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NYC public housing agency says it needs $78 billion for repairs
By
David Brand
Published Jul 12, 2023
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By
David Brand
Published Jul 12, 2023
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New York City’s ailing public housing system needs $78.3 billion in repairs and upgrades — nearly double the amount from just five years ago as construction costs rise and infrastructure conditions deteriorate, according to a new fiscal analysis released on Wednesday.
The New York City Housing Authority’s latest physical needs assessment paints a grim picture for the more than 360,000 residents who call its public housing complexes home.
The agency, which has 177,000 apartments in its portfolio across the five boroughs, said the money is mostly needed to fix individual units, heating and plumbing systems and building exteriors across the aging campuses, with estimated costs reaching about $485,000 per unit.
NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt said the assessment “demonstrates the tremendous magnitude and scale of the needs and challenges of NYCHA, following decades of disinvestment in public housing in New York City and across the country.”
Officials attributed about two-thirds of the cost increases to rising prices, with the additional money needed to address lead-based paint, asbestos removal and general upkeep.
In a statement, Mayor Eric Adams vowed to prioritize NYCHA’s needs but said “only the federal government can provide the level of funding needed to overcome decades of disinvestment in the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who call public housing home.”
The latest estimate is a 73% increase from 2018, when the agency estimated it needed $45 billion over 20 years to keep up with repairs and renovations.
NYCHA is required to release a physical needs assessment every five years, but said it will now begin providing annual updates.
The latest analysis comes as no surprise. Four years ago, the agency projected that its capital needs could reach $68 billion by 2028 — a deficit it has already surpassed.
About 361,000 New Yorkers are authorized to live in NYCHA’s 335 apartment complexes, with many others sharing units without appearing on a lease. Rents in the system are capped at a portion of tenant income, making it a crucial affordable housing lifeline as rents on the private housing market reach record highs.
But tenants across the five boroughs have had to endure years of mounting hazards, including dangerous lead paint, broken elevators, routine heat and hot water outages, and doors that don’t lock consistently. NYCHA’s widespread failure to protect young children from lead paint — and an attempt to cover up the extent of the problem — led to the federal government appointing a monitor to oversee operations and set specific targets for the agency.
In recent years, NYCHA has turned to two alternative management strategies to boost investment and make needed fixes by switching the source of federal funding for apartments and unlocking additional investment.
Since 2016, NYCHA has shifted about 31,000 units at 61 developments to private management through a program called Permanent Affordability Commitment Together, or PACT. The agency is now setting up an alternative program called the Preservation Trust that would change the source of funding but keep the developments under public control.
NYCHA is also backing a development team’s controversial proposal to tear down a number of buildings at two Chelsea campuses and replace them with new towers, alongside privately owned luxury and mixed-income housing.
The agency said it has accounted for about half of the needed repairs through ongoing projects, as well as the estimated impact of the PACT and Trust conversions.
Two new officials are tasked with steering the authority through its deepening crisis. Last week, Adams elevated Bova-Hiatt to a permanent role and named former state Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner Jamie Rubin as chair of the NYCHA board.
Rubin said the board will “explore all viable options that will help reduce this gap and put the Authority on a better trajectory for the long term.”
Tagged
new york city
housing
Politics
eric adams
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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