FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2021

CONTACT: media@nycha.nyc.gov

NYCHA ANNOUNCES HUD and SDNY CONCUR WITH AUTHORITY’S TRANSFORMATION PLAN GREENLIGHTING IMPLEMENTATION PHASE

The Transformation Plan was developed as part of the 2019 HUD Agreement and will bring long-term, sustainable changes to NYCHA, including how the Authority responds to issues at developments and how NYCHA is structured.

NEW YORK – Today NYCHA released its unconstrained Transformation Plan, a vision for significant yet sustainable change to NYCHA’s governance and leadership structure, property management systems, and central support functions. The Transformation Plan was conceived as part of the 2019 HUD Agreement and includes a set of strategies that will improve the resident experience and set the agency on a path to a stronger future. The release of the Transformation Plan marks the beginning of this multi-year process. In partnership with residents and stakeholders, NYCHA now will turn to the challenging task of reviewing, testing, and implementing these structural and process changes in a resource-constrained environment.

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) have concurred on the Plan. NYCHA, HUD, SDNY, Monitor, residents, and other stakeholders will now focus on analysis and implementation efforts. This includes evaluating the costs and benefits of each possible change and beginning to make difficult choices that are necessary to better serve residents. These results, based on modelling and analysis, will be submitted in an Implementation Plan as a supplement to the Transformation Plan. The first part of the Implementation Plan is due by the end of September 2021. The second part is due at the end of June 2022. Together, the Transformation Plan and the Implementation Plan will result in the Organizational Plan required in the HUD Agreement.

 “NYCHA’s Transformation Plan, along with the critical work we are doing to address key issues detailed in the 2019 Agreement, is central to the dramatic reforms we are making at the Authority,” said NYCHA Chair and CEO Greg Russ. “We are aware of the many constraints we face, but with this plan we have the management structure and operations model to forge a strong path forward. Thank you to HUD and SDNY, and federal monitor Bart Schwartz for their assistance in getting NYCHA to this important milestone.”

This Transformation Plan is a part of NYCHA’s innovative Blueprint for Change, a comprehensive set of ideas to transform the Authority, which also includes a Stabilization Strategy to access capital funding for 110,000 units.

The Transformation Plan represents the culmination of multiple engagements and hundreds of conversations with staff, residents, and stakeholders. From these engagements, NYCHA created a new mission statement, vision, organizational principles, and key values to help guide the strategies in the Transformation Plan. As the strategies to transform NYCHA took shape, NYCHA again engaged stakeholders through virtual resident townhalls, discussions with City agency partners and advocates, and employee webinars and visioning sessions.

NYCHA continued prioritizing engagement by making the draft Transformation Plan the first plan NYCHA has opened up for public comment. Residents, stakeholders, and employees were able to submit comments on the draft Plan from November 16 to December 28, 2020. NYCHA received over 320 comments, mostly from residents, and will continue to conduct outreach in order to ensure resident and stakeholder feedback is included in the Authority’s future plans.

The Transformation Plan is a strategic vision of organizational and business process improvements for NYCHA without constraints, and the Implementation Plan is the actual organizational and business process strategies that NYCHA will realize given resources, timing, and change management constraints.

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.

“NYCHA's Transformation Plan prioritizes service delivery to residents so that NYCHA's operations are as effective, efficient, and fair as possible," said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been. “This plan is informed by extensive resident engagement and feedback, setting NYCHA up to fundamentally improve the quality of life for current and future residents."  

NYCHA identified three major organization changes to reach these goals:

• 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 volumes 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 available here and on NYCHA’s website at: on.nyc.gov/blueprintforchange

“Meeting another important milestone in the federal settlement agreement, we congratulate NYCHA on its approved transformation plan,” said Rachel Fee, Executive Director for the New York Housing Conference. “Developed in partnership with residents and stakeholders, this comprehensive plan sets NYCHA on course to make needed operational improvements to better manage its housing and serve its residents. We expect implementation will not be easy but it will yield results that will improve both living conditions and services for NYCHA residents.”

"The Center for Court Innovation is deeply invested in the future of public housing, and we applaud many of the institutional reforms identified in NYCHA's Transformation Plan to improve accountability for residents,” said Courtney Bryan, Executive Director of the Center for Court Innovation. “Many challenges lie ahead, but the 'Neighborhood Model' promises more decision-making and oversight at the local level to address hazardous repair issues experienced by tenant families. Moreover, improvements to NYCHA's rent recertification and alternatives to housing court actions can prevent evictions as part of the post-COVID recovery of New York."

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About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
The New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA” or the “Authority”) provides affordable housing to 380,299 authorized residents in over 177,611 apartments within 335 housing developments. NYCHA serves 359,593 authorized residents in over 168,100 apartments within 285 housing developments through the conventional public housing program (Section 9) and 20,706 authorized residents in 9,511 units within 50 developments that were converted to PACT/RAD. Through federal rent subsidies (Section 8 Leased Housing Program), NYCHA also assists approximately 77,663 families in locating and renting units. In addition, NYCHA facilitates access to social services through a variety of programs. 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.