Sandy Recovery Open House Shows NYCHA is Building Back Better & Stronger

The Office of Disaster Recovery hosted a Sandy Recovery Open House on October 1 for staff and invited guests to introduce them to design innovations that will vastly improve the lives of NYCHA residents living in Sandy-damaged developments. Improvements include new construction plans that feature protected mechanical and heating systems, flood barriers, and strengthened security systems.

“This is a unique opportunity to completely transform the lives of NYCHA residents living in Sandy-damaged developments. We must make sure we build these buildings back stronger, better, and more resilient, so that when another storm comes our way, we are prepared,” said Michael Rosen, Interim Executive Vice President for Capital Projects.

NYCHA was awarded a $3 billion FEMA grant — the largest in history — to repair and protect the damaged developments from future extreme weather. “To get ahead of the curve, we sent out and reviewed Requests for Proposals even before funding was in place,” said Mike Cooper, Project Manager in the Sandy Recovery Program. “We want to do more than just repair and protect boilers and electrical systems; we want to improve these developments in ways that make life better for residents. And we want to do this in ways that maximize our investment of funds from FEMA and other sources.”

An important aspect of the planning involves eliciting residents’ input. Sandy Recovery’s community outreach team has distributed almost 83,000 flyers, made nearly 19,000 phone calls, and spoken with literally thousands of residents at 695 meetings.

The community outreach team also emphasizes employment opportunities for residents with the contractors who perform the work, even for projects not mandated by HUD’s Section 3 requirements.

“We build relationships with resident associations by calling the presidents every Monday,” said Javarea Komal, a communications specialist in the outreach unit. “We also make phone contact with at least 20 residents in each of the 33 affected developments each week, so we can include any reported issues in our weekly report to Mike Rosen.”

Residents’ security concerns will result in CCTV security cameras, layered access security systems, and indoor and outdoor safety lighting to the developments. Plans to rebuild a number of playgrounds with modern and safe equipment also reflect resident input.

In addition to the many improvements and repairs being made to the buildings, Sandy Recovery staff negotiated with FEMA to fund back-up generators at all damaged buildings so that, in the event of any electrical outage, residents and staff will never have to be without power again.

Six construction management firms have already been selected to perform the work. The firms are responsible for securing sub-contractors and overseeing their performance. “We have project managers on site to verify that construction management firms are meeting job specifications and using proper materials and procedures,” said Construction Project Manager Brad Bundy. “We also help the firms keep proper billing records that we review to ensure accuracy,” he added. “Right now, we are communicating with the construction management firms to make sure that they secure their areas for any new storm.”