AGENCY OF CHAOS
NYCHA’s grim report to board members
It’s not just lead. New York’s embattled publichousing agency admitted Wednesday that it is out of compliance with federal laws and regulations on mold and overtime spending, as well as labor and contracting practices.
Officials made the stunning revelation near the end of the New York City Housing Authority’s board meeting and said they will formally notify the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development in early August.
“We want to be transparent,” said interim NYCHA board chairman Stanley Brezenoff, who was brought in by Mayor de Blasio to oversee the struggling agency in April.
“We want to be absolutely sure that when NYCHA — when I— put my name on something, that we are being fully forthcoming. We will be focused on identifying areas of noncompliance and fixing them,” Brezenoff said.
NYCHA officials said they found shortcomings across the authority’s operations: overtime rules, staffing, bid requirements, emergency-management plans, staff training, oversight of tenant protections and mold remediation.
A letter being filed with the feds also said the agency remains out of compliance on lead.
It’s the second year in a row NYCHA has told federal authorities it isn’t meeting standards, and Wednesday’s revelation provides new evidence of the breadth of dysfunction at the nation’s largest public-housing authority.
Brezenoff said the disclosures were voluntary and not required by federal agencies or prosecutors, who recently settled a lawsuit against City Hall for conditions at NYCHA.
The disclosures came as critics sounded the alarm about the authority’s new compliance officer.
Vilma Huertas, a veteran of the authority and the wife of a top state lawmaker, was appointed as chief compliance officer this week.
Huertas was first hired at NYCHA in 1994 and was most recently the corporate secretary for the agency’s board of directors.
She is married to Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the Housing Committee and was a supporter of disgraced former NYCHA chair- woman Shola Olatoye.
“It raises questions about NYCHA’s commitment to reform,” said Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), who has been a leading NYCHA critic.
“It represents the triumph of patronage over progress.”
Tenant leaders were equally unhappy.
“She’s just a part of the machine,” said Elie Hecht, an attorney for the Citywide Council of Presidents, the main NYCHA tenant group.
Huertas replaces Edna Wells, who was appointed by de Blasio as the interim head of the unit in November.
NYCHA officials defended Huertas.
“This is the 21st century. When hiring, we look at work experience, not marriage licenses,” said agency spokeswoman Jasmine Blake. “Vilma has spent her entire career fighting for NYCHA residents and is immensely qualified for this position.”