Cuomo paves way for NYCHA overhaul

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation to overhaul senior management at the New York City Housing Authority, paving the way for Mayor Michael Bloomberg to make sweeping changes in the leadership at the under-fire city agency, Law360 reported.

NYCHA will now have a seven-member board with six part-time members who will receive a maximum stipend of $1,500 per month. The board will include three tenant directors. Previously, the board had five members with only one tenant director, and three of the full-time members received an annual salary of $187,000.

Cuomo’s move creates a new “equitable compensation structure” that will more accurately reflect the board members’ time commitments to NYCHA, Brooklyn Republican Sen. Martin Golden, one of the bill’s sponsors, told Law360.

NYCHA manages more than 300 developments city-wide, which include more than 400,000 tenants. The bill also gives the mayor the authority to hire and fire the board chairman and staggers the initial terms of the remaining six board members so that each year two slots will be up for replacement.

Bloomberg has previously said the city has further plans to reform NYCHA and pledged to speed up responses to maintenance requests. [Law360] – Hiten Samtani