Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 1 p.m. (New York City time), 250 Broadway - 8th Floor - Hearing Room 3
Committee: Committee on Public Housing
The Committee on Public Housing, chaired by Council Member Chris Banks, held an oversight hearing on the work order systems used in NYCHA and PACT developments. A pre-panel of residents, advocates, and a PACT manager described repair delays, disappearing tickets, PACT construction failures, and poor communication. NYCHA officials Daniel Green and Heather Beck testified about NYCHA's Maximo and Siebel systems, the neighborhood planner model, work order backlog statistics (roughly 606,000 open Section 9 work orders), closure rule reforms, and PACT oversight. Council Members Banks and Encarnación questioned NYCHA extensively on backlog age, falsification controls, missed appointments, and whether PACT properties outperform Section 9. Public testimony from residents of PACT and NYCHA developments followed, describing retaliation, evictions, elevator outages, mold, and asbestos concerns. No votes were taken; the hearing was closed after testimony.
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