NYCHA must consult feds for funding

FEDERAL HOUSING officials have rejected a plan NYCHA presented to resolve a long-running probe by the Manhattan U.S. attorney into public housing conditions.

As a result, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development — which provides NYCHA with most of its money — is now making the authority get their prior approval on all spending for big-ticket capital projects.

The machinations indicate the long-running investigation is nearing the finish line. If a settlement isn’t reached, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman can simply sue NYCHA and request a monitor to oversee the authority.

On Friday a spokesman for Berman could not be reached for comment. NYCHA and HUD did not respond to requests for comment.

For more than two years, federal prosecutors have been looking into whether NYCHA officials lied about their efforts to combat deteriorating conditions in the authority’s 172,000 units. NYCHA has admitted falsely certifying it was performing required lead paint inspections for years and as recently as October 2016.

On March 13 NYCHA lawyers submitted to HUD and the prosecutors running the probe what they said was a “comprehensive plan” to address their concerns.

Two days later New YorkHUD official Luigi D’Ancona responded by letter, saying “Neither a plan nor a settlement agreement with SDNY that satisfactorily addresses the non-compliance was received.”

Usually NYCHA can draw down on HUD funds set aside for projects automatically, but D’Ancona said going forward, NYCHA must submit all invoices to his office for approval.

The next day NYCHA lawyers insisted they’d done what they were asked to do, and offered “a comprehensive plan for addressing the issues identified.”

On March 21 D’Ancona responded, insisting that the “comprehensive plan” submitted by NYCHA “is neither a corrective action plan nor a negotiated settlement agreement with the SDNY.”