FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : December 31, 2020

CONTACT: media@nycha.nyc.gov | (212) 306-3322

RESIDENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS WEIGH IN ON NYCHA TRANSFORMATION PLAN IN PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD AS PART OF INNOVATIVE BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE

More than 300 comments during the Transformation Plan public comment period highlighted safety and security, repairs and maintenance, and management, among others

NEW YORK – The public comment period for the Transformation Plan closed this week, with more than 300 comments from residents and other stakeholders, sharing views on how to comprehensively restructure the largest housing authority in the U.S.

This is the first time ever that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has put a strategic plan out for public comment and the Authority plans to continue its extensive outreach efforts, including hosting resident town hall meetings, in order to ensure resident and stakeholder feedback is included in NYCHA’s future plans.

“This public comment period for the Transformation Plan is the beginning of a long process to create a NYCHA that works for all of our residents and stakeholders,” said NYCHA Chair & CEO Greg Russ. “We appreciate the input we’ve received and we look forward to using these comments to help shape the plan moving forward.”

As part of the 2019 HUD Agreement, the Transformation Plan is NYCHA’s vision for a more effective and responsive organization, driven by ideas and feedback received through numerous stakeholder engagement sessions throughout 2019 and 2020.

The public comment period was open from November 16 to December 28 for all residents and stakeholders. Although the public comment period has closed, NYCHA plans to continue outreach and holding town hall meetings for residents and staff, and welcomes input at all stages of this process.

"The Transformation Plan public comment period provided an unprecedented opportunity for residents and the community to weigh in on a plan that will radically shift how NYCHA operates,” said Deputy Mayor Vicki Been. "We are grateful for the many who are stepping up to help us chart the course and look forward to continuing to work together to shape NYCHA's future." 

The focal points of the 322 comments NYCHA received regarded repairs and maintenance, transparency and communication, safety and security, resident accountability, stabilization and management. These comments will help NYCHA enhance the Transformation Plan. Ideas moving forward include adding a section for Safety and Security, creating plans to organize a resident committee to develop recommendations on resident accountability, the possibility of creating a tracking system for tracking daily caretaker tasks, and exploring new performance metrics.

NYCHA informed residents, staff and stakeholders of the public comment period through rent inserts, emails, printed flyers, articles in all NYCHA printed and online media, a dedicated webpage for the Transformation Plan, the MyNYCHA app, the Self-Service Portal, town halls, posted videos and social media. Copies of the draft Transformation Plan were also made available in 13 languages at all property management offices.

Moving forward, NYCHA will present a final draft to the Federal Monitor, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at the end of January. If approved, NYCHA will kick off the analysis and implementation phase in March.

The Transformation Plan is a part of NYCHA’s Blueprint for Change, a comprehensive set of ideas to transform the Authority, including the Stabilization Strategy (capital funding for 110,000 units) introduced in July, which calls for a public trust to leverage valuable federal vouchers to raise capital for NYCHA properties. These initiatives will generate jobs and contribute to the city’s economic recovery while preserving NYCHA for future generations.

The Transformation Plan proposes changes based on five key organizational principles:

· Changing the way we do business by implementing new policies and procedures across the portfolio.

· Responding quickly to conditions at NYCHA properties.

· Ensuring quality at points of service.

· Delivering large-scale projects on time.

· Establishing clear management structures so individual employees can be measured against clearly defined goals.

To reach these goals, NYCHA identified three major organizational changes, which are outlined in the Transformation Plan:

· Changes to NYCHA’s Board and executive management structure that will better align functions across the organization and streamline business decision-making.

· Changes to NYCHA’s property portfolios and property operations, including moving from a six-borough management structure to four geographic management boroughs and decentralizing further into smaller neighborhood management groups within each borough. This will allow managers to have more line of sight at the developments and better prioritize workload, allowing for faster repairs and more cohesive management, and resident connections at the property level.

· Changes to how central office functions are aligned to support property operations, based on work volume and needs.

The Transformation Plan also includes numerous business process improvements that focus on service delivery pain points as identified by residents and employees, such as the Annual Review process and the Alternative Work Schedule program, along with new ideas for how NYCHA can improve productivity through technology and supply chain management, improve resident partnerships and expand resident economic opportunities, and empower employees through learning and development.

The Transformation Plan is a vision for dramatic but sustainable change to NYCHA’s governance and leadership structure, property management systems, and central support functions. The Plan includes a set of strategies that will set the agency on a path to a far brighter future, but it is only the beginning of this process. As this plan is completed, NYCHA will turn to the difficult task of implementing these structural and process changes in a resource-constrained environment. In building its implementation plan, NYCHA will evaluate the cost-benefit of each possible change and begin to make the difficult choices that will define the agency for years to come.

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About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

The New York City Housing Authority is the largest public housing authority in North America, housing nearly 400,000 residents. NYCHA’s mission is to increase opportunities for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers by providing safe, affordable housing and facilitating access to social and community services. Over 390,000 New Yorkers reside in NYCHA’s 316 public housing developments and PACT developments around the five boroughs. Over 190,000 receive subsidized rental assistance in private homes through the NYCHA-administered Section 8 Leased Housing Program. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/nycha , and for regular updates on NYCHA news and services, connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCHA and www.twitter.com/NYCHA .