Ex-NYCHA members remain on payroll after jobs eliminated

Two former New York City Housing Authority board members continue to receive a salary despite being terminated from their jobs two weeks ago, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office confirmed to the New York Daily News.

Assembly Housing Committee Chairman Keith Wright, a Democrat from Harlem, sponsored the bill that removed from the board the only full-time members who earn a six-figure salary and are assigned their own drivers. Margarita Lopez and Emily Youssouf each made $187,000 last year, the Daily News said. The law went into effect on July 3.

“If the legislation says it’s supposed to go into effect immediately, it should go into effect immediately,” Wright told the newspaper. “I can only presume that maybe Mr. Bloomberg is paying these board members out of some other pot of money.”

The mayor is expected to appoint a new seven-member board. Lopez and Youssouf declined to comment to the newspaper. The authority is involved with public housing sites such as the Manhattanville Houses and the Van Dyke Houses. [NYDN] – Mark Maurer