Blaz: NYCHA probe talks ‘productive’

MAYOR DE Blasio insisted Friday that talks to end an ongoing federal probe of NYCHA are “very productive,” although the feds rejected the authority’s fix-it plan last month as completely inadequate.

A “plan of correction” NYCHA submitted April 5 to resolve the two-year probe was vague and unacceptable, according to Lynne Patton, head of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development office overseeing New York.

In a May 3 response to questions from Ritchie Torres, chairman of the City Council’s oversight committee, Patton took aim at NYCHA’s latest attempt to fix its biggest failure — lead paint inspections.

“It does not adequately ensure lead paint compliance and does not address at all certain important physical condition standards,” Patton wrote.

The plan “lacks the necessary specificity regarding full compliance with HUD laws and regulations.”

On Friday Torres noted that this rejection comes two years after NYCHA claims it first discovered the lead paint mess and after intense scrutiny by HUD, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, the council and the city Department of Investigation.

“The fact that after all of these investigations NYCHA could not bring itself to produce an adequate lead safety plan is as baffling as it is unacceptable,” Torres said.

Patton made clear in her letter that NYCHA’s correction plan must be accepted by HUD in order to settle the probe by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman’s civil division.

On Friday the Daily News reported that prosecutors and HUD are requiring Mayor de Blasio to commit a huge amount of city funds to fix NYCHA to resolve the probe.

During a press conference on an unrelated topic, de Blasio declined to address the money demand, but expressed optimism that a resolution is near.