Res 1183-2016

By Council Members Salamanca, Cohen, Palma, Koo and Chin Whereas, The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public housing authority with 328 developments, 2,547 buildings, and 177,657 public housing units, making it the largest public housing provider in North America; and Whereas, NYCHA also has nearly 2,989 caretakers that remove garbage, submit maintenance requests, remove graffiti and clean the public areas at NYCHA developments; and Whereas, NYCHA relies heavily on federal subsidies to operate and maintain the public housing developments; and Whereas, Since 2001, NYCHA has not received enough in subsidies from the federal government to fully fund their operations and the lack of funding has impaired NYCHA's ability to employ enough caretakers to meet the needs of its residents; and Whereas, NYCHA testified at a New York City Public Housing Committee hearing on May 19, 2016, that it cannot provide a temporary caretaker when another caretaker is on leave from their position; and Whereas, NYCHA has developed a long-term strategic plan, known as NextGeneration NYCHA (NextGen), to change how they are funded and operated; and Whereas, NextGen aims to: A) diversify NYCHA's funding and achieve short-term financial stability, B) operate as an efficient and effective landlord, C) restore, expand and preserve affordable housing stock and D) engage and link residents to social services; and Whereas, The NextGen plan is expected generate an annual surplus totaling more than $230 million over 10 years for NYCHA and such surplus should provide NYCHA with the necessary funds to hire caretakers; and Whereas, The daily custodial function of a caretaker plays a critical importance in maintaining livable conditions at NYCHA; and Whereas, Without caretakers, residents living in these affected developments could go multiple days without having their garbage picked up or have their developments cleaned; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to provide a temporary caretaker when another caretaker is on-leave from his or her position. JLC LS 8403/2016 7/27/2016 5:50 PM