The fiscal woes of New York City's Housing Authority or NYCHA are not exactly classified information withheld from the public knowledge. But, the Housing Authority's initiative to sell off public lands to private developers in recent years, and under New Yorkers breath, were brought to light.
In an exclusive report by The Daily News New York, NYCHA is trying to make up for its budget deficit by making the most out of what they have in the form of the city's real estate assets. They sold empty lots or those that they view as lands that are underused.
According to a review conducted by the Daily News, NYCHA has already disposed of 54 parcels of land amounting to 441,000 square foot of public land. Private developers were already acquiring small lots for the past several years, but made the biggest purchases from 2011, thanks largely to the housing authority ramping up its selling campaign.
The housing authority is dealing with a staggering $98 million budget deficit for the year, and is projected to reach as much as $400 million by the year 2025. Add to their dilemma, there are now about 250,000 local residents queued up on their wait list for affordable housing.
Shola Olatoye, the current Chairwoman of the NYCHA, and other officials were not keen on laying out the exact details for their plans, but she believes that the authority's plans are necessary to solve the mounting financial problem.
"Given this reality, we are exploring all options available to bring in additional revenue that will help us better serve residents. Our soon-to-be released NextGeneration NYCHA plan, which we developed with residents, community advocates, elected officials, and partners in government, will outline thoughtful strategies for preserving public housing and improving communities", Olatoye said in a statement.
Some residents have expressed their doubt on the NYCHA move saying that private landlords could probably replace affordable units into market-rate rentals upon the expiration of tax breaks. This was the sentiment of one of the members of the City Council, Rosie Mendez. "I view it as a road to privatization," she said.
The tenants from the area are concerned about the loss to development of their green space and parking areas, and the playground to their children. "This is where the kids learned to ride their bikes," Lisa Kenner, one of the tenant leader told the Daily News. "If you take that, where are they going to go?"
Not all were in opposition to the idea though, an alliance of tenant and church organizations rallied behind the NYCHA to convert vacant lots into the much needed senior housing projects.
"The mayor ought to use NYCHA's underutilized parking lots to immediately build 15,000 units of affordable senior housing," said Rev. David Brawley. "It's time for the mayor to stop talking about the problem and start doing something about it.
