Mayor vows NYCHA fi x while fi ghting fed takeover
BY BILL PARRY
The city has received an
ultimatum from the federal
government: it has until Jan.
31, 2019, to develop a plan of
action to remediate NYCHA’s
longstanding issues with
management, lead, mold, heat,
elevators and vermin or the
agency falls into receivership.
Housing and Urban Development
Secretary Ben Carson
sent the warning in a letter to
NYCHA on Dec. 14.
If an acceptable arrangement
is not reached, HUD
intends to declare NYCHA in
substantial default of its legal
obligation to provide decent,
safe and healthy housing to
its residents.
“I will not hesitate to exercise
my legal authority to impose
more serious sanctions,”
Carson said. “The families
who are enduring unimaginably
poor housing conditions
deserve better from their
housing authority. We need
bold new solutions for an old
problem and I earnestly hope
the city is serious about turning
a new page for NYCHA.”
The ultimatum came just
hours before the city, the U.S.
Attorney’s Office and the federal
government, presented a
joint status report to federal
Judge William Pauley, who
rejected a proposes proposed
Mayor Bill de Blasio announces the city’s comprehensive plan to renovate NYCHA apartments and
keep the public housing agency under city control. Courtesy of Mayor’s offi ce
settlement to a lawsuit filed
by Manhattan U.S. Attorney
Geoffrey Berman.
“This filing is another
step on the road to fixing NYCHA,”
Mayor Bill de Blasio
said in a statement. “We are
in the middle of productive
conversations with Secretary
Carson and the U.S. Attorney
to improve the quality of life
for the 400,000 New Yorkers
who cal NYCHA home. We all
agree that the best outcome relies
upon the city and federal
government working together,
and we look forward to continuing
these discussions.”
Carson’s letter arrived two
days after de Blasio introduced
“NYCHA 2.0,” a $24 billion,
10-year comprehensive
plan to deliver top-to-bottom
renovations to housing stock
and improve health and safety
conditions for NYCHA’s
400,000 residents, that would
include a combination of private
management, air rights
sales and luxury housing leases
on NYCHA property.
The mayor also reached
a tentative contract agreement
with Teamsters Local
237, which represents public
housing caretakers and supervisors,
that would implement
the first changes to
work hours at public housing
developments in 50 years.
“That means residents
will have faster service and
staff working mornings,
nights and weekends to better
maintain buildings,” de
Blasio said. “These improvements
are coupled with wage
increases that are fair to the
workers and fair to New York
City taxpayers.”
De Blasio has spoken out
against a federal takeover arguing
that NYCHA was better
off under city control. Now
he hopes the steps taken last
week are enough to prove the
city is on the right track.
”This has been a week of
real reform in our efforts to
turn NYCHA around after
decades of neglect,” de Blasio
said. “We have secured a
new labor agreement to bring
seven-day custodial services
to NYCHA for the first time
in 50 years. We released a detailed
plan to renovate tens
of thousands of apartments,
and we are putting new management
fixes in place to
hold NYCHA more accountable
to its residents. This is
positive momentum, and we
all need to work together to
ensure it continues.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.
com or by phone at (718) 260–
4538.
Civic group honors outgoing Queens Parks commish
BY MARK HALLUM
With Queens Parks Commissioner
Dorothy Lewandowski
stepping down from
the city agency at the end of
the year, the Juniper Park
Civic Association showed its
gratitude for her years of service
by presenting her with its
Community Service Award at
the group’s Dec. 13 meeting in
Middle Village.
Lewandowski, a Middle
Village resident, has been
with the Parks Department
since 1979, starting with a
summer job; she has served
as the Queens borough commissioner
since 2004.
“As I went around the borough
over 14 years, I’ve needed
a lot of civic association
groups. I’ve lived in Middle
Village and everyone would
say, ‘Why do the parks in
Juniper Valley look so much
better than my neighborhood?’
And I would say it’s
not because I live there, it’s
because there are community
organizations and volunteers
who help take care of
it,” Lewandowski said.
Some of Lewandowski’s
accomplishments include the
creation of Elmhurst Park on
the former site of the Elmhurst
Gas Tanks between 2007 and
2011 as well as the restoration
of the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk
following the destruction
of Hurricane Sandy.
Lewandowski and other
city leaders recently broke
ground on a Vietnam veterans’
memorial in Elmhurst
Park, dedicated to the 370
men and women killed in one
of the United States’ most controversial
conflicts.
It will include the names
of people involved in the war
who died or are suffering
from illness related to their
service in Vietnam.
In April, Parks began
work on a $6 million rebuild
of Queensbridge Park. Lewandowski
is also credited
with working alongside civic
groups to rehabilitate and protect
the Ridgewood Reservoir.
“Dotty will be leaving our
parks looking better than
ever thanks to her decades of
hard work and dedication,”
JPCA President Tony Nunziato
said.
Joanne Amagrande, also a
Middle Village resident, will
serve as borough commissioner
in the interim until a
replacement for Lewandowski
is appointed after she leaves
office on Dec. 31.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum
by e-mail at mhallum@
cnglocal.com or by phone at
(718) 260–4564.
Queens Borough Parks Commisioner Dorothy Lewandowski and
Tony Nunziato. Photo by Mark Hallum
TIMESLEDGER,TIMESLEDGER.COM DEC. 21-27, 2018 5