Gov. Andrew Cuomo is all talk when it comes to supporting residents of the city’s public housing system, Mayor Bill de Blasio charged Friday.
“This is a pattern we’ve seen in the state of New York, and under this governor, where there’s a lot of talk about helping public housing residents, but we don’t see real resources,” the mayor said on WNYC radio.
Hizzoner’s comments came a day after Cuomo said he was mulling whether to declare a state of emergency at the massive housing agency, a move that would expedite much-needed repairs to an aging system.
But the mayor questioned the motives of the governor, who at times has had the state step in to highlight mismanagement by the city.
“If the state really wants to sit down with us and say, ‘How can we play a constructive role in addressing some of the challenges at NYCHA that are decades old?’ we would welcome that conversation, we would try to work together,” the mayor said. “But if the state’s trying to score political points and deal in simplistic ideas that are not really going to help the people of the public housing buildings in our city — who are 400,000 New Yorkers — then let’s be honest about what’s really going on.”
A spokesman for Cuomo shot back Friday night.
“All the mayor does is point fingers when he should look in the mirror. He has sole management responsibility for NYCHA and has failed,” Abbey Fashouer said. “The state has no responsibility to fund NYCHA, but gave an historic $300 million anyway.”
Earlier this week, state Health Department officials said they intend to investigate health-related issues at public housing developments in Queens.
NYCHA developments have been plagued for years with cases of mold, but scrutiny of the agency intensified after it informed federal officials that workers were conducting annual inspections for lead hazards despite knowing they weren’t.
NYCHA chair Shola Olatoye, in particular, has been criticized for providing the City Council with inaccurate information about efforts to address a 4-year lapse in inspections.
De Blasio has pointed at the state and federal governments as culprits for a lack of investments that spans decades.
But the city’s own figures show Cuomo has allocated $300 million to NYCHA during his seven years in office — nearly three times the amount allocated by the state in the prior 21 years combined.
City officials insist that’s far short of what’s required — NYCHA is facing more than $20 billion in unmet capital needs — and that the funds take too long to get spent by the State Dormitory Authority, which manages the money.