Money could go to improve tenants’ lives

If NYCHA had relied on any of their 60 in-house lawyers instead of dropping $10 million on a private law firm to deal with the feds, they certainly had plenty of other ways to spend that money.

Just ask the public housing tenants of Carey Gardens in Coney Island, where elevators in the 15- and 17-story buildings are constantly on the blink.

At noon on Monday, several residents in wheelchairs and walkers were marooned in the lobby at 2946 W. 23rd St., where two of three elevators were out and the lights in the one that worked blinked on and off.

Records show a caller informed the city Buildings Department in July that all three lifts there were out.

“Caller has one leg and it is very difficult for her to go up the stairs,” the records state.

“Every other day they break,” said tenant Tihesha Simmons, 29, a teacher, adding that she was “upset because it’s something we have to deal with every single day.”

None of this is a surprise to NYCHA, which a year ago tagged Carey Gardens and 10 other developments with some of the worst elevators in the system for repairs. The $10 million it paid for high-end lawyers would more than cover the $3.3 million NYCHA says it would take to remedy Carey Gardens’ lifeless lifts.

The $10 million would also cover the $8.4 million NYCHA says it would cost to install four new boilers in the Eastchester Houses in the Bronx. Eastchester is one of 11 developments NYCHA targeted last fall for boiler upgrades. Or $6.1 million to replace boilers at Jackson Houses in the Bronx. Or $6 million for new boilers at Tilden Houses in Brooklyn.

To date none of these elevator or boiler upgrades have happened. They’re funded by the state, but Gov. Cuomo is sitting on about $460 million of the $550 million he’s targeted for the NYCHA fixups as he awaits appointment of a federal monitor to oversee the troubled authority.

“For years, NYCHA residents have been waiting for this money to be released so we could start these long-overdue elevator and boiler replacements,” NYCHA spokeswoman Jasmine Blake said Monday. “As soon as the monitor is named, we hope the state will follow through and help our residents get the repairs they need.”