Update from NYCHA Chair and General Manager on COVID-19 Measures

March 13, 2020March 31, 2020 LaToya CCC, COVID-19, Deep Cleaning, MyNYCHA, Rent Hardships, Self-Service Portal, Senior Centers, Walk-In Centers

Dear Public Housing and Section 8 Residents,

NYCHA is working closely with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York City Emergency Management, and other City, State, and federal partners to closely monitor the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in New York City and how it may impact the safety and well-being of our residents and employees.

Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency in New York City, and we’d like to share some measures we’ve taken to help keep you safe, alleviate hardships, and stop the spread of COVID-19.

NYCHA staff is increasing the frequency of daily cleaning across our developments, with a special focus on high-traffic and high-touch areas, including building entrance doors, elevator controls, mailboxes, and trash chute doors. We are using a combination of NYCHA caretakers and cleaning services companies.
We’ve secured an outside vendor to conduct deep cleanings at senior developments and other campuses that may be impacted by COVID-19. The vendor uses a two-step process that includes deep cleaning and a bio/eco-friendly protective coating that kills germs before they attach to the surface and typically lasts for 90 days. As a precautionary measure, we will have the vendor conduct this process on a 30-day cycle. The vendor began cleaning efforts on Wednesday, March 11.
Effective immediately, we have suspended all planned outages until further notice.
We are halting residential evictions for as long as the City is under a state of emergency.
As per NYCHA’s existing rental hardship policy, we are encouraging households experiencing a loss of income to request an Interim Recertification for any decrease in income that will last more than two months by accessing the NYCHA Self-Service Portal at https://selfserve.nycha.info or requesting a paper form from your Property Management office.
NYCHA’s Administrative Hearing Office is postponing all cases for two weeks, at which time we will reevaluate the hearing schedule to determine if the postponement should be extended.
We are postponing in-person public meetings and events at NYCHA offices and developments for 30 days.
We are closing the Brooklyn and Bronx Customer Contact Walk-in Centers to the public, effective Monday.

As we take these important and proactive steps to keep our NYCHA communities safe, we also encourage residents to use the Authority’s automated and online systems to complete transactions, including MyNYCHA, the Self-Service Portal, and kiosks. Visit on.nyc.gov/mynycha to download the MyNYCHA app.

We will continue to provide you with updates on COVID-19 as they develop. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the CCC at 718-707-7771.

For more information about COVID-19, visit nyc.gov/coronavirus.