NEW YORK, NY May 30, 2007 —Facing large deficits - the city's public housing authority is cutting jobs and making other major changes. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports:

The Public Housing Authority blames its problems squarely on the federal government saying it has disinvested in public housing over the last few years at the same time that expenses have outpaced revenues. To deal with its budget woes, NYCHA has already raised rents and started charging more for parking.

Now it plans on cutting 500 jobs by October of this year. It also plans on using $100 million set aside for major renovations and repairs to run the day-to-day operations. But perhaps the most significant move is to sell some of its property off, a plan that is expected to generate $50 million.

The city's Department of housing and preservation development will buy the land and build 400 new apartments and 180 condos. Even with these changes, the housing authority still faces a $51 million deficit for this calendar year. for WNYC, I'm Cindy Rodriguez