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February 2024 Health & Safety NYCHA Developments 

HUD’s NSPIRE Inspections: NYCHA Sites Scheduled This Month 

Vincent Echavaria

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is conducting random inspections of NYCHA apartments and buildings under a recently improved model that aims to reduce health and safety hazards.  

The National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) replaces the former Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) inspections – the first significant overhaul of inspection standards by HUD in over 20 years.  

“NSPIRE prioritizes the condition of residents’ homes and areas that most impact their quality of life,” noted Ester Tomicic-Hines, NYCHA’s Vice President of Property Management Operations – HUD Inspections. “The NSPIRE standards emphasize health and safety issues inside apartments and buildings.” 

NSPIRE focuses on eight critical health and safety areas, including carbon monoxide, fire safety, habitability, infestation, lead-based paint, mold, structural integrity, and water safety. HUD inspectors, who will be accompanied by NYCHA staff, will examine apartments and buildings (the outside and inside of buildings, including common areas).  

NSPIRE will increase the objectivity, accuracy, and consistency of inspections across the Authority. The goal of NSPIRE inspections is to help NYCHA better assess the true physical condition of apartments, while promoting better living conditions for residents.  

After launching at NYCHA in mid January, NSPIRE inspections will be taking place at developments across the city on weekdays each month. As required by HUD, residents are asked to be prepared to provide apartment access for a random NSPIRE inspection.

NYCHA developments scheduled for NSPIRE inspections in February include:

(all inspections will take place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.)

  • Parkside Houses and Gun Hill Houses: Thursday, February 1  
  • Van Dyke Houses: Friday, February 2  
  • Mill Brook Houses: Monday, February 5  
  • Cooper Park Houses: Tuesday, February 6  
  • Moore Houses: Wednesday, February 7  
  • Patterson Houses: Thursday, February 8  
  • Boston Secor Houses: Thursday, February 8  
  • Forest Houses: Monday, February 12  
  • Webster Houses: Monday, February 12  
  • Carey Gardens: Tuesday, February 13  
  • Soundview Houses: Wednesday, February 14  
  • Fort Independence Street – Heath Avenue: Wednesday, February 14  
  • Langston Hughes Apartments and Woodson Houses: Wednesday, February 14  
  • Ravenswood Houses: Friday, February 16 
  • Borinquen Plaza I and II: Tuesday, February 20  
  • Wald Houses: Wednesday, February 21  
  • Marcus Garvey Houses (Group A): Wednesday, February 21  
  • Drew Hamilton Houses: Thursday, February 22  
  • Tompkins Houses: Friday, February 23  
  • Randolph South Houses: Monday, February 26  
  • Adams Houses: Wednesday, February 28

January inspections 

  • Prospect Plaza Phase I 
  • Bushwick Houses 
  • Ocean Hill Apartments 
  • 1010 East 178th Street  
  • Lower East Side Houses 
  • Straus Houses 
  • Gowanus Houses 
  • Saint Mary’s Park Houses 
  • Glenwood Houses 

If you are notified by the property management office that HUD inspectors will visit your apartment, you or another adult must be home for the inspection, or you must make arrangements to allow the inspectors into your apartment.  

For more information on NSPIRE, visit www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/reac/nspire