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Opinion

editorial


LATEST NYC HOUSING CORRUPTION IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG FOR CITY GOV’T

By Post Editorial Board

Published Feb. 10, 2024, 7:41 a.m. ET

Last week’s bribery charges against 70 New York City Housing Authority employees
are just the latest in a long list of scandals by low- and mid-level public
workers in New York who abuse their power over their public mini-fiefdoms.

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On Tuesday, the Manhattan US attorney accused the employees of skimming $2
million in bribes in connection with NYCHA repair contracts worth less than
$10,000 apiece but that added up to a whopping $250 million.

It was the largest number of Justice Department bribery charges ever in a single
day.

The bribes averaged about $28,000 per worker, though some managers made far
more. Nirmal Lorick hauled in $153,000 from $1.3 million in contracts,
prosecutors say; Juan Mercado scored $314,300 off $1.8 million in contracts.

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NYCHA’s $78 billion repair backlog, on top of ongoing maintenance needs at its
2,411 buildings, makes it ripe for corruption.

And corruption has long plagued the agency, from the lowest-level workers right
up to the top:

70 current and former NYCHA workers were arrested and charged Tuesday in a
10-year, $2 million “classic pay-for-play” corruption scheme.

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 * In a 2018 lawsuit, the feds charged that NYCHA managers and staff devised
   schemes to hide problems from federal inspectors — papering over holes,
   shutting down water piping to conceal leaks, etc.


   MORE FROM POST EDITORIAL BOARD
   
   
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   GOODBYE ‘ALLEGEDLY’, ‘EMERGENCY’ SPENDING GAMES AND OTHER COMMENTARY

 * Before that, the city Department of Investigations found then-NYCHA boss
   Shola Olatoye falsely certified to federal regulators that 55,000 units had
   been inspected for lead paint hazards.

Even small-time corruption adds up. Residents suffer, as stolen money could
otherwise be used for repairs and upgrades.

But such skimming, deception, and self-dealing have been pervasive not only at
NYCHA but throughout city government:

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 * Gothamites have seen stunning cases of school custodians, uh, cleaning up —
   such as the two janitors and other workers forced to repay $1.4 million for
   money they raked in via no-show jobs a decade ago.
 * A huge 1988 scandal saw 28 health inspectors and supervisors charged with
   extorting bribes worth hundreds of thousands by threatening to shutter some
   300 city restaurants.

Note, too, that this federal investigation was built on one by the city
Department of Investigation five years back, duly flagged at the time by the
left-leaning site The City and in these pages.

Which suggests zero interest in the rest of the city government in exposing such
corruption.

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The corruption scheme involved the largest number of federal bribery raps
brought in a single day in Department of Justice history, according to reports.
Michael Nagle for NY Post

It’s as if insiders’ general attitude is that there’s really nothing wrong with
abusing the public trust to line your own pockets — even though the actual
victims are usually the city’s most vulnerable.

As far as NYCHA goes, housing expert Howard Husock argues that privatizing
management is the best way to limit corruption.

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What do you think? Post a comment.

Hmm: City insiders generally treat “privatization” as a dirty word, along with
“merit pay,” “productivity increases” and anything else that might make the
government deliver more bang to the public for its bucks.

Makes you wonder who’s really working for whom.


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Filed under bribery ,  corruption ,  department of justice ,  editorial , 
government ,  joe biden ,  lead exposure ,  lirr ,  nycha ,  Shola Olatoye ,  us
attorney ,  2/10/24
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