NYCHA’s head of capital projects suspended

Raymond Ribeiro, the New York City Housing Authority’s executive vice president for capital projects, was suspended Monday on news he was being probed by the Department of Investigation.

Ribeiro, who joined the agency in 2011, oversaw all agency construction contracts and ran its $3 billion recovery effort following Hurricane Sandy.

NYCHA chairwoman Shola Olatoye said she couldn’t discuss the situation while the investigation proceeds, but said she was told “it didn’t have anything to do with his tenure at NYCHA.”

City Comptroller Scott Stringer told NYCHA officials on Sept. 10 that auditors were investigating whether the agency property monitored construction contracts, sources told the tabloid. NYCHA is not required to disclose contractor data on contracts, amounts and completion dates, and it’s unclear if the investigation into Ribeiro is related to construction contract monitoring, the New York Daily News reported.

The agency is in the midst of its campaign to implement the de Blasio administration’s NextGen Neighborhoods program for private development on city land. The first sites for that program, Wyckoff Gardens in Boerum Hill and Holmes Towers on the Upper East Side, were announced earlier this month. The plan has elicited a largely-negative reaction from tenants. [NYDN] – Ariel Stulberg