Mayoral candidate says NYCHA is the city’s “biggest slumlord”

GOP mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis called the New York City Housing Authority the “biggest slumlord” in the city, and accused Mayor Bill de Blasio of mismanaging the system.

“NYCHA is one of the biggest providers of affordable housing in this city, and the city likes to go after landlords a lot, which is fine when they are not doing what they supposed to be doing,” the Staten Island Assemblywoman said during a meeting with seniors Monday at Stuyvesant Gardens in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the New York Post reported.

“But the reality is that NYCHA is the biggest slumlord in the city of New York,” she said.

Malliotakis said that NYCHA, which is run by mayoral appointees, has a major mismanagement problem. She pledged to name a liaison from the mayor’s office to deal with residents directly if she gets elected.

But a spokesperson for de Blasio said, “I know it’s political season, but the facts here are clear: the de Blasio Administration has made an unprecedented investment in NYCHA to help improve quality of life for residents and ensure our public housing continues to improve.”

Malliotakis is the leading Republican contender after Cushman & Wakefield executive Paul Massey dropped out of the mayoral race in June. [NYP] – Rich Bockmann