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Keeping the Public in Public Housing

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Keeping the Public in Public Housing Keeping the Public in Public Housing Red Hook Houses. Photo by Tom Angotti Hunter College Center for Community Planning & Development Tom Angotti, Director and Professor of Urban Affairs & Planning Sylvia Morse, Fellow January 2014 Hunter College Center for Community Planning & Development WANTED: Stewards to Save695 Park Public Avenue, Housing New York, in NYNew 10065 York City www.hunter.cuny.edu/ccpd | [email protected] About CCPD The Center for Community Planning & Development (CCPD) promotes knowledge, applied research, and innovative practice in community planning and development. It provides technical assistance and agencies. The CCPD is committed to democratic, inclusive, and participatory approaches to planning and developmenttraining through that partnerships foster sustainability with community-based and economic and organizations, social justice. non-profit corporations, and local Tom Angotti is the Director of CCPD, Professor of Urban Affairs & Planning at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and has written extensively on housing and planning issues. Sylvia Morse is a Fellow at CCPD and student in the Master of Urban Planning program at Hunter College. Acknowledgements Thanks to the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College for their support of this research. We have learned a great deal from the work around public housing by the Alliance to Preserve Public Housing, Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAV), Community Voices Heard (CVH), Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), and Mothers on the Move (MOM). Thanks to the NYCHA staff and residents who shared their views with us but remain anonymous. Keeping the Public in Public Housing Contents Preface Executive Summary I. “Public Housing That Worked” and Its Problems II. The Rise of Public-Private Partnerships IV.III. WhyThe InfillNYCHA Proposal is Not Broke V. How to Put the Public Back in Public Housing Endnotes 3 WANTED: StewardsKeeping to Save the Public Public Housing in Public in NewHousing York City Preface After supporting the organizing efforts and legal challenges against NYCHA’s Land Lease Initiative, we felt it was important to develop a better understanding of how the plan came about and what alternatives exist. Keeping the Public in Public Housing is a policy report, focused on NYCHA’s moves over the last decade to ultimately open up its campuses to private residential development. We try to answer basic questions about how NYCHA got here and We had neither the time nor the funding that would be required for a thorough, detailed analysis. We wanted to where it is going. This report is not the detailed audit of NYCHA’s management and finances that is sorely needed. the important discussions underway about NYCHA’s future. release the report at this critical moment of transition in government in the hopes these findings would help inform We look forward to feedback from and ongoing dialogue with NYCHA residents, housing advocates and York City. professionals, elected officials, and others with a commitment to preserving and improving public housing in New Tom Angotti and Sylvia Morse [email protected] 4 Keeping the Public in Public Housing Executive Summary I. “PUBLIC HOUSING THAT WORKED” without addressing any of its historic management AND ITS PROBLEMS shortcomings. II. THE RISE OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE has for nearly 80 years provided quality housing PARTNERSHIPS for• The people New whoYork needCity Housingit, but in Authoritythe face of (NYCHA) policies that de-fund and dismantle public housing, has recently cut and privatized services. Now, NYCHA policies have supported public-private has proposed a Land Lease Initiative to allow partnerships• For more than for a housing decade, development federal and city and private, market-rate housing to be built on NYCHA operations. NYCHA leadership embraced policies land. The public widely opposes this plan, yet, that saw the authority’s land and buildings as throughout NYCHA’s history it has failed to engage capital assets, rather than communities. residents and other groups in its decision-making. Housing and the 2011 PlanNYCHA, NYCHA’s recent moves• Set out toward in the private 2006 Plan development to Preserve include: Public authority, home to more than 400,000 low- and moderate-income• NYCHA is the country’s residents. largest While housing local public —Public-private partnerships managed by housing authorities throughout the country have the city’s Department of Housing collapsed, NYCHA continues to operate at full Preservation and Development (HPD) scale. —Leasing NYCHA land for new, private development —Financing of 21 projects by Citigroup economy and social fabric of New York City. It cre- —Contracting out and reducing community ates• Public jobs, housing supports plays low an and important moderate role wage in the services sectors, and helps maintain a diverse city. Any loss of public housing units would seriously affect the city and its neighborhoods. way for NYCHA’s moves towards private develop- ment.