Local 237 NYCHA Task Force Report Prompts Action
Housing Authority responds to Task Force
Last fall, Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd convened the first meeting of the Local 237 NYCHA Task Force to tackle the many long-standing issues plaguing the agency. The Task Force, comprised of Local 237, community groups, and resident leaders, was created to formulate ideas on how NYCHA can better serve its residents and staff.
In late 2012, the Task Force released its first set of recommendations to NYCHA Chairman Rhea.
The major areas for which the Task Force provided recommendations are as follows:
- Disaster preparation
- Streamlining operation processes, including repair appointments
- Improving and overhauling the centralized call center
- Nurturing existing institutional knowledge and resources
- Making critical health and safety improvements in daily operations
- Ensuring that eligible Section 8 holders are not mistakenly terminated.
The ideas for the recommendations came from a number of knowledgeable sources, but among the most useful were those provided by Local 237 members working at – and in some cases living in – the Housing Authority. The Task Force report provides realistic and timely recommendations to improve the failing facilities and make them better places to work and live.
Weeks after presenting our recommendations to the agency, Chairman Rhea and Mayor Bloomberg announced a major new initiative to tackle the backlog of repairs at NYCHA. They included a number of the Task Force's recommendation, such as making sure enough quality material and equipment are available to do the repairs, coordinating the scheduling for work of various skilled trades, and hiring additional labor to perform the work.
Task Force members believe that NYCHA's announcement is a good first step. We will continue to meet in order to issue additional recommendations and monitor progress at NYCHA.
| Local 237 NYCHA Task Force Members |
| President Gregory Floyd, the Officers, Staff and Members of Teamsters Local 237 |
| Victor Bach, Community Service Society |
| Nicholas Dagan Bloom, New York Institute of Technology and author, “Public Housing That Worked” |
| Allen Brawer, Policy Research Group |
| Mo George, Community Voices Heard Public Housing Partnership Director |
| Madelyn Innocent, Public Housing Resident and Community Voices Heard Member-Leader |
| David R. Jones, Community Service Society |
| Lucy Newman, The Legal Aid Society |
| Bishop Mitchell G. Taylor, East River Development Alliance |
| Jim Vogel, Office of State Senator Velmanette Montgomery |
| Doris Welch, Retired NYCHA Superintendent and Housing Committee member, League of Women Voters |
The New York City Housing Authority is largest public housing system in the nation, with over 400,000 residents and 12,000 city employees (many of whom also live there), and was once a source of great municipal pride. But now, with a 2-year backlog of repairs, major security and safety concerns, plus a management team not well versed in the nuances of public housing, NYCHA has become a troubled overseer of “assets” forgetting that real people live and work there.
