Urban Fellows Visit NYCHA for Conversation with CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt

When the newest cohort of the New York City Urban Fellows Program visited NYCHA recently, they came prepared with questions about some of the most complex issues facing public housing in New York City.

Gathered in the Ceremonial Room at one of NYCHA’s central offices, the fellows met with Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt, who shared reflections on her career in public service and offered an overview of NYCHA’s mission and operations.

After the presentation, the conversation shifted into a lively question-and-answer session.

“They were thoughtful,” said Adam Brodheim, a Senior Policy Analyst at NYCHA who helped coordinate the visit. “They had clearly done their homework.”

That preparation is built into the Urban Fellows experience. The highly competitive program places recent college graduates in City agencies for a nine-month fellowship, giving them hands-on exposure to public service and regular conversations with agency leaders.

For many of the fellows, the visit revealed the sheer scale of NYCHA’s work.

“I think some of them were surprised by how big the Authority is,” Mr. Brodheim said. “When Lisa talked about NYCHA’s multi-billion-dollar operating and capital budget and the hundreds of thousands of residents we serve, it gave them a new perspective.”

The largest public housing authority in the United States, NYCHA serves hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers through its public housing, PACT developments, and Section 8 program. In fact, one in every sixteen New Yorkers calls NYCHA home.

That scale means the Authority touches nearly every aspect of urban management—from building operations and capital repairs to community programs, real estate development, and resident services.

For young professionals interested in public service, that breadth can make NYCHA an especially dynamic place to work.

“If you want to understand how cities function,” Brodheim said, “there are opportunities across many different fields here — housing, infrastructure, finance, community services. You can work on almost any aspect of urban life.”

For the fellows gathered in the Ceremonial Room that afternoon, the visit offered something more than a briefing on public housing policy. It offered a glimpse of how large-scale public service actually works — and of the many ways a career in government can shape the future of a city.