Where is the outcry by the tenants and the union for NYCHA employees, Local Teamster 237?

Eleven day old Christian McFadden died this weekend. Jacob Newman, age 5 died on August 19, 2008. Neither of these children should have died. But both Christian and Jacob lived in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments. Christian in the Van Dyke Houses and Jacob in the Taylor-Wythe Apartment Complex, owned and overseen by New York City Housing Authority. Both children died because of the neglect of the New York City Housing Authority. The New York Housing Authority has continuously cut back services due to funding loses. The truth is that NYCHA, the State of New York, the Federal government and the City of New York can find the money to fund the starving public housing development. Like the MTA who always screams poverty to raise the fare, NYCHA screams cut backs from all government sources as their excuse to allow the buildings and grounds to deteriorate.
As a resident at the Frederick Douglass Houses in the Upper West Side I am appalled by the neglect these buildings are going through. But more appalling is the indifference of the tenants of New York City Housing and its employees.
According to the New York City Housing Authority website as of July 3, 2008 there were 178,137 apartments in 343 developments; 2,636 residential buildings; 173,808 families and 403,535 authorized residents; 3,337 elevators and 12,600 employees. With well over half a million tenants why are the buildings over run with deficiencies like broken elevators, dirty stairs, dirty hallways, dirty lobbies, asbestos in apartments, hallways, stairways. Mold in apartments. Leaky roofs. Broken windows. Lack of hot water and/or heat. Rats and cockroaches and faulty electrical work. Just to name a few problems. Can you imagine the power of nearly 600,000 tenants and 12,600 employees uniting to make The New York City Housing Authority accountable? Where is the outcry by the tenants and the union for NYCHA employees, Local Teamster 237? How many more must die before the voices unite as one and shake the establishment down to its foundation?

Why aren’t the tenants of Frederick Douglass Houses fed up and mad as hell

Without struggle there is no progress-Frederick Douglass
Last night I came home to a sign that said: “No hot water from 4pm until further notice”. Living in NYCHA that could mean weeks or months. I went to the management office this morning to speak to my housing assistant but she had to go to court. I asked the receptionist to find out what was going on…and what did “until further notice” meant. She called maintenance and she told me that they told her that the hot water was turned on last night at 11pm. I told her it wasn’t, otherwise I would not have been there, duh! I went home to double check and called her to tell her that the hot water was NOT turned on. She transferred me to Mr. Richter. Nasty, nasty man. He told me that he was a “housing assistant” not maintenance – yeah, that means you are a liaison – anyway he was not helpful and hung up on me. I called several local politicians to find out what is going on and when is the hot water going to be turned on.What really upsets me is that Douglass Houses is a large development. Seventeen (17) buildings, 2,054 apartments, over 4,500 tenants. And I am the only one complaining. How humiliating. How insulting. The majority of the tenants are African Americans or Hispanic. Low income families. And they allow the New York City Housing Authority to treat them like animals. Douglass Houses is falling apart. NYCHA doesn’t care. The tenants don’t care. Why aren’t the tenants of Frederick Douglass Houses fed up and mad as hell with the inhumane, cruel, insulting treatment they receive from NYCHA? Would this happen in a building with a different tenant composition?

NYCHA's Centralized Call Center is a joke

We all know Frederick Douglass Houses has been "experiencing" a disruption of hot water since 2007. I have been complaining to city officials about this problems for about a year. The hot water heater is still not fixed and on Thursday it went off. After a call to Senator Bill Perkin's office an HPT technician called me then came to my apartment. He told me the hot water heater has a "broken coil" and would take several weeks to fix...surprise. In the meantime he raised the temperate on the heater and went away...surprise. Today the hot water went off again...surprised??? The weird thing is that Centralized Call Center made an ill attempt at fixing the hot water...its not hot...but I will take luke warm over ice cold. The Centralized Call Center called me. I wasn't home at the time of the call so I could not verify if the hot water had been restored. But it struck me as weird.



The Centralized Call Center of New York City Housing Authority is the most incompetent agency that NYCHA has...even more than the housing assistants. This is the same call center that has told me in the past that they will not send someone out to fix the hot water because it was 9:oopm and they did not want to pay overtime. To wait for the management office to open in the morning. This was after telling me (on the same day) that the hot water heater was broken and needed a new part. So which was the "true" lie? Neither. After getting upset with the operator I spoke to the supervisor and the crew was dispatched and the hot water was restored.



So why after all the lies is the Centralized Call Center calling me to find out if the hot water was restored? I don't know. I guess I have become a big pain in the you know what. And they are now covering their you know what.



What ever it takes...as long as I have hot water....tomorrow I will make more calls.

NYCHA has started to sell off it's air rights

I just came across this article dated September 12, 2008 from the City Hall News. It references the sale of the air rights of Harborview Terrace (managed by Amsterdam Houses) to Atlantic Development Group. Please e-mail me if you have more information regarding the sale and Atlantic Development Group.

http://www.cityhallnews.com/news/128/ARTICLE/1634/2008-09-12.html

Public Hearing on Eminent Domain

Senator Bill Perkins will hold a public hearing regarding the use of Eminent Domain in New York State.

The meeting will be held on September 17, 2008 at 10:00am. The location is:
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building
163 West 125th Street – 8th Floor

Participation is by invitation only. You can contact Senator Perkins office as follows:
Linda Wood Guy 212-222-7315 or you can e-mail at perkins@senate.state.ny.us

You do not have to attend the meeting to make your opinion heard. You can submit your testimony via e-mail to perkins@senate.state.ny.us

It is important for everyone to voice their opinion.

Selling off Frederick Douglass Houses

Manhattan Borough President held a news conference on August 4, 2008 to release a report titled "Land rich, Pocket Poor". This report which is 10 pages long can be downloaded from the internet. Of interest to me is that Frederick Douglass Houses is one of the development being considered for air rights sell offs.

My main concern is that NYCHA will proceed not only by selling off the air rights to our development but that Douglass Houses will eventually, either in phases or as a straight sale be sold to a private investor(s).

This is an issue that should concern everyone in Douglass Houses because New York City Housing Authority has the right - I repeat - has the right to seal the deal without holding any community meetings.

If this is an issue that interests you and it should whether you live in Douglass or any of NYCHA's development please e-mail me at teants4douglasshouses@gmail.com

For your review I am attaching links to articles that specifically mention Douglass Houses.

Go to: http://communitybasedplanning.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/stringer-nycha-needs-a-plan-to-sell-development-rights/

Go to: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/email/crd_newsletter03-08.html

Douglass Houses is up for sale

Since the fall of 2007 Douglass Houses has experienced a chronic interruption of hot water. This is one of the hundreds of disrepairs facing Douglass Houses. Our complaints are going unheard because Douglass Houses is on the list to sell off its air rights.

Every time you go without hot water, heat, or a repair is not done you have a legal right to withhold a certain amount of money from your rent. THIS APPLIES TO ALL NYCHA TENANTS…Are you paying your rent in full? Is Douglass Houses fixing your apartment? If not stand up for your rights!!!

A coalition of tenants and lawyers are ready to help you. Contact us for more information.

See article from the New York Sun : http://www.nysun.com/new-york/city-housing-authority-may-sell-off-its-air-rights/83092/