partnership with residents, resident-powered audits will aim to move the needle forward on the much-needed repairs, resources, services, investments, and quality of life issues that matter most to the people who call NYCHA home,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.

The survey is available online in the top languages spoken across NYCHA developments and the Comptroller’s public affairs team is tabling throughout both July and August at developments across the city as well as hosting five roundtables for Comptroller Lander and staff from the Comptroller’s Audit Bureau to hear directly from residents. The survey asks residents to rank how well or poorly NYCHA delivers services in several different categories and prompts residents to submit ideas for specific audits of NYCHA’s management and operations.

NYCHA is the largest affordable housing resource in New York City, especially for low-income households. Over 535,000 residents reside in NYCHA’s more than 177,000 apartments. One-in-16 residents of New York call NYCHA home. Decades of austerity and poor management at NYCHA have caused a capital backlog of at least $40 billion. As a result, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers live in deteriorating buildings, facing slow repairs, poor communication, and persistent concern that the public housing authority’s financial conditions will result in losing their homes.

The survey for NYCHA residents is available here. To view past audits of NYCHA, please visit the Comptroller’s website here. NYCHA financial spending data, contract information, and vendors can be tracked on Checkbook NYC.

For more on audits released during Comptroller Lander’s tenure, please visit the new audit recommendations tracker here. New Yorkers can suggest specific audits of any city agency here.

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