State Senator Jeffrey Klein and a group of other politicians released a report this week in which they found “deplorable conditions” in multiple New York City Housing Authority buildings.
The report looks at 49 buildings in five different developments in all five boroughs, according to the New York Daily News. Among the findings were 17 stairwells without working lights, the newspaper reported. The report also found that at least seven fires started due to clogged debris in hallways.
“The New York City Housing Authority may very well be the worst landlord in the city of New York. And that’s a shame,” Klein told the newspaper. “Our public housing stock is spiraling out of control.”
Klein proposed that private developers, in return for tax breaks, would adopt projects and be in charge of repairs. Klein also said that the state should put $250 million in funding — matched by the city — into NYCHA.
“This report highlights the critical need for additional funding to maintain and preserve public housing. As a landlord, NYCHA recognizes the urgency and enormity of the problems that affect our residents’ quality of life, and the de Blasio administration has made it a priority to address this since day one,” NYCHA said in a statement, cited by the newspaper. [NYDN] — Claire Moses