US Attorney Geoffrey Berman put the New York City Housing Authority on notice Monday, warning that “there is no more important case in my office than NYCHA.” We look forward to seeing just what that means.
In a speech before the Police Athletic League, Berman took aim at NYCHA chief Stanley Brezenoff’s belated effort to upend the consent decree that settled the federal civil case against the agency.
Brezenoff is warning of disaster if a federal monitor takes operational control of NYCHA, as the decree orders. Berman countered: “The real disaster is the management of NYCHA and its culture of deception.”
So far, the evidence is on Berman’s side: With winter coming, over 35,000 tenants went without heat and/or hot water in recent weeks. Meanwhile, The Post recently found that the three NYCHA workers suspended for leading boozy on-the-clock sex parties are still on the payroll.
And that’s on top of all the shenanigans exposed by Berman’s office — shutting water to entire buildings to hide leaks, skipping inspections so work-order backlogs won’t grow; literally papering over damaged areas.
True, Brezenoff has only had a few months to turn things around. But it’s not clear he has the leverage to get the agency’s unions to agree to even basic reforms, such as scheduling regular shifts beyond 9-to-5.
On the other hand, Berman’s office still seems to be trying to find someone who can do the monitor’s job overseeing the agency — an official who “will be responsible for the remediation of extensive health and safety deficiencies in NYCHA housing, as well as oversight and reform of NYCHA management, controls, and operations,” according to the decree.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Brezenoff accepted those conditions, on top of City Hall anteing up $2.2 billion over 10 years for needed repairs. But even with other new cash from the state, that $2 billion will barely make a dent in the $32 billion in needed repairs.
As we’ve said before, the question isn’t whether a monitor is too much, as Brezenoff suggests. It’s whether “oversight” is enough.
If NYCHA doesn’t see truly radical change, its 400,000 residents will soon start having to find somewhere else to live.
