Thank You

Dear Colleagues, 

At Thanksgiving, let us recognize the important work that NYCHA employees do each day on behalf of public housing residents and all that you continue to accomplish to transform the Authority. I am extremely proud to lead NYCHA and this remarkable team, and grateful for your dedication and commitment to meeting extraordinary challenges and delivering quality service to our residents.

This year, NYCHA staff worked tirelessly with residents and our legislative and community partners to advocate for, and secure, critical funding in the State budget for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) for residents burdened with COVID-related rental arrears. Today, we are working with the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) to deliver millions of dollars in funding for households with existing ERAP applications, finally providing them with the same access to these funds that had been provided to other New Yorkers.

After creating and launching the unprecedented New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust in 2022, this year we announced the first-of-its-kind resident vote at Nostrand Houses. The 30-day voting period began on November 8, following 100 days of robust resident engagement, and will close on December 7, giving residents a true voice in the future of their homes as they choose whether to remain in the current Section 9 program or to renovate their campus through the Trust or Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT).

We continue to make progress with the PACT program, announcing a record number of new PACT projects this year and partners that were all selected by resident review committees. This year, we will also convert a record number of units to the Project-Based Section 8 program, with over 5,000 apartments across the city scheduled to receive comprehensive repairs totaling over $1.6 billion in investment. In addition to comprehensive apartment repairs and building upgrades, these investments will also deliver enhanced property management and social services to residents.

Asset & Capital Management (A&CM) will hit a major milestone in 2023, completing more than $1 billion of investment in a single year focused on upgrading critical building systems, roofs, and facades along with safety and security, community centers, and grounds – this includes more than 20 boilers, 80 elevators, 200 compactors, and 90 roofs to be completed by the end of 2023. We are also facilitating the start of comprehensive apartment repairs at several developments through our Comprehensive Modernization program.

Significantly, NYCHA Operations continues to make extraordinary strides to improve service delivery, develop best practices, and fundamentally change the way NYCHA does business. Since January, NYCHA borough skilled trades have reduced the work order backlog by over 13,000 work orders and, for the past six months, have substantially achieved the Work Order Reform goal of closing as many work orders as have been created each month. At the same time, every borough has reduced its maintenance work orders while improving performance related to mold and leaks. Most notably, this year NYCHA property management reduced the time to conduct mold inspection from over 12 days in January to less than 4 days. On the management side, our Property Managers and Housing Assistants continue to work collaboratively with residents to get back on track post-COVID in terms of annual recertification completion and rent payment.

Additionally, our heating team continues to enhance performance, reducing both the number and duration of heat outages for the 2022-23 heat season. Our lead unit tested nearly 56,000 units with children under 6 for lead paint using the City’s new, stricter standard and is abating lead paint in about 400 apartments every month. Mold complaints are down – we’ve replaced 8,400 roof fans, cleaned approximately 70,000 vents, and added more skilled trades staff to better manage mold and leaks. Pest complaints decreased, and we launched a hoist-collected waste containerization pilot to reduce pests and make trash handling safer.

Sustainability continues to be a critical focus of our work as we prepare our developments and residents to be at the forefront of climate efforts. Last year, we launched NYCHA’s Clean Energy Academy to train residents for clean energy careers and support our decarbonization efforts; 24 residents graduated from the first cohort and the second cohort is underway. Several Clean Energy Academy participants helped install heat pumps at Woodside Houses as part of the Clean Heat for All Challenge to provide electrified heating and cooling services, which will improve reliability of heating and help reduce carbon emissions. Additionally, we announced that we’re seeking partners to help us replace fossil fuel stoves with modern electric stoves, and to install rooftop solar panels to bring us closer to our goal of hosting 30 megawatts of solar.

Leased Housing helped support families at risk of or experiencing homelessness through the use of HUD stability vouchers and a partnership with NYC Continuum of Care, which provides vital assistance to the city’s most vulnerable families.

In the central office, the work that all of you do across departments — from IT to Compliance, Law, Finance, HR, Communications, Intergov, Strategy and Innovation, and more— is vitally important to what we are trying to achieve as the largest public housing authority in the U.S., as well as at the property level for our residents. No one of us can bring success to NYCHA entirely on our own, but together we represent a best-in-class agency that prides itself on good customer service and creating better conditions in the homes of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers we serve.

Thank you for making NYCHA an inspiring place to work and for your dedication to the New Yorkers who call NYCHA home.

Wishing you and your families a joyful and meaningful Thanksgiving.

With gratitude,

Lisa Bova-Hiatt
Chief Executive Officer