Bx. pol offers hope for heat fix at NYCHA

ASSEMBLY Speaker Carl Heastie introduced legislation late Friday night intended to help the embattled New York City Housing Authority speed repairs to its heating systems and other building needs.

The bill, which was sought by Mayor de Blasio, would grant NYCHA the ability to use the socalled design-build contracting process, which consolidates both the design and construction of a project into a single contract.

“This much-needed legislation will allow NYCHA to speed up the procurement process, and in turn, make repairs more efficiently to ensure . . . New Yorkers that reside in NYCHA apartments are living in safe and healthy homes,” Heastie (D-Bronx) said.

Heastie’s legislation would also require the head of NYCHA to produce annual reports on the status of lead paint inspections .

It could be approved by the Assembly as early as this week but it faces an uncertain fate in the GOP-controlled Senate, which has been highly critical of both NYCHA, and de Blasio’s handling of the agency.

City Hall officials did not comment on Heastie’s bill but the mayor has repeatedly pressed state lawmakers to grant the city and NYCHA design-build authority.

“That could shave a year or more off of our ability to put in new boilers and heating systems and all sorts of other repairs,” de Blasio said during a radio interview Friday.