New York’s New NYCHA Laws Aim to Hold Agency Accountable

Two new state laws should soon shed more light on problems inside NYCHA’s ailing apartments and help tenants hold the housing agency accountable.

The measures, signed Tuesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, will force NYCHA to create a searchable online database of work tickets and task city agencies with making public housing code violations public. Hochul said the two bills, which passed the Senate and Assembly last legislative session, will increase “transparency and accountability” as various reforms intended to improve conditions continue across the sprawling system.

“For too long, public housing residents in New York City have been forced to deal with unacceptable living conditions—but we’re working to make change,” she added in a statement.

Residents who file work requests—known as tickets—often wait months without a response, only to learn their case has been closed. Queens State Sen. Jessica Ramos, who sponsored the ticket database bill, said she recalled visiting friends in the Woodside Houses as their parents struggled to get repairs done in their apartments.

“I remember having to put on sweaters to hang out with my friends because I knew they didn’t have heat and I remember some of my friends’ moms frustrated on the phone because they couldn’t get through,” Ramos said Tuesday.

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