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HOWARD UNIVERSITY CANCELS GRADUATION MID-CEREMONY AFTER FURIOUS...

CONCERTGOER PARTIALLY PARALYZED AFTER SINGER'S STAGE DIVE INTO...

JERRY SEINFELD BOOED BY ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS WHO WALK OUT OF...

Politics


SECURITY GUARDS MAY BE CUT FROM NYC SENIOR HOUSING — BUT SOME POLS WORRY HAVING
MORE COP PATROLS IS A BAD IDEA

By Haley Brown

Published May 8, 2024, 2:07 p.m. ET

Security guards patrolling the Big Apple’s public housing for seniors could get
axed due to budget cuts — and some politicians worry that replacing them with
cops could send the wrong message.

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is considering firing the unarmed
guards at 34 of the authority’s 55 senior housing facilities as the authority
contends with a $35.3 million shortfall in its 2024 budget, officials said at a
budget hearing Tuesday.

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But some city council members complained that it would be a bad move to try to
replace the guards with uniformed NYPD cops and security cameras, with
politicians alleging “over-policing” in predominantly black neighborhoods.

Council member Diana Aylala (D-Bronx) said she was worried about “over-policing”
of kids who might be hanging out in the building.

“I want to remind you of the dangers of over-policing black and brown
communities, and the history behind that,” Aylala said at the hearing. “So I
would hope that our public housing infrastructure is not complicit in those
calls.”

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EXPLORE MORE


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POUND ON DOORS, SMASH WINDOW


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JERRY SEINFELD BOOED BY ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS WHO WALK OUT OF HIS DUKE
COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

The guards — who cost $6.8 million — could get canned as soon as July 1 unless
city officials pony up supplemental funds, NYCHA officials testified.

NYCHA chief operating officer Eva Trimble said the agency had to make “difficult
choices” to deal with the budget shortfall driven by rent arrears from NYCHA’s
more than 500,000 tenants.

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“We’ve notified each of the relevant precincts,” Trimble said. “We’re working
closely with them to make sure there’s additional patrols.”

“They’d do it as part of their policing of the city,” NYCHA’s chief financial
officer Annika Lescott-Martinez testified when asked about the cost of the
additional patrols.

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office did not confirm the increased NYPD
patrols, but said NYCHA already works with NYPD on safety issues.

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3
A security guard helps an elderly woman through the door at a NYCHA facility in
Brooklyn. Stephen Yang

But city council member Chris Banks (D-Brooklyn) said the alternatives weren’t
enough.

“I totally disagree with shifting everything to NYPD,” said Banks, who chairs
the Committee on Public Housing.

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“We’ve seen the issues with response times, and we know that a senior walking
into a building and a security guard standing at the door in that area could be
a deterrent.”

The security guards are on the chopping block because the US Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – the federal agency from which NYCHA gets
much of its funding – does not require security guards, NYCHA CEO Lisa
Bova-Hiatt said.

“Right now we are laser-focused on providing heat hot water, elevators —
everything that’s required of us by the HUD agreement. Security is not one of
them,” Bova-Hiatt said.

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“This is a slap in the face to folks who have paved the way for us,” Banks said.
“Six million dollars shouldn’t be but a forlorn thought to make sure that our
seniors are protected and that layer of security is there.”

3
NYCHA officials testified the guards would be replaced with security cameras and
extra patrols by NYPD. Paul Martinka
3
The city council is calling on the Adams administration to add more than half a
billion dollars to supplement NYCHA’s budget. Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com

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The budget hearing comes as Mayor Eric Adams and the city council work to
finalize the city’s budget by June 30.

The council is calling on the Adams administration to add $584 million to
NYCHA’s supplemental budget to improve NYCHA apartments and turn them over
faster, ultimately lowering the agency’s vacancy rate.

Adams’ fiscal year 2025 budget allocates nearly $275 million of supplemental
funding for NYCHA, a $9.7 million increase from the previous fiscal year.

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A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said NYCHA should get the money for the
security guards from the state or federal government.

“NYCHA’s removal of unarmed security guards from senior buildings is a result of
shortfalls in federal and state funding and unpaid rent, and is not in any way
connected to city funding,” the spokesperson told The Post. “The City Council
can help alleviate the need for NYCHA’s cost-saving measures by joining the
Adams administration in calling for additional funding from the state and
federal government.”

The NYPD did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.


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Filed under affordable housing ,  budget ,  city budget ,  crime ,  housing , 
nycha ,  public housing ,  5/8/24

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