Public Housing Getting Worse, Report Says

In spite of growing prosperity in inner city neighborhoods and rising real estate prices, the city's public housing projects have deteriorated badly over the last decade. That's according to a report by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

His office compared common complaints like peeling paint and heating outages across public housing, rent-regulated apartments, market-rate apartments, and owner-occupied dwellings.

“Everything [is] going in the wrong direction: heat complaints, rat infestation, lack of repairs, lack of respect,” Stringer said.

In 2002, 16.6 percent of public housing units were found to have cracks or holes in ceilings or walls. By 2011, the rate had risen to nearly one in three.

Stringer blames under-investment for public housing system’s problems.