New York Construction Report staff writer
The New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday will pave the way the overdue repair, rehabilitation, and modernization of 25,000 apartments under control of the New York City Housing Authority.
“Today is a major win for all New Yorkers who call NYCHA home,” Governor Hochul said. “This legislation will unlock additional federal funding and lead to billions of dollars in renovations — after decades of federal disinvestment — and provide for critical improvements for 25,000 apartments in NYCHA developments across the city.”
Legislation will unlock additional federal funding and lead to billions of dollars in renovations and spur critical improvements for 25,000 apartments in NYCHA developments across the city by unlocking the authority’s ability to invest billions of dollars in capital to stabilize its buildings.
NYCHA – which oversees the nation’s largest public housing system- will now draw hundreds of millions of federal dollars in new support per year by utilizing federal tenant protection vouchers that receive a higher per-unit subsidy than traditional Section 9 public housing. This additional subsidy will permit NYCHA to raise debt off the increase for vital capital improvements.
” Not only will this legislation infuse billions of dollars into public housing for long overdue repairs, it will also create thousands of union, prevailing wage jobs for New York City residents in the process,” said Laborers Local 79 Business Manager Michael Prohaska said.
The Trust will guarantee homes are kept permanently affordable and residents will have the right to vote and decide whether to opt-in to the Trust. Residents will also play an active role in determining which vendors are chosen to complete renovation work at their developments.
In her State of the State address, Governor Hochul announced a $25 billion, five-year Housing Plan – later passed in the FY 2023 Enacted Budget – that will create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes in urban and rural areas across New York including 10,000 homes with supportive services. The governor also recently signed into law more flexible rules for converting underutilized hotel space into permanent housing.
“This legislation is historic because it not only addresses long overdue repairs for public housing residents, it ensures those repairs will be performed by unionized construction workers,” said Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York Business Manager Michael Hellstrom.
“Including a project labor agreement and prevailing wage requirements in the bill makes it even more impactful for tenants because it ensures they’ll receive the highest quality repairs from a skilled and trained workforce.”
