Who’s the boss?
Hours after Mayor de Blasio and Ben Carson sealed a deal to appoint a federal monitor for NYCHA, the Housing and Urban Development secretary was undercut by a top deputy in a television interview.
“I disagree with the secretary’s statement at the press conference today, when he said this monitor will be doing just that — monitoring,” Lynne Patton, the HUD administrator for New York and New Jersey, said on NY1 Thursday night.
“This monitor is extremely and actively engaged in the day-to-day operations of NYCHA.”
Patton then doubled down on the stunning statement on Twitter on Friday morning.
“I would NOT APPROVE an agreement based upon the feelings of Mayors who want to be President or Councilmen/Comptrollers who want to be Mayor,” the former Trump family event planner tweeted.
“THIS MONITOR HAS THE POWER TO REMOVE LEADERSHIP, ABROGATE CONTRACTS VIA HUD & ENFORCE REAL CHANGE AT @NYCHA!”
The outburst came a day after de Blasio and Carson inked the agreement to fix the Housing Authority’s dilapidated buildings, which explicitly says “the monitor shall not be responsible for NYCHA’s day-to-day operations.”
De Blasio fired back at Patton during his regular Friday radio appearance on WNYC — saying Carson runs the agency, not her.
“The person in charge is the secretary, with all due respect to Ms. Patton,” retorted Hizzoner, who once held Patton’s job. “I think it’s unusual, to say the least, that she would contradict her boss.”
Reached by The Post late Friday, Patton insisted she “didn’t contradict the secretary” — then acknowledged she does “disagree” with his decision to “phrase” the situation as “the monitor is monitoring.”
She then conceded that the monitor “may not be making decisions on the day-to-day” but will still put NYCHA “on a clear path forward.”
Patton said no one from HUD had contacted her about her statements.
“You know, the secretary and president have full faith in me to oversee the largest HUD program office in the country,” she said.
In a statement, HUD spokesman Raffi Williams declined to comment on Patton’s statements, saying only: “The secretary firmly believes that the monitor’s oversight role, as detailed in the agreement, is the best way to bring relief to the residents of NYCHA.”
Meanwhile Friday, Gov. Cuomo attacked the city’s deal with the feds as a “political save face” that isn’t aimed at the best interests of NYCHA tenants — a day after de Blasio described it as a “very strong path forward.”
“I think this was a political decision, not a legal decision,” said Cuomo, a former HUD secretary, on “The Capitol Pressroom” radio show in Albany.
“They haven’t put any money on the table . . . The federal government got off scot-free here and I think it was more of a political save-face decision than one rooted in law or the best interest of the tenants.”
Additional reporting by Ruth Brown
