Constantinides proposes Borough Hall caucus of Queens NYCHA leaders
/
The Queensbridge Houses. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
By David Brand
As tenants in Queens’ 21 public housing complexes continue to deal with toxic lead paint, broken boilers, and the uncertain impact of privatization, Councilmember Costa Constantinides says it is time for the borough president do more to ensure tenants’ voices are heard in policy and planning discussions.
Constantinides, a candidate for Borough President, said he would appoint more public housing tenants to community boards and convene a caucus of tenant leaders from each Queens NYCHA site, a concept modeled off the “Queens Borough Board” — a monthly meeting of community board leaders and the borough president.
“The next borough president must figure out how we bring our tenant leaders together, give NYCHA residents a voice, advocate for more funds to fix this broken system, and green our campuses,” Constantinides said.
Constantinides said he would appoint a public housing expert in the borough president’s constituent services division to work with tenant leaders on the committee, who would meet regularly.
He noted that he has nominated two NYCHA tenants to Community Board 1, which overlaps with his Council district and includes four public housing campuses — the Queensbridge Houses, Ravenswood Houses, Woodside House and Astoria Houses. Constantinides has nominating power for residents of the Astoria Houses, which is located in his Council district.
“Diverse points of view have to be part of the process, and we have to make sure their voice is part of big decisions on land use, parks and capital funding,” Constantinides said.
More than 18,000 Queens NYCHA residents faced unplanned heat and hot water outages during the 2018-2019 “heating season” (October 1 to May 31), according to data reported by the agency. Meanwhile, the city has been slow to execute its plan for testing all public housing units in New York City, with priority given to complexes that house the most children under 6. By July, the city had not tested a single Queens unit under the plan, though two sites were among the top five in terms of most units with children under 6.
“NYCHA has shamefully failed generations of public housing residents, whose complaints about mold, no heat and little investment have long been ignored,” Constantinides said.
He has also pledged to use the power of the borough presidency to secure more state and federal funding for NYCHA complexes, and to improve community spaces, like the lawns at public housing campuses.
