Gov: Rent hike lotta HuD crud
GOV. CUOMO BLASTED the Trump administration’s proposal to jack up rents on public housing tenants as “ridiculous” — especially considering the dismal state of city housing developments.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson proposed a rent hike this week from 30% to 35% of tenants’ income — and for the very poorest families, to $150 from the current $50 a month rate.
The changes would apply to federally subsidized housing, including the city Housing Authority.
“I think the suggestion that people in NYCHA aren’t paying enough, especially at this time, is ridiculous,” Cuomo told reporters in Brooklyn.
“I would be more concerned with making sure NYCHA residents are getting what they’re paying for,” he said, noting the federal government once pledged to guarantee “safe, clean, decent housing.”
“I’ve been through many NYCHA facilities. They’re anything but safe, clean and decent,” he said.
Cuomo has torn into conditions at NYCHA housing during visits to developments in recent months. The deterioration comes after years of federal cuts — with NYCHA facing $25 billion in needed repairs — though the authority has also drawn criticism for mismanagement. Cuomo has seized the opportunity to take shots at Mayor de Blasio.
“Rather than raising the rent, the landlord should be worried about bringing the conditions up to code, providing people heat and elevators that work and security,” Cuomo said Thursday. “The problem isn’t the tenants of NYCHA, the problem is the landlord.”
The governor made the remarks after offering details of a $1.4 billion plan introduced a year ago to boost central Brooklyn, which includes building housing and health care facilities.
The first five requests for proposals are going out Thursday for 2,300 affordable housing apartments, Cuomo told the crowd at the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA.
Additional proposals for 1,000 more apartments will go out this summer.
The program, called Vital Brooklyn, will also get kids involved in restoring oysters to Jamaica Bay.