Slightly bleary eyed, the city’s Democratic mayoral wannabes emerged Sunday from their public housing sleepover humbled by what they saw and vowing to make things better.
Challenged by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the five candidates spent the night at the Lincoln Houses in Harlem, witnessing first-hand the decrepit conditions and lack of response by NYCHA that tenants have complained about for years.
“Just one night won’t solve all the problems, but one night will take the issues out of the margins,” Sharpton said at a 6 a.m. press conference Sunday as he and the candidates gathered to recount their experience.
In anticipation of the event, NYCHA sent crews Friday to tidy up the project before the candidates arrived, and tenants said they hadn’t seen that many police officers assigned to overnight duty in Lincoln in years.
But the candidates nevertheless experienced elevators reeking of urine, grafitti-scarred hallways, and a host of problems left unrepaired in the apartments where they stayed.
All five normally live in comfortable apartments and homes with functioning air conditioning, up-to-date appliances and a sense of security.
They all agreed: one night at the 1949-built Lincoln Houses, where security cameras have yet to be installed and there’s a backlog of 3,800 repair requests, was an eye opener.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn emerged with a pillow case under her arm and her voice husky from limited sleep. She spent the night on the couch of tenant Mariam Diakite, an immigrant from Mali who shares a three-bedroom with her husband and four children.
Like the other candidates, Quinn noted the hard-working nature of her hosts – contradicting the ignorant stereotype of project-dwellers living off the dole.
During her overnight stay, Quinn noted Diakite’s husband had to leave for a night shift job delivering baking goods to Philadelphia.
She said Diakite has tried in vain for years to get NYCHA to rid her bathroom of festering mold, especially because her 5-year-old son has asthma.
Shocked by what she saw, Quinn promised to press NYCHA Chairman John Rhea Monday to visit the apartment this week and remedy the longstanding infestation.
“The level of mold I saw, this is a huge job,” she said.
Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio, who brought along his 18-year-old daughter, Chiara, slept on the couch but emerged in the cool of early Sunday in a suit and tie.
He stayed with tenant Katherine Wilson, whose kitchen cabinets were ruined by a leak behind the wall in 2011, removed by NYCHA a month ago, and now sit on the floor with no date for replacement.
Conditions like that, DeBlasio noted, were a far cry from his comfortable Park Slope, Brooklyn, home.
“In our house, when something’s broke, repairs get made right away. You don’t have to worry about broken door locks, urine in the hallways. Here in Lincoln Houses, Mrs. Wilson had to wait 2 and a half years for a repair that’s really hurt the health of her family.”
Former Comptroller William Thompson slept on the couch of Barbara Gamble without the benefit of air conditioning. He, too, noted the contrast to his Harlem condo.
“On Friday I slept at home with my wife and air conditioning. Ms. Gamble sleeps every night without air conditioning. We had fans, but it was a world of difference.”
Comptroller John Liu — who went out at midnight to talk to Lincoln residents sitting outside to beat the heat — noted long-neglected repairs to his host’s apartment were suddenly fixed two weeks ago, thanks to a lawsuit filed by the Urban Justice Center.
The apartment, he said, was spotless.
“There is vermin in the lobby, vermin in the elevator and vermin in the hall, but her apartment is impeccably neat,” said Liu, who munched a breakfast apple after his overnight experience.
Ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner, wearing red shorts and sipping coffee, noted that the experience will likely mean the next mayor will know first-hand how public housing tenants live.
“I spent last night living with a family living in conditions you would never tolerate,” he said. “For the first time in a long time, we’re going to elect someone who has the citizens of NYCHA forefront in their mind.”
Sharpton noted GOP candidate John Catsimatidis backed out on his promise to participate, and Republican Joe Lhota never expressed any intention to go. Independence Party candidate Adolfo Carrion — a former HUD official — also did not attend.
