Res 0725-2023

Council Members Avil�s, Louis and Restler Whereas, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) provides affordable housing to low- and moderate-income families; and Whereas, NYCHA serves 339,900 authorized residents in 162,143 apartments within 277 housing developments in their conventional public housing program; and Whereas, NYCHA was appointed a federal monitor in part because of the persistent accumulation of trash and rodent infestations at NYCHA developments; and Whereas, Caretakers are NYCHA employees, whose responsibilities include driving NYCHA's vehicles, helping to clean up debris, picking up materials and supplies and helping with snow removal; and Whereas, For a caretaker to work at or enter a NYCHA construction site, a Site Safety Training Card (SST card), which certifies that the worker completed construction site safety training, would be required; and Whereas, NYCHA's caretakers are not currently required to have SST cards; and Whereas, NYCHA's Transformation Plan highlights the capital budget to be approximately $4.5 billion for making systematic upgrades, infrastructure improvements and major modernizations at their developments; and Whereas, As NYCHA continues to work on its capital program, NYCHA residents at these construction sites have complained about debris, dust accumulation, and the overall lack of cleanliness in the hallways and across their developments; and Whereas, NYCHA residents should not be forced to live with such conditions; and Whereas, According to the Electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety and Health, anyone who breathes in silica dust, wood dust and toxic dust could cause damage to the lungs and airways; and Whereas, NYCHA should provide caretakers with the necessary safety training to be able to access NYCHA construction sites to conduct daily cleaning and help to mitigate debris and dust accumulation from construction sites; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of City of New York calls on the New York City Housing Authority to require caretakers to obtain the Site Safety Training Card. JLC LS 9895 3/23/2023