NYCHA squeezes watchdog’s cash

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY is refusing to provide more funding to the office of the city inspector general, which has uncovered corruption, fraud and ineptitude at the troubled agency, the Daily News has learned.

Unlike city agencies, NYCHA is an authority that’s mostly funded with federal dollars. A longstanding agreement with the city requires NYCHA to fund Inspector General Ralph Iannuzzi, who is overseen by the independent city Department of Investigation.

Iannuzzi’s annual salary is $150,000 — which is on par with salaries for Investigation Department inspectors general of other comparable authorities, specifically the School Construction Authority and Health and Hospitals.

Last month, NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye notified Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters she would not grant his request for an extra $199,000, bringing the NYCHA inspector general’s total budget from $3.3 million to $3.5 million.

In an April 13 letter to Olatoye obtained by The News, Peters noted that last year the Department of Investigation uncovered $6.5 million in fraud, opened 270 investigations and developed 53 criminal cases involving NYCHA staff and tenants.

The independent inspector general has also issued three critical reports about NYCHA mismanagement, including a stunning revelation that a NYCHA caretaker falsely claimed smoke detectors were functioning shortly before a fire engulfed an apartment and killed two children.

The Department of Investigation “understands that NYCHA is facing unprecedented fiscal straits, however, we submit that it is more critical than ever that the (inspector general) be equipped to help safeguard and recapture NYCHA’s limited resources,” Peters wrote.

“In the face of tough budget decisions, we need to do everything in our power to protect vital repairs and frontline services so that we can provide safe, decent housing to the more than half a million New Yorkers who call NYCHA home,” said agency spokeswoman Zodet Negron.