Comptroller Stringer Statement on NYCHA Settlement

“With the impending appointment of a federal monitor and dedicated City funding, NYCHA now has the chance to get this right after decades of disinvestment and mismanagement.  But to ensure the monitor will be successful, here’s what needs to happen: we must overhaul the Authority from top to bottom. NYCHA needs a single executive leader with a clear mandate and accountability, not today’s divided board structure with a Chair and General Manager operating as separate fiefs. NYCHA needs a modern governance structure with experts in managing large housing systems, not a board that rubber stamps all decisions. And finally, NYCHA needs to forge a real partnership with tenants, not just pay lip service to the needs and concerns of the 400,000 people who call NYCHA home.

“Without these structural changes, today’s announcement will be just another failed attempt to fix what’s broken, and will only serve to banish another generation of NYCHA residents to dangerous, inhumane conditions. It is as heartbreaking as it is disgraceful that for years our City’s children were exposed to hazardous conditions such as lead and mold, and that multiple administrations lied about it. The City should seize this moment to implement long needed, bold and effective reforms – but success rests on complete transparency and accountability.”

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