Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 3
Committee: Committee on Public Housing
0:06 Afternoon and welcome to today
0:06 is New York City hearing from
0:08 the committee on public
0:09 housing at this point I'd like
0:11 to remind everyone to please
0:12 sounds your electronic devices
0:12 and at no point is anyone t
0:14 oapproach the dais if you would
0:18 like to sign up for in person
0:19 testimony and haven't filled
0:20 out a slip please feel free t
0:21 ofill out one outside at the
0:23 table in the hallway chair
0:25 we're ready to begin I'm
0:27 calling this meeting to order
0:31 . Good afternoon everyone and
0:34 welcome to this hearing and
0:35 the committee of public
0:37 housing for New York City
0:40 counsel I'm Council Member
0:42 Chris Banks chair of the
0:43 committee and I'm glad to be
0:44 joined by my colleagues a
0:48 council marty and council
0:49 member s garcia um we will
0:53 hold an oversight hearing on
0:55 the work orders systems used
0:57 in nitra and pac developments
1:02 which residents used t
1:03 orequest repairs and notify
1:06 property managers of
1:07 conditions in their homes
1:10 nietzsche has to separate
1:12 systems the sibo tracks and
1:14 the residents complained and
1:16 the maximal tracks that that
1:18 tracks the work water nitra
1:22 uses work water data t
1:24 oschedule repairs direct
1:25 resources and measure
1:27 compliance with the 20 19
1:29 agreement a number of the open
1:30 work orders has risen and
1:34 fallen across mario
1:36 administrations but in the
1:37 past the City has committed
1:40 one time money to bringing the
1:42 backlog down each time before
1:46 it rises again the work order
1:49 system is the main way for
1:52 residents to report that
1:53 something is in their
1:54 household needs repair but
1:56 residents and the public have
1:58 limited ability to see how the
2:01 system performs and work or
2:04 the system only serves
2:06 developments that nitra
2:08 managers however each pack
2:10 property manager uses its own
2:13 system so residents have
2:15 complained that they're open
2:16 work orders disappear from the
2:19 nitrous system and that the
2:21 history of the issue does not
2:24 carry over to pack at nitra ce
2:26 work or the system serves only
2:29 developments that nature
2:31 managers when a development
2:32 transfer transitions to pack
2:35 it's work waters leaves
2:37 nitrates system and our then
2:39 tracked by private management.
2:42 It is unclear what happens
2:44 to the open work orders at
2:45 that point and whether nitra
2:48 keeps track or communicates
2:50 with the pack partners of
2:53 their progress and nature's
2:56 public data on work orders
2:56 only goes back one year so the
2:59 public cannot track trends.
3:01 You know residents of both
3:03 nitra and pac developments
3:05 have reported that work orders
3:06 take too long to address.
3:08 They wait for repairs
3:09 without knowing when to work a
3:12 worker will come and they tell
3:14 us that no one updates them um r
3:21 requests you know pack
3:22 residents tell us they are
3:25 unsure a way to call or where
3:27 the property manager when the
3:29 property ran and it does not
3:31 respond we need today's
3:33 herring to shed light on a
3:36 process that has frustrated
3:38 and confused residents who are
3:40 trying to live in dignity and
3:42 work toward a system that is
3:44 managed properly can improve
3:45 the well being of residents
3:46 within days so this hearing is
3:49 our chance to hold nature
3:53 accountable
3:53 . Also learning how pac
3:56 partners handle repairs we're
3:59 acting at nitra and pac
4:00 partners for more transparency e
4:05 packed transitions occur
4:07 residents need a commitment to
4:09 timely and complete work
4:11 orders regardless of who
4:13 manages the building I would
4:14 like to first of all thank my
4:17 staff michael lambert Carl
4:17 graham along with the public
4:19 housing committee staff jose
4:21 conde samia shell charles kim
4:24 spencer tron and James who and
4:26 noah schlossberg for all the
4:28 work they've put into this
4:31 hearing next we will now
4:33 welcome as we have done
4:35 traditionally in my committee
4:37 since I've become chair of
4:39 this committee we will now all
4:40 call up the pre panel pre
4:44 panelists so please approach
4:50 we have a jeremy estrada perez e
5:09 scar seat and we've also been
5:11 the Nurse and we also have
6:07 carla hollingsworth as well
6:09 and we have a patricia dickey
6:11 who's on zone we will begin
6:17 with methane scarce thank you
6:18 good to see you likewise thank
6:22 you you have three minutes
6:26 good afternoon chair Banks
6:27 members of the public housing
6:28 committee my name is mateen
6:31 serc and I serve as the co
6:32 chair of the housing land use
6:34 and zoning committee for
6:35 manhattan committee board nine e
6:37 New York City housing
6:38 authority however I'm
6:39 testifying today in my
6:40 personal
6:40 . Capacity and the views
6:41 expressed in this statement on
6:43 my own and do not reflect any
6:44 official policy or possession
6:47 . I think one of the unique
6:49 things about my experience
6:50 having come from City Council
6:53 is you know being able t
6:56 oproblem solve issues and there
6:58 was a period of time in nature k
7:03 at community centers and so I
