Velazquez, NYC Delegation Press NYCHA on Sandy-Related Jobs

Washington, DC – Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) led nine of her colleagues from the New York City Congressional delegation in calling on the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to document how many residents are hired for jobs created through spending on Sandy reconstruction projects. In a letter to NYCHA Chair Shola Olatoye, Velázquez and her colleagues pressed the agency to begin documenting how many NYCHA residents are employed through Sandy spending.

In addition to Velázquez (D-NY), the letter is signed by Reps. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY); Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY); Grace Meng (D-NY); Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY); Joseph Crowley (D-NY); Charles Rangel (D-NY); Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY); and José E. Serrano (D-NY).

The text of the letter is below.

September 24, 2015

Ms. Shola Olatoye
Chair
New York City Housing Authority
250 Broadway
New York, New York 10007

Dear Chair Olatoye:

As you know, New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) public housing residents were severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and NYCHA housing stock required significant repairs and restoration after the storm. Specifically, over 400 of NYCHA’s projects—home to at least 79,000 residents—lost their electricity. The boilers at 26 buildings were destroyed, and Sandy-related flooding exacerbated mold growth and ruined the structural integrity of several buildings. NYCHA estimated at the time that it would cost $800 million to full restore its properties, and completing the necessary rehabilitation will take years and requires hundreds of qualified professionals. Years later, we now know this to have been a conservative estimate of the actual need.

On February 20, 2013, members of the New York City congressional delegation wrote to your predecessor, former Chairman Rhea, urging him to ensure that NYCHA aggressively train and hire public housing residents with the portion of the disaster assistance it receives, in part by applying HUD Section 3 standards to both HUD and FEMA assistance provided in the aftermath of the storm. Specifically, the delegation recommended that “NYCHA adopt a clear plan to maximize the use of Superstorm Sandy disaster relief funding for Section 3 programming. The plan should detail the agency’s intended resident outreach efforts, the types of training that the authority will provide, the kinds of jobs available, and the agency’s timeline for hiring residents.”

After the storm NYCHA and the City expressed a commitment to ensuring that local residents, including those living in NYCHA housing, benefit from Sandy-related jobs. However, nearly three years later, we still have not received any information and data about the number of actual job and training opportunities provided to NYCHA residents as a result of federal Sandy recovery assistance. This is unacceptable, and raises serious questions about the proposals included in the NextGen NYCHA plan.

If NYCHA was unable to track resident job placement in the aftermath of Sandy, NYCHA’s assertion that it will ensure that residents benefit from jobs created by NextGen NYCHA-related construction and rehabilitation activity is called into question.

As such, we respectfully request that moving forward, NYCHA submit periodic progress reports on a semi-annual basis, detailing its efforts to hire residents for jobs created by Sandy funds. The reports should include specific data on the number of jobs created and number of residents trained. The report should also detail where and how the final tranche of Sandy recovery funds will be spent – and how NYCHA will ensure that residents benefit from these time-limited job and training opportunities. All data provided in the report should be aggregated by congressional district, at a minimum.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

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