‘JA’ GOTTA FIX IT!
Hip-Hop activist takes up cause of NYCHA tenants
Public-housing residents trying to draw attention to their lousy living conditions got a boost on Tuesday from hip-hop artist Ja Rule — who chided the mayor and governor for allowing conditions to deteriorate.
“The mayor, the governor, they should all be ashamed of [themselves]. These are Americans, New Yorkers living in thirdworld conditions and it should not be this way,” said the rapper — who grew up as Jeffrey Atkins in Hollis, Queens — at a City Hall rally.
“This has been going on for a long time.”
City Council members Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) and Alicka Ampry-Samuel (D-Brooklyn) joined the singer and about 30 NYCHA residents in calling for the city to speed up funding and repairs to aging heating systems.
Nearly 80 percent of publichousing tenants suffered from heat outages at some point this winter, according to City Council data.
But a new city infusion of $200 million in capital funds, earmarked for heating-system overhauls at 20 developments, won’t see renovations completed until 2022.
“This cannot be fixed four years from now. This has to be fixed and addressed, now. Immediately,” said Ampry-Samuel.
Since 2001, federal funding for NYCHA has covered as little as 82.1 percent of the agency’s operating expenses each year, city officials say.
“We appreciate anyone with a platform bringing attention to the critical funding issues NYCHA faces,” said NYCHA spokeswoman Jasmine Blake. “We hope today’s rally will highlight the catastrophic cuts proposed by the Trump administration and the need to support public housing as a vital resource.”
The state has traditionally not played a major role in financing NYCHA.
But Gov. Cuomo committed $300 million toward its capital construction program in recent years — more than 3 times the amount committed in the 21 years before he came into office.
“We agree with the sentiments expressed by the council members and speakers this morning that the conditions at NYCHA — due to severe mismanagement by the city — are unacceptable,” said Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever. “That’s why we gave NYCHA an unprecedented $300 million and told the council that the state stands ready to help in any way.”