• Bloomberg Land use administration and housing policies promotedpaved the market-rate, private development. stewardship also comes its top-down management approach.• With NYCHA’s The design, record policing, of good housingand social policies of NYCHA communities are all planned and and most widely debated privatization action, was implemented without true resident involvement. not• The an 2013 isolated Land proposal Lease Initiative, but part ofNYCHA’s a decade-long boldest This is reinforced by NYCHA’s mayor-appointed trend of favoring private over public development. governance body. Residents have little involvement in NYCHA planning, budgeting and III. THE INFILL PROPOSAL policy-making. Resident Associations are not decision-making. introduce 3,000 new housing units to eight NYCHA widely used and have little influence on campuses• The Land in Lease Manhattan. Initiative 80% (or of “Infill the new plan”) units would would be market-rate housing in neighborhoods commitment to the public. Residents offered where rents are skyrocketing. The plan would concerns• Privatizing and NYCHA’s alternatives assets to underminesthe Land Lease its displace nearly 8 acres of open space. Initiative, which NYCHA did not address in its plans. The Initiative thus signals NYCHA’s abandonment of its long history of stewardship • Strong opposition by NYCHA residents and 5 V. HOW TO PUT THE PUBLIC BACK IN although NYCHA staff continues to review PUBLIC HOUSING proposals.elected officials has placed the proposal on hold, NYCHA should implement comprehensive policy changes to make management more effective and major problems with the Land Lease Initiative: inclusive of residents. NYCHA should: • Resident groups and researchers have identified —Other funding alternatives exist. Projected lease revenues would not meet NYCHA’s annual NYCHA Board of Directors should have more di- operating gap or estimated capital needs. verse• Revamp representation. NYCHA’s governance structure. The —Introducing high-income residents to NYCHA campuses will not necessarily create integrated communities. —New towers would be out of scale with existing • Expand the role of Resident Associations. buildings. —The plan would not integrate NYCHA • Institute participatory budgeting at NYCHA. developments into the surrounding street grid. campuses. All major physical changes should be subject• Develop to resident-driventhe city’s environmental plans for and all NYCHA land use the campuses’ “tower-in-the-park” design while review processes. Infill development would magnify problems with —The plan was developed without proper undermining its benefits. consultation with residents. affordable housing and look into the establishment —NYCHA failed to assess potential environmental of•Consider a community NYCHA land land trust as afor trust public for permanentlyhousing. impacts. NYCHA should consider other program measures, potential real estate for private development and many of which have been proposed by residents —The Infill plan views public housing land as new revenue, rather than a resource for residents. and staff: IV. WHY NYCHA IS NOT BROKE —Restore the operation of Community Centers by NYCHA—Conduct staff an independent audit of NYCHA finances by public policy decisions and can be solved by —Coordinate with the NYPD and Resident public• NYCHA’s policy serious decisions. budget problems were created Associations to establish community policing on NYCHA campuses —Employ and train more NYCHA residents in staff through several feasible budget alternatives, positions including• NYCHA’s elimination operating deficit of contracts can be thateliminated require —Promote green jobs at NYCHA NYCHA to pay for police and other city services. —Support resident-led recycling and composting Such measures have been proposed by policy and programs advocacy groups. —Support community gardens and grow healthy food on NYCHA campuses —Develop ongoing support and strategic funds to preserve public housing. relationships with community organizations active • New York City could dedicate significant capital in public housing —Expand access to information on NYCHA operations in multiple languages proposed.• A thorough and independent audit of NYCHA finances is required before specific solutions can be funds and projects, which contributes to mistrust and• NYCHA suspicion lacks among transparency residents in itsand management advocates. of 6 Executive Summary
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