Fury at funds being diverted to migrants
New York will shell out hundreds of millions to migrants who have descended on the city since crossing the US-Mexico border — and Daniel Barber, for one, is disgusted.
Barber, 53, who represents the New York City Housing Authority’s 339,000 tenants, said, “The city is going to put forth a ton of money for these people who aren’t even citizens, but they forgot about the people who live in public housing right here.”
Last week, the Independent Budget Office projected the city will spend at least $596 million a year to provide shelter, education, health care and legal aid to more than 17,000 asylum seekers after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing them in from Texas last summer.
In fiscal 2021, NYCHA doled out $773,700 to “support various tenant-based initiatives,” according to the city. NYCHA is the largest public-housing administration in North America, with $4.2 billion in expenditures this year, the City Council’s Finance Division Report states.
Barber said he resents the city for helping asylum seekers find jobs and signing them up for training when thousands of young people in NYCHA need better access to jobs and after-school programs to keep them out of gangs and off the streets.
“They are going to train a bunch of people coming into the country, but those already here who apply through hoops to get in, can’t get in,” said Barber, who represents every person living in the 335 housing developments in the five boroughs as their elected president. He added that the recent increase in violence among young people “stems from the fact that there are no community programs for them” once they get out of school.
To get a job in construction, for example, applicants need at least 40 hours of Occupational Safety and Health Administration training. But Barber said he has pushed for access to this and other kinds of training to no avail.
Barber, a member of NYCHA’s Citywide Council of Presidents for 20 years, said he regularly sends emails to NYCHA executives, including current interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt, begging for help. “I deal with the executive director, the CEO and all the higher-ups to make them aware of the situation,” he said.
In October, the city built a special tent community on Randall’s Island to house 500 migrants, but the controversial facility, which cost $16 million, was shut down this month. Many of the migrants arriving now have been moved to a series of shelters and hotels where they are being helped with education and job training.
While the city has been quick to help new arrivals, NYCHA residents suffer long delays for any improvements — including repairs to their homes, Barber said.
“I’ve seen better conditions in shantytowns in developing countries,” he said. “We have scaffolding that has been up for 15 to 20 years, and nothing is being done. We have water that is seeping into people’s apartments. We have boarded-up windows that never get fixed. We need help.”
He said local politicians show concern only when they are running for office. “Everyone ran their political campaigns off public housing . . . but after the election, we have just become a mere thought,” said Barber, a lifelong resident of the Andrew Jackson Houses in the South Bronx.
A NYCHA spokesperson said the agency needs tens of billions of dollars from the city, state and federal governments in order to help tenants and improve facilities.