7:05 think one of the cool things
7:07 about what night just kind of
7:09 doing at least on the section
7:12 nine side was a lot of their
7:14 reorganization really helped
7:17 to uncover the extent of the
7:20 disinvestment at nature not
7:21 just in work orders but also
7:27 in now exist online and
7:28 there's a lot more information
7:29 that tells us how bad the
7:31 situation really is a part of
7:34 the problem that I kind of see f
7:38 it's changed in the three
7:40 years that I was working on
7:42 this particular project but a
7:45 lot of the property management
7:47 operations are very siloed ah
7:50 which worked really well for
7:52 uncovering
7:52 . A lot of the issues but now
7:54 when you actually have to
7:56 address them it actually
7:58 becomes almost impossible just
8:01 because now you have a unit
8:02 with a variety of issues and
8:04 if it takes a trade skill a
8:07 certain amount of time for
8:08 each one to follow up yeah
8:09 you're going to see you know
8:11 delays for about a year or
8:14 more um and so one of the
8:17 things that I think worked
8:18 really well when we were doing
8:20 community centers and I've
8:21 tried to pass on those notes
8:23 is what it actually looks like
8:25 when we're working with a
8:26 variety of people and so just
8:28 on the community center side
8:30 what it looks like to have
8:32 trade skills a variety of
8:34 trade skills working on a
8:35 location at the same time with
8:38 capital projects because there
8:39 are things that capital
8:41 projects does that operations
8:42 doesn't know about and vice
8:44 versa and when you tend t
8:46 ohave multiple teams in one
8:48 room you tend to see a lot of
8:49 expertise come back and forth
8:51 and if he used community
8:54 partnerships at least in terms
8:55 of community centers there's
8:57 collaborative ways that you
8:58 could work with people to
9:00 address a variety of issues um r
9:05 reform that's been.
9:06 Ongoing I'd say one of the
9:07 bigger issues that we have is
9:09 the fact that the itself
9:12 doesn't have a process for
9:13 maintenance to actually
9:15 produce a variety of work
9:16 orders instead it gives the
9:20 resident to you know
9:21 essentially passing the buck
9:22 for them to figure out their
9:23 own repairs so they have t
9:24 ocall a planning person who
9:26 would manage about 300
9:28 0apartments if they're are
9:29 there or there's a position
9:31 and then even within that
9:34 planning ah it's up t
9:35 oresident to figure out the
9:36 order in that planning whether
9:39 you know whether people show
9:40 up in a certain like time set
9:43 and it doesn't seem like the
9:44 is connected to the ah
9:47 software tool tool that's
9:49 currently
9:49 . In 30 seconds to wrap up
9:51 thank you um and so as kind of
9:53 a of of that you know you tend
9:55 to have these like big gaps
9:57 into work orders um a lot of
9:59 the times there's not a real
10:01 way to kind of like reach out
10:05 to certain folks if there is
10:06 somebody in the planning unit
10:07 that's not there and so again
10:09 at the end of the day my two
10:11 biggest things are the fact
10:13 that you don't have teams of
10:16 multiple trade skills dealing
10:17 with a variety of repairs at
10:19 once and a software program
10:21 that actually connects the t
10:23 othe property management systemu
10:25 . Thank you for your testimony
10:27 now now we're going to move to
10:30 hollingsworth thank you uh
10:33 good morning chair pull the
10:34 mic a little closer that's all u
10:37 . Good morning chair members
10:39 of the committee my name is
10:40 carla hollingsworth I'm the
10:41 secretary of the stuyvesant
10:43 gardens one tenants
10:45 association I submit this
10:47 testimony concerning
10:48 conditions residents are
10:49 experiencing during the
10:51 ongoing pack construction at
10:54 stuyvesant gardens one our
10:55 fundamental concern is simple
10:57 what residents were told they
10:59 would receive through the skin
11:02 for conversion greatly differs
11:03 from what residents are
11:05 actually receiving residents
11:07 were promised major
11:07 renovations and improvements
11:09 yet work that has only
11:11 recently been completed is
11:13 already experiencing serious
11:16 failures
11:16 . Residents have temporarily
11:18 relocated for construction and
11:19 then return to apartments
11:21 represented as newly renovated
11:23 and then had to be relocated
11:25 again because of conditions
11:26 including serious leaks sewage
11:29 backing up into apartments
11:31 falling ceilings and other
11:33 failures occurring during
11:35 renovation this raises a basic
11:37 question if recently completed
11:39 work is already failing why
11:40 are the contractors being
11:42 permitted to continue moving
11:44 from apartment to apartment
11:46 without first determining why
11:48 that work failed and whether
11:50 the same problems are being
11:53 repeated elsewhere residents
11:54 should not become the quality
11:56 control inspectors for a
11:58 multimillion dollar
12:00 rehabilitation project several
12:02 residents have reported
12:02 attempting to open newly
12:05 installed windows only to have
12:07 the window frame and all come
12:09 inward and fall onto them
12:10 residents have subsequently
12:12 been instructed not to touch
12:13 or attempt to open their
12:17 windows.
