Cindy Rodriguez
Cindy Rodriguez has been a staff reporter at WNYC, New York Public Radio since July of 2002. As the station’s urban policy reporter she covers the impacts of poverty on communities in all five boroughs. ...
House Authority Blames Maintenance Delays on Lack of Funding
Thursday, August 21, 2008
New York, NY –
Budget woes have caused the New York City Housing Authority to delay major renovation projects throughout the five boroughs. One of those projects was to replace the elevators at a Brooklyn housing development, where a young boy fell to his death Monday.
Replacing the elevators at the Taylor Wythe Houses in Williamsburg was supposed to cost the housing authority $3.4 million but because it has been struggling to close a budget gap, it has postponed the project twice.
More than two dozen large scale renovation projects have been put off until 2009 or 2010 because of money problems, including elevator overhauls at three other developments. Two are in the South Bronx and the third is at the Astoria Houses in Queens where more than 3,000 people live.
The Housing Authority has said the lack of federal funding forced it to take money for renovation projects and use it to run day-to-day operations. Spokesman Howard Marder says all elevators that the Housing Authority oversees are inspected twice a year, and no cuts have been made to the maintenance staff in charge of elevators.
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