Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image Credit: NYC Mayor’s Office.
A $200 million investment will be used to replace boilers and upgrade heating systems at 20 NYCHA developments. On January 31, 2018, Mayor de Blasio announced the investment aimed at assisting NYCHA developments experiencing chronic outages. The $200 million investment is part of the Mayor’s investment in NYCHA including $2.1 billion in capital infrastructure and $1.6 billion in operating funds. The upgrades are expected to save NYCHA approximately $5 million per year in energy costs.
Starting in Fiscal Year 2019, which begins on July 1st, the $200 million will be invested over three years. The investment will replace outdated boilers at 10 development with chronic outages, modernize hot water systems at 12 development by separating hot water from the heating boilers to reduce the strain on boilers, and install new heating controls at 15 developments to regulate boiler temperature. The 20 developments include Morris I and II, Sotomayor Houses, McKinley, Melrose, Pelham Parkway, and Soundview in the Bronx, Taft, Rangel, Robinson, Baruch Houses Addition and Baruch in Manhattan, Cypress Hills, Farragut, Fiorentino Plaza, Rutland Towers, and Long Island Baptist Houses in Brooklyn, Astoria and Pomonok in Queens, and South Beach in Staten Island.
De Blasio said: “Like our investment to replace aging roofs, this commitment to new heating systems cuts right to the heart of the biggest problems NYCHA residents face, and will make a difference thousands of them will feel. The record-setting cold this winter has hit these aging boilers and pipes hard. We’re coming to the table with real resources to attack these problems, and urge our federal and state partners to do the same.”
NYCHA Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye said: “The Mayor has demonstrated through his previous commitments that when NYCHA has the funding, residents get real improvements to their quality of life. While the city faced one of the coldest spells in over a half century, NYCHA staff worked around the clock to keep its aging boilers running. This new investment will help us improve service to our residents and provide them with the safe, warm homes they deserve.”
The investment was welcomed by several city government officials. Majority Leader and member of the Committee on Public Housing Laurie A. Cumbo was delighted that her requests for Farragut houses were answered and the development would receive the necessary heating upgrades. Farragut houses are one of the 20 developments to receive upgrades, including new boilers. Minority Leader Steven Matteo said: “This is a necessary and worthwhile investment that will provide the residents of the South Beach Houses and other NYCHA facilities the reliable heat and hot water they deserve, while saving taxpayers millions each year in heating bills and unnecessary maintenance.” Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Chair of the Committee on Public Housing, applauded de Blasio for “stepping up and making NYCHA residents a priority.”
Since 2014, NYCHA has committed nearly $300 million in HUD funds to upgrade heating and plumbing at 100 boilers. In addition, more than $100 million of the $3 billion FEMA grant for Sandy Recovery and Resilience will fund the replacement of 67 boilers at 17 developments.
By: Dorichel Rodriguez (Dorichel is a CityLaw Fellow and New York Law School Graduate, Class of 2017.)