The bathroom radiator has been broken in Ngan Fong Wong’s Queensbridge Houses apartment for five years — but the Chinese immigrant says she can’t figure out how to request repairs, since she doesn’t speak English.
“I’ve never been able to tell anyone, because there’s no way to communicate,” Wong, an elderly widow who speaks a Cantonese dialect called Toishanese, said through a translator.
The issue is widespread among NYCHA’s more than 19,000 Asian immigrant tenants — largely from China, Bangladesh and Korea — who aren’t getting the translation help they need to request repairs or discuss rent payments, according to a report by the group CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, set to be released Tuesday.
SURVEY: NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS AREN’T GETTING PROMISED TRANSLATION SERVICES
Just 40% of Asian tenants who needed an interpreter in the past three years actually got one, according to the survey, even though NYCHA’s official policy is not to discriminate based on national origin and to ensure that tenants can access programs and services.
More than 70% of those who called NYCHA’s Customer Contact Center to request a repair were not able to talk to someone who spoke their language, the survey of 211 non-English-speaking Asian tenants from 14 housing developments found. Most end up asking family or friends to try to translate.
The call-in system for repairs has an automated voice that prompts English speakers to press 1, asks Spanish speakers in Spanish to press 2, but then says in English, “all others, press 3 or stay on the line … ” leading many Asian immigrants to hang up in confusion. When repairs do happen, many end up signing English-language paperwork that they don’t understand, the report found.
In a statement, the Housing Authority said it offers over-the-phone and in-person interpretation services.
“Additionally, we routinely interpret in Mandarin, Cantonese, Fukinese, Shanghainese, Toishanese, and Hokka among other languages,” a spokeswoman said.
