Carson and de Blasio Find Common Ground – and Pledge to Make it Better Ground

By Edward King and Maya Dower-Johnson

 

Amid the frozen tundra sweeping New York City, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Secretary Ben Carson and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio had warm news. The pair held a joint press conference early Thursday afternoon, finalizing a legal settlement between HUD, the city, and the Southern District of New York federal court, after U.S. Judge William H. Pauley III effectively voided a previous settlement agreement this past November.

“I’m very excited for what we have agreed to here because it sets a great precedent for what can be done in other places around the country,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “Public housing, assisted housing – these are things we need to be concerned about, affordable housing, especially we need to be concerned about because the cost of rents are going up 20 percent faster than the cost of inflation and other things.”

The new settlement serves as the conclusion to a seven-month skirmish involving HUD, the New York City and Southern District, following ongoing reports of mismanagement, lead poisoning, vermin infestation, security risks, mold, and a host of other issues that have plagued the beleaguered city agency for nearly decades.

“This has been going on for many weeks and it’s taken a lot of work, a lot of focus,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “The Secretary and I have met in person several times here and in Washington. We’ve spoken constantly on the phone, and the secretary has shown me a level of focus and concern that I deeply appreciate. Most importantly, the nearly 400,000 New Yorkers that live in public housing I know will appreciate because we were able to get to a cooperative constructive outcome.”

Part of the new agreement outlines that the city must initially invest $1 billion in its public housing and contribute an additional $ 200 million a year to its public housing agency. The city must also work with HUD and the Southern District to appoint a new chair of NYCHA (The New York City Housing Authority), in addition to an approved outside monitor that will oversee the day-to-day activities of the agency. The monitor will make quarterly reports that will be available to the public, in addition to the appropriate governing bodies. During the meeting, Secretary Carson stressed, “We are not going to try to micromanage what is going on here in New York City.”

The appointment of a new NYCHA boss comes in the wake of current Interim boss Stanley Brezenoff’s comments, saying, “I’ve been trying to get out of this job for months.”

For both the city and its NYCHA residents, the conclusion to the saga is long overdue, especially for longtime residents like Carl King of the Farragut Houses in downtown Brooklyn.

“Let me tell you something,” King said. “For three, four years now, the kitchen floor is mess up. In the bedroom, the floor mess up from the steam. I had to get my grandson to come and look at it to fix. Nobody else is gonna come and do it. Right now, there’s a line across the bottom of the wall. We had to get tile and break them in half in order to patch it up.”