The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And that goes for public housing, too. Feds have charged the building manager and superintendent of a troubled Staten Island apartment complex with illegally taking thousands in bribes to help prospective tenants jump up the list. But they weren't doing it for the money, they can reportedly be heard on tape explaining. It was all to keep the community safe! more ›

We're not sure how far the Morris Houses are from the infamously huge rat found at a Bronx foot locker, but the housing project definitely has a terrible rat problem. A concerned resident contacted MyFoxNY about the situation. The news crew spotted many, many rats— "Big ones... little ones... even babies"—as well as many burrows. more ›

A man was shot twice in the courtyard of the NYCHA's Campos Plaza complex last night in Alphabet City. At 12:13 a.m. police received several 911 calls indicating that around six shots had been fired, and that someone who may have been the shooter was last seen running towards 12th Street. The victim, whose name has not yet been released, was shot once in each leg and was taken by car to Beth Israel. more ›

As has been made pretty clear by now, there isn't much money in the government's coffers these days. Which means that the city is getting creative with the ways it raises cash-and that is why the New York City Housing Authority is currently exploring the pretty audacious move of putting advertisements on the 334 developments it runs across the city. You'll be shocked (shocked!) to know that not all NYCHA residents are thrilled at this prospect! more ›

Roosevelt Houses resident Emma Graham, 84, has been complaining about her bed bug problem to the New York City Housing Authority for a month, but until Friday, nobody paid much attention. Graham has been forced to sleep in a chair in the corner of her living room because the bugs have taken over her bed, their chosen location for their penis-knife sex adventures. Her daughter, Yvonne Prieste, told NY1, "I mean, my mom is getting eaten up every day, all day long, and it's heartbreaking to see your mom with red bumps all over her and then they turn black." We can add that comment to the list of bed bug quotes that make us afraid to go outside. more ›

Remember the troupe of stray cats that pretty much took over the Ravenswood apartment complex in Queens? The New York City Housing Authority wanted them out, but no all residents agreed with the tactics they were going to use—which included sealing up crawl spaces that kittens were trapped in! more ›

Thanks to nationwide funding announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2,500 families may be saved from the possible Section 8 voucher cut. The vouchers allows poor residents to pay 30% of their income towards rent while the government pays for the rest. HUD Secretary Shaun Donavan told NY1, "A Section 8 voucher has never been more important that it is today in this economic crisis, and so this is a real lifeline for families at this time." HUD has $150 million in funds for housing authorities across the country, with $24 million set aside for New York City. more ›

One of the city's efforts to add affordable housing is drawing jeers from residents in city housing. The city has reasoned that some of the areas surrounding public housing—including parking lots and greenspace—have been underutilized, and it's selling the land to developers who will build new affordable housing units. They say the profits will also go to fix up existing properties. But residents in the current buildings say the construction comes at the expense of some of their amenities, including cheap parking and nice views. And while the city's touting the new units as affordable, that might ring hollow to some of the current residents, since the new buildings will in some cases be open to families who make $150K. more ›

At least $350 million of federal stimulus money—and at least $65 million of annual subsidies—will be directed towards 21 New York City housing projects to pay for much-needed renovations. The major allocation of cash will allow workers to fix facades, roofs, heating systems, elevators and other problems in buildings where 20,000 New Yorkers reside, according to DNAinfo. Some tenants feared the stimulus money was a sign the buildings would shift away from low-income housing, but Mayor Bloomberg told the Daily News: "Nothing is going to change, except for the better." According to the Lo-Down, he added: "While other cities are blowing up public housing, we are preserving it." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg appointed a former Wall Street investment banker to head the troubled NYC Housing Authority. The NYCHA oversees over 177,000 apartments in 340 development in all five boroughs—the NY Times says this makes John Rhea, who used to work at Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan Chase, "in effect, the city’s biggest landlord." Bloomberg said, "John's experience makes him the perfect person to lead our efforts to create long-term financial stability at the Authority, and to ring in a new era of transparency and agency responsiveness to improving resident and community quality of life." However, some critics of the Bloomberg administration were upset with the pick: City Councilwoman Letitia James issued a statement questioning Rhea's lack of "experience in managing a low-income public housing authority of this size and scale...particularly at a time when private equity firms are purchasing under-performing housing developments, and converting them to luxury housing throughout the City" while Councilwoman Rosie Mendez told the Times, "All I see is a Wall Street person with an investment banking background and with no experience in housing management or development." more ›