Victory for Public Housing Residents

Source: Community Voices Heard

Earlier this week, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered his first budget address at City Hall, and members of Community Voices Heard (CVH) waited anxiously to hear about what resources would be allocated to the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Public housing residents celebrated when the mayor announced he would relieve $52.5 million of NYCHA’s debt and stop double charging public housing residents for City services. With this financial boost, the agency can tend to some needed repairs and maintenance.

“I was so ecstatic when I found out we won,” says Agnes Rivera, Member-Leader of CVH’s Public Housing Committee and one of the leaders who fought for years to make this victory happen. “I almost fell over when I heard.”

Mayoral Candidates Sleepover at NYCHA.
Source: Community Voices Heard

Last summer, during the mayoral campaign, Mr. de Blasio and other Democratic candidates spent a night at NYCHA’s Abraham Lincoln Houses in Harlem. Residents showed the candidates their moldy walls and broken cabinets, offering a firsthand look at the conditions of public housing buildings. CVH members hosted a few of the candidates themselves and were featured in local and national media.

The mayor’s budgetary priorities so far, seem consistent with his campaign promise to improve and preserve housing that is affordable to low-income residents. This news is hopeful for anyone who cares about improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers. And comes as a result of a few years of work by community organizers and advocates to stop having NYCHA double pay for police and sanitation services.

“This is now the opportunity to show people that change can come when you do the hard work,” says Rivera. “This is really the time we can make a lot of changes in policies. We need to motivate more people to get involved and then we can get even more done. Let’s get educated and do what we need to do!”