Gov. Hochul signed into law on Thursday a measure that will allow the New York City Housing Authority to issue bonds to pay for much-needed repairs and construction, a policy backed by Mayor Adams as well as tenants and advocates who’ve demanded it for years.
Hochul, who appeared alongside Adams and other leaders Thursday morning, made it official with the flick of a pen at the Polo Grounds Towers in Washington Heights, in the process freeing up billions of dollars in funding that can now flow to NYCHA tenants through what’s known as a Preservation Trust.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law on Thursday, June 16, 2022, a measure that will allow the New York City Housing Authority to issue bonds to pay for much needed repairs and construction, a policy backed by Mayor Adams as well as tenants and advocates who’ve demanded it for years. (Don Pollard/Office of the Governor)
“This is going to unlock billions — with a B — billions of dollars in federal funding which will allow us to fast track long-overdue repairs and make investments in NYCHA properties throughout the city. That’s what this is about,” Hochul said. “We’re going to cut all the red tape. We’re going to reduce the costs and speed up the construction timelines.”
The city’s Housing Authority and the tenants who live in its buildings are looking down the barrel of an estimated $40 billion in long-needed improvements, ranging from pipe replacements to elevator repairs to the need for new boilers.
For decades, residents have contended with those problems, as well as toxic mold and lead paint. And the response from the federal government has been generally viewed as anemic, at best, forcing state and city leaders to seek ways to patch up a web of aging housing complexes that serve as home to nearly 350,000 city residents.
The newly created trust is intended, in part at least, to achieve that. Under the new law, the trust will be able to use federal Section 8 vouchers as collateral to borrow cash. It will be governed by a nine-member board of trustees, which will include NYCHA’s CEO Greg Russ, the authority’s CFO Annika Lescott-Martinez, one of Adams’ deputy mayors and three members appointed by Russ.
New York City Mayor Adams at the Polo Grounds Towers in Washington Heights in Manhattan, New York on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Don Pollard/Office of the Governor)
The law Hochul signed Thursday limits the trust’s scope to about 25,000 apartments, which Hochul said could mean $10 billion in additional funding for repair and construction work. After being asked if she viewed the trust in its current form as a sort of pilot project, the governor suggested an expansion of it could come in the future.
“This is going to be generational. This is the first start. We have to bite off what we can chew,” she said. “I don’t see an end to this because my goal is to make sure that every unit, every facility, every building, every apartment has been dramatically improved. That’s our objective, but it does start here today.”
Right now, it’s unclear which NYCHA developments will opt in to the trust. To opt in, residents will have to vote on whether or not they want their development to participate. If they vote to do so, the trust can then use the Section 8 vouchers as collateral to float bonds to pay for the needed work.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law on Thursday, June 16, 2022, a measure that will allow the New York City Housing Authority to issue bonds to pay for much needed repairs and construction, a policy backed by Mayor Adams as well as tenants and advocates who’ve demanded it for years. (Don Pollard/Office of the Governor)
Russ described the new trust as a “reset” between NYCHA and the tenants it houses and framed it as a way for the authority to make amends after years of subpar living conditions.
“We have not kept our promises on what is required of the Housing Authority. We’ve broken them,” he said. “The Preservation Trust is a new contract with you. It’s a reset. It’s a chance for all of us as a community to make something that will be the biggest housing infrastructure bill ever attempted in the country.”
Adams praised the law’s sponsors in the state Legislature, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz and state Sen. Julia Salazar, as well as the Legal Aid Society, which has represented hundreds of NYCHA tenants over the years.
The mayor attributed NYCHA’s years of decline to racism and people being ground down by low expectations. He described the bill signing Thursday as one of his proudest moments in government and pointed out that while he and Salazar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, don’t see eye-to-eye on some issues, they agreed on this one.
“We don’t agree on everything. But we both stated that NYCHA deserves better,” Adams said. “And we focused our attention on getting this land trust.”
Hochul made it official with the flick of a pen at the Polo Grounds Towers in Washington Heights, in the process freeing up billions of dollars in funding that can now flow to NYCHA tenants through what’s known as a Preservation Trust. (Don Pollard/Office of the Governor)
The Legal Aid Society also touted the new trust as a big win.
“With huge unmet capital needs in NYCHA’s public housing and no current prospect of additional federal funding, this law will provide an opportunity for NYCHA to access funds to make repairs and for residents to actively choose if the trust is the means by which their housing is preserved,” said Adriene Holder, the group’s chief attorney of civil practice.
The mayor added that the work is not done, though, and suggested that the trust must keep a watchful eye open as it spends the money it’s been entrusted with.
“You know and I know there are a whole lot of folks that are out there and they see these dollars as an opportunity to exploit what we’ve worked hard for,” he said. “We want qualitative repairs. We want to make sure that we build systems where we can monitor the success of NYCHA — and finally turn the corner.”
Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News
Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News