New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is holding the first in a series of citywide “rental ripoff” hearings Thursday to help protect tenants.
One of the city’s largest group of tenants say they’re being left out. That’s because New York City Housing Authority residents – 1 in 16 New Yorkers – say they won’t get a chance to speak with city leaders.
More than 500,000 New Yorkers live in housing provided by NYCHA, the largest public housing authority in the nation and a landlord consistently deemed one of the worst by the public advocate. NYCHA tenant association presidents showed CBS News New York conditions they hoped to bring to light at the upcoming “rental ripoff” hearings, which the city says will offer New Yorkers a microphone to share poor conditions and unconscionable practices with city leaders.
“You’re slapping us in the face again”
“When you go to register for it, it asks you if you’re a private renter or a public housing resident. Once you click the box saying you’re a public housing resident, it automatically asks you to list your complaint and that it will be referred to a NYCHA representative,” NYCHA West Side Urban Renewal Brownstones tenant association president Cynthia Tibbs said.
City Hall says the website allows everyone to register for the hearing, regardless of where they live.
“We’ve been dealing with them for over 50 years, OK, and nothing has gotten resolved. So you’re slapping us in the face again,” Frederick Douglass Houses tenant association president Carmen Quinones said.
City Hall says if a New Yorker receives an RSVP confirmation, they’ll be able to participate in a one-on-one listening session with senior leadership from the city agencies, regardless of whether they live in private market housing or in a NYCHA building.
The focus in the upcoming “rental ripoff” hearings is to hear from tenants in the private market, Mamdani said Tuesday.
“Especially with the kinds of junk fees that many of them have reported to the city and the ways in which those experiences should inform city policy,” Mamdani said.
“Our residents are dying in these conditions,” former Taft Houses tenant association president Beverly McFarlane said. “They keep saying they don’t have money.”
“He’s responsible for NYCHA”
The website for the hearings says “in the coming months, our administration will release a housing plan focused on improving housing quality for all New Yorkers, including those in public housing.”
“The city is the landlord for NYCHA. He has the most power. He appoints the leadership of NYCHA. He’s responsible for NYCHA,” tenant advocate Dr. Jessie Fields said.
Some of the people who spoke with CBS News New York said they’ll try to go to Thursday’s hearing in Brooklyn anyway, saying NYCHA concerns should be Mamdani’s first priority. A CBS News New York investigation found the average time it takes for NYCHA to make simple repairs has grown to 415 days on average over the years.
“NYCHA continuously engages with residents to receive feedback, respond to concerns, and field requests. We maintain ongoing communication through resident leadership and tenant association meetings, in addition to a myriad of resident programs, board meetings, resident roundtables, public hearings, information sessions, comment periods, and resident surveys. On-site staff are available to residents at all developments in addition to the specialty teams responding to emergency heating, elevator, and skilled trades repair needs around-the-clock. Residents in need of assistance are able call the Customer Contact Center at 718-707-7771 or submit work tickets through the MyNYCHA application,” NYCHA said in a statement.
Senior NYCHA staff will be present at each hearing.
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