In an attempt to rebound from the recent onslaught of criticism, the New York City Housing Authority will spend $200,000 on a online makeover — hiring a digital brand management specialist, according to the New York Daily News.
Search Impact Consulting Group recently won the contract to clean up NYCHA’s online image, largely via tweets. This is the second contract Search Impact has won with NYCHA. Search Impact CEO Rebecca Bilbao, a digital brand management specialist, is leading the effort.
However. the move has garnered even more criticism from some NYC politicians, upset that the agency is spending taxpayer money to improve its image rather than the city’s housing. NYCHA currently has a backlog of some 338,000 apartment repairs.
“It seems that NYCHA wants to bury the problem rather than fix it,” Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal said.
According to NYCHA spokesperson Sheila Stainback, Bilbao has increased searches for the agency by 90 percent since she was hired. [NYDN] — Christopher Cameron