Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged greater than 60 present and former workers of the New York Metropolis Housing Authority with bribery and extortion, a sweeping indictment of a troubled group.
The unsealing of the complaints was introduced early Tuesday, with extra particulars on the scope of the investigation to be unveiled by Damian Williams, the U.S. lawyer for the Southern District of New York, at a late morning information convention.
The staff have been charged with “accepting money funds from contractors in alternate for awarding NYCHA contracts,” a information launch mentioned. It added that the greater than 60 federal bribery prices amounted to a single-day file for the Division of Justice.
The Division of Housing and City Growth mentioned in an announcement that the defendants have been superintendents who had “exploited the belief positioned in them by the residents of New York Metropolis.”
Final 12 months, officers on the housing company estimated that it might want some $78 billion over the following twenty years to renovate the growing older system, which is house to greater than 300,000 New Yorkers in an costly metropolis starved for reasonably priced residences.
Complaints about growing older buildings, rodents, leaky pipes and damaged elevators have dogged the company, which operates greater than 270 developments. Nonetheless, demand stays excessive, with a whole lot of 1000’s of individuals crowding ready lists.
In 2022, NYCHA collected simply 65 p.c of the hire it charged, the bottom share in its almost 100-year historical past.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has made growing reasonably priced housing a central purpose of his administration, unveiling a plan final 12 months to create as many as 100,000 extra properties by permitting low-slung condominium buildings to sprout from the tops of some single-story buildings outdoors Manhattan.
On the similar time, Gov. Kathy Hochul, one other Democrat, has additionally sought — unsuccessfully to this point — to deal with the issue, in search of to construct a whole lot of 1000’s of properties within the metropolis and statewide, although opposition from suburban lawmakers has been fierce.
The housing disaster has been difficult by the inflow of greater than 150,000 migrants into town, which has overwhelmed town’s shelter system.
It is a creating story and might be up to date.