12:17 A newly renovated apartment
12:19 should not be considered
12:21 complete if a resident cannot
12:22 safely operate the windows we
12:24 want to know who installed
12:25 these windows who inspected
12:27 installed windows have been
12:33 inspected and why construction
12:36 is continuing before the cause
12:37 of these failures has been
12:40 addressed residents were
12:40 initially told that there was
12:42 no asbestos nevertheless
12:44 asbestos containing miracle
12:46 material has been identified
12:48 and residents have observed
12:49 work in which asbestos
12:50 containing material is being
12:53 encapsulated rather than
12:57 removed residents deserve
12:58 complete transparency
12:59 concerning where asbestos
13:01 containing material remains
13:03 what was encapsulated what was
13:04 removed who performed the work
13:06 who inspected it and what
13:08 procedures will protect the
13:09 residents and workers if those
13:12 materials are disturbed during
13:14 future construction or repairs r
13:18 apartments were altered t
13:21 oprovide wheelchair
13:22 accessibility even though the
13:24 residents are occupying those
13:25 particular apartments did not
13:27 require accessible units we
13:29 want to be very clear
13:30 accessibility is not the
13:33 problem.
13:34 Accessible appointments are
13:35 necessary and important the
13:37 issue is what happened to the
13:40 existent residence 30 seconds
13:41 to wrap it up.
13:42 Always will widen bathrooms
13:45 enlarged to accommodate
13:46 rolling showers as a result
13:47 usable space elsewhere in the
13:49 apartments was reduced
13:50 residents were not shown the
13:51 altered floor panel floor
13:53 plans beforehand some
13:55 residents returned from
13:56 temporary relocation and
13:58 discovered that furniture and
13:59 belongings that fit into the
14:01 apartments before construction
14:02 no longer fit one resident
14:04 after seeing her altered
14:06 apartment refused to return
14:07 because she said that she
14:08 can't fit she's been
14:11 threatened that she will lose
14:13 her subsidy if she doesn't go
14:19 back you finish no I'm not
14:20 . I'll give you 30 more
14:22 seconds okay thank you
14:24 . Residents should not
14:26 discover permanent alterations
14:27 to their homes only after the
14:28 work has already been
14:32 completed residents also have
14:34 repeatedly requested
14:35 information concerning the
14:37 contractors and workers
14:38 performing construction at
14:39 stuyvesant gardens one we have
14:40 been told that managers
14:44 approximately 22 contracting
14:46 companies working
14:47 simultaneously at the
14:48 development we've repeatedly
14:49 asked who are these companies
14:50 what is each comp what work is
14:53 each company performing who's
14:55 responsible for supervising
14:56 and inspecting their work who
14:58 was accountable when that work
14:59 fails we have gotten no
15:01 answers to to date uh also
15:09 they keep telling us that it's
15:13 $380000 per unit to renovate
15:16 our development and if you
15:17 look at these apartments
15:18 somebody needs to look at
15:20 these apartments because it is
15:22 not if $15000 goes into an
15:24 apartment that's a
15:25 . Lot thank you karl
15:27 appreciate you so you can
15:29 submit that if you were it's
15:34 human able one able t
15:35 ocomplete your testimony ok all
15:38 right thank you for you
15:41 rtestimony we are now going to
15:43 move on to keat ramsey yes
15:51 okay good good afternoon ah
15:54 our priority our priority and
15:55 it's just as simple.
15:58 To make sure resident repair
15:59 requests are handled quickly
16:03 transparently and thoroughly
16:04 to achieve this we implemented
16:06 property melva a platform that
16:08 gives residents a familiar
16:09 streamlined experience much
16:10 like that that that night
16:13 you're through property mall
16:14 residents can submit work
16:16 orders directly from the phone
16:18 or computer track progress in
16:19 real time and message
16:21 maintenance staff at the same
16:23 time we ensure no resident is
16:25 left behind.
16:25 That anyone who prefers
16:27 traditional non digital
16:29 methods can call or visit our
16:32 the on site office or contract