GOV’S BX. JEER FOR HOUSING
Gov. Cuomo toured a “disgusting” public housing development in The Bronx on Monday to announce that the state would intervene to correct “intolerable” conditions — while Mayor de Blasio was in Texas talking national politics.
Delivering a stark lesson in power politics, the governor took advantage of the mayor’s absence by striking at de Blasio’s most politically vulnerable soft spot.
In rapid succession, Cuomo toured a housing development in The Bronx’s Melrose section that he branded a slum, ordered state health inspections of roach-infested apartments and even offered to remove top management at the New York City Housing Authority.
Cuomo pronounced the conditions at the Jackson Houses unbearable after his visit there.
“As upsetting and disturbing as anything I have ever seen,” the governor said. “This situation is intolerable. I apologize to the residents here.”
He toured a seventh-floor unit belonging to Jeffrey Blyther, 42, who uses a wheelchair because he has cerebral palsy. Blyther lives there with his 19-year-old daughter, Jahari, 17-year-old son, Jeffrey Jr., and 14-month-old grandson, Jessie.
Roaches scattered over cans of food when Cuomo opened kitchen cabinets, and the governor was able to pull palmsized sheets of paint off a bathroom wall.
“This is unbelievable,” Cuomo said. “The ceiling is collapsing, and it’s infested with cockroaches everywhere. It’s much worse than anyone would imagine.”
At the time, de Blasio was in Austin, Texas, to talk about immigration and the US Census, before heading to Washington, DC, in the afternoon for a meeting of mayors on infrastructure.
Soon after Cuomo’s tour, the governor’s counsel, Alfonso David, fired off a letter to First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan — who is running the city until de Blasio returns Tuesday — offering to issue an emergency order to speed up repairs and possibly get rid of NYCHA’s management and appoint an independent monitor.
De Blasio has repeatedly defended NYCHA Chair Shola Olatoye even after it was revealed that she told the feds her agency conducted mandated lead-paint tests when she knew it had not.
Fuleihan and Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen punched back during a press conference at City Hall, claiming the state has refused to hand over $200 million it promised NYCHA last spring for repairs.
The state says it’s withholding the funds until the city provides a detailed plan of how it will use them over the next year.
As for Cuomo’s offer to lop off the head of NYCHA, Glen claimed that was not “necessary” or “feasible.”
Cuomo also ordered the state Health Department to “investigate the hazardous conditions plaguing” NYCHA.
Fuleihan defended the mayor’s absence.
“The mayor is on city business. He is meeting with other mayors. He’s pushing an agenda that’s appropriate for the city, that we need to do . . . These are things that we should be doing,” he said.
Cuomo said he’d meet with City Council members, including Speaker Corey Johnson and Ritchie Torres of The Bronx, in Albany Tuesday to discuss how to proceed.
Torres, who joined Cuomo at the Jackson Houses, blasted de Blasio’s travel.
“His absence from New York City symbolizes to me the absence of management in public housing,” Torres said.
It may be Gov. Cuomo’s most cutting move yet in his feud with Mayor de Blasio — but will it do the public any good? While de Blasio was in Austin at the South by Southwest gathering Monday, Cuomo visited a Bronx public-housing complex to beat up the mayor over his mismanagement of NYCHA.
Joined by Borough President Ruben Díaz Jr. and two other Bronx electeds, the gov toured the Andrew Jackson Houses and declared the conditions “intolerable” and “as upsetting and disturbing as anything I have ever seen.”
And, as a former US Housing secretary, he’s seen plenty of awful conditions.
He also apologized to the Jackson residents — which is more than the beleaguered tenants have gotten from de Blasio.
The mayor, meanwhile, was again pandering to national progressives by vowing to fight to protect net neutrality against the Trump administration. That left two deputy mayors trying to counter Cuomo’s attacks.
Of course, NYCHA is state-chartered, so the gov and Legislature have real oversight duties. And maybe Cuomo’s talk of naming a monitor and/or declaring an emergency will bring real improvements to residents who feel de Blasio has (literally) left them in the cold — not to mention the mold.
But one thing the gov won’t do is take full ownership of NYCHA: The authority’s vast problems include at least $17 billion in capital needs, and Cuomo is already having trouble balancing the state budget.
One thing he can do is fast-track designbuild authority for NYCHA (with appropriate oversight) so it can save big on the major repair and modernization work it can afford.
De Blasio, meanwhile, probably needs to think twice the next time he considers leaving town to chase his national dreams.