The NYCHA Journal

The NYCHA Journal has informed and inspired residents since 1970, covering the news, contributions, and uplifting stories of the NYCHA community while providing the latest information on Authority initiatives.

Message from the CEO
Communities NYCHA Leadership Top Story 

A Year of Progress and Promise

Michael

Dear Residents, 

With the holidays now upon us, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of NYCHA’s accomplishments on behalf of the families we serve. Whether it was the work of improving residents’ homes, strengthening our organization, or blazing new paths forward, I’m honored to have this opportunity to improve your quality of life and am proud of my colleagues’ achievements. I also want to emphasize that none of this would have been possible without our partnership with you. 

Improving Residents’ Homes and Providing Opportunity 

Every day, NYCHA staff work hard to repair our buildings and apartments and keep our grounds in good shape, as evidenced by the improved inspection scores in every borough. The efforts to ensure safe and decent living conditions for residents extends to the removal of hazardous materials, and I’m pleased to say that we recently passed a significant milestone: abating lead in more than 10,000 public housing apartments, providing families with the peace of mind they deserve. NYCHA has also tested more than 86,000 apartments for lead using the City’s new and stricter standard. Paired with the more than 3,000 apartments abated by the PACT program, this means significant progress in this important area. 

We are not only addressing the issues of the past but are also strategizing for the future. For instance, our Sustainability team is helping to address the climate crisis while elevating residents’ quality of life. The Clean Heat for All Challenge is spurring the production of new energy-efficient heating and cooling systems for apartments; two manufacturers were selected, who completed pilots in NYCHA apartments and are currently scaling the initiative for full-building pilots. The Induction Stove Challenge is similarly producing energy-efficient electric cooking systems, exploring the possibility of replacing more gas stoves with induction stoves in NYCHA apartments. At Polo Grounds Towers, we are installing the first-ever pneumatic waste collection system in a public housing development, and we recently connected the first building to the system. Once fully complete, this system will reduce the time staff spend transporting trash, enabling them to focus their efforts elsewhere. 

Our Resident Services, Partnerships, and Initiatives team made great strides this year in fostering stronger collaboration across our communities and connecting residents to life-changing opportunities. That included connecting nearly 2,000 residents to jobs and facilitating over 1,200 resident referrals to economic opportunity partners; awarding a record number of NYCHA-CUNY scholarships; supporting resident associations in putting $2.2 million in Tenant Participation Activity funding to good use in their communities; training nearly 600 residents and over 1,500 staff on how we can better work together to transform the Authority; obtaining more than $6 million in grants for education and jobs programs and nearly $5 million in grants for health initiatives; providing residents with more than 35,000 books and 2,600 tickets for arts, cultural, and sporting events; and hosting 162 NYC Human Resources Administration benefits enrollment events at our developments. 

Another very tangible way we’re providing opportunity to New Yorkers is by opening the Section 8 waitlist for the first time in 15 years. This summer, 200,000 households were randomly selected via a lottery.  

We’re also providing opportunity and stability by connecting residents to valuable rent assistance programs. We fought to ensure NYCHA residents got their fair share of Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funding from the State (approximately $159 million), and now we’re connecting eligible residents to two new programs: the Covid-19 Rental Assistance Program (CRA) and the HOME American Rescue Plan Program (HOME-ARP), which will provide up to an estimated $185 million to cover rent arrears resulting from the pandemic. 

Blazing New Paths Forward 

We are also forging new frameworks for bringing our aging developments the funding they desperately need. This year, one of our major housing preservation programs, PACT, closed on the financing for eight developments, representing $1.7 billion in comprehensive renovations for nearly 7,600 residents. That brings us to a total of nearly $7 billion invested in NYCHA properties to date through PACT. We recently announced that the next phase of work is beginning at one especially notable PACT project, at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses, following years of community engagement there. Ultimately, we aim to bring dramatically improved quality of life to a total of 62,000 NYCHA families with the PACT program.  

We also announced a recent milestone involving another of our groundbreaking initiatives – that residents of Throggs Neck Addition and Randall Avenue-Balcom will be the next to vote on the future of their homes (that is, whether they want their developments to join PACT or the Public Housing Preservation Trust or remain Section 9 housing). The voting process was first launched at Nostrand Houses in 2023, followed by votes at Bronx River Addition, Coney Island Houses, Coney Island I (Site 1B), and Hylan Houses this year. In October, the Trust and NYCHA issued the first Request for Proposal for major capital renovations and repairs at Nostrand Houses. 

Our Comprehensive Modernization (Comp Mod) program will also complete top-to-bottom repairs and renovations at selected developments – from beautiful, new apartments to modernized building systems – through a streamlined approach that considers the needs of an entire property. Earlier this year, design-build teams were selected to carry out renovations at Saint Nicholas and Todt Hill Houses. Resident engagement is also a hallmark of the Comp Mod program, and residents at Todt Hill Houses recently got to see what their fully renovated apartments will look like, thanks to a mock apartment that previews the colors, finishes, and overall designs which residents themselves selected. 

These are only a few examples of all that we have accomplished together – I am continually amazed by what we can achieve when we work together. As we transition to a New Year, I wish you and your family happy holidays and a happy and healthy 2025! I can’t wait to continue our progress and transformation efforts alongside you in the months ahead. 

Sincerely, 

Lisa Bova-Hiatt, Chief Executive Officer