In 2018, Mayor de Blasio said of the HUD program that puts public housing in the hands of private landlords, “It’s an idea whose time has come.” This program, known as Rental Assistance Demonstration, or RAD, was made out to be the answer to our prayers. As a NYCHA public housing resident for many years, I’ve seen how many people had to live for decades in uninhabitable conditions and in poverty.
Along came the mayor, and he promised us brand new kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. To a vulnerable, oppressed population, this was seen as a chance to live in splendor. But it’s turned into a nightmare.
A few months ago, NYCHA converted the 234-unit apartment building where I live using the controversial RAD/PACT program. (PACT, or Permanent Affordability Commitment Together, is the local version of the federal RAD program.) A private landlord now manages our public housing. De Blasio has explained that public housing developments are selected for such conversion based on the value of their real estate. The private manager is supposed to commit revenue to renovating the neglected housing units, but we were not warned of the dangers.
The first sign that Cornell Pace replaced NYCHA as our manager was when, without notice, NYCHA removed us from their database, which made us unable to pay our rent for December. The new lease states that once the rent is 14 days late, they can terminate our lease, a provision that puts vulnerable people living on low or fixed incomes in danger of almost immediate eviction.
The second sign was that they immediately cut back the hot water, the water pressure and the heat. The elevators are breaking down in a manner that was not the norm here. There are sudden repairs without any written notice for leaks, mold and lead — often, for problems that residents were unaware they had. Safety precautions are not followed. One incident was reported of a 10-month-old baby and her family that was exposed to lead during a lead abatement, where the grandmother passed out in the apartment and was rushed to the ER.
The property manager has never had a meeting with residents, barely communicates and refuses to give out his email or phone number for residents to contact him. Police reports have been filed about harassment of residents from the management staff.
Despite all the promises that RAD/PACT would be good for tenants, NYCHA forced on us new restrictive leases that had easier triggers for evictions and financial penalties for people with disabilities, such as higher electricity costs for charging wheelchairs. One resident here was just given a bill showing that Cornell Pace intends to charge for services that she did not request.
Our lack of competent legal representation has made tenants’ situations worse. We have been unable to access the judicial system. Nonprofit legal groups did not fully represent our best interests. They made promises that never materialized and the lawyers they sent had apparent conflicts of interest.
It took years to find a civil rights attorney who would agree to represent us, and, by the time we did, the RAD/PACT financial agreements were already being signed. Now, we are dealing with the aftermath of transfer to private management. Unknowingly, my son and I, and every single NYCHA Section 8 resident in our building, lost our rights as third-party beneficiaries of the Revised Consent Decree in the Baez class action mold case. This contradicts the “residents retain their rights” mantra, a main selling point of RAD/PACT that we constantly hear from NYCHA Chair and CEO Gregory Russ, Mayor de Blasio, and Pact Renaissance Collaborative, the real estate developers.
Our attorney, Michael Sussman, wrote two letters sharing our concerns with the mayor, who never responded. As a result, our lawyer communicated the dangers and risks of RAD/PACT to the federal judge overseeing the Baez case. We are waiting on an opinion from the judge.
So many untruths have been spread by NYCHA and the mayor. Many in the press act as cheerleaders for RAD/PACT and another NYCHA plan known as the Blueprint. Combined, these plans will end public housing as we know it, and NYCHA has admitted in court that they plan to use these plans to abandon their obligations to residents. That means that there are no guarantees with these public-private partnerships.
Our lawyer gives me the most hope I’ve had in years. In the court of public opinion, anybody can speak their mind. In federal court, a judge can only look to facts. That review, I am convinced, will assist tenants to resist these unjust conversions. We see promise in a bill sponsored by Rep. Nydia Velazquez to fully fund capital repairs in public housing. She’s the only elected official on our side right now.
Aucello is president of the 344 East 28 St. Tenants Association.
