Q&A
Discussion on HPD's enforcement powers and resource needs
1:57:59
·
4 min
Council Member Sanchez inquires about what HPD needs from the city council to improve its enforcement capabilities and address issues more quickly. Commissioner Carrión expresses openness to discussions about potential policy shifts or new authorities, while emphasizing the need to work within the court system and respect property rights.
- HPD welcomes discussions on potential new authorities or policy shifts to address bad landlords more effectively
- The agency faces challenges in balancing enforcement with legal processes and property rights
- HPD could potentially do more with additional resources, as indicated by recent increases in violations issued and inspections completed
Pierina Ana Sanchez
1:57:59
Thank you.
1:58:00
And and so just to to clarify, what what exactly was the reason for the arrest warrant?
AnnMarie Santiago
1:58:07
He failed to comply with many orders from the court about making repairs over quite some time.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
1:58:17
Got it.
1:58:17
Thank you.
1:58:18
Thank you so much.
1:58:19
It it is heartening to to see this this kind of action, you know, in in my district and in so many across the city, ten in feel ignored.
1:58:26
They feel like they call 311 and, you know, they don't know what happens next sometimes.
1:58:31
From their perspective, right, the inspectors may show sometimes They don't.
1:58:35
On the back end, it may be scheduling comp you know, there there may be reasons behind it, but the tenant experience is nobody's paying attention, nobody's looking out for me.
1:58:44
And, you know, we've been talking about a particular building that has is is in similar circumstance.
1:58:53
You know?
1:58:53
And and I I suppose I'll I'll turn this into a question about what what do we do?
1:58:59
What does the agency need from the council that the council can provide to allow you to to move more quickly.
1:59:07
Is there is there anything that we could change in terms of legislating HPD's powers?
1:59:12
So to shorten the time frame for removing ownership from the worst of the worst.
1:59:18
Leave it at that.
Adolfo Carrión Jr.
1:59:22
Yeah.
1:59:23
Let me let me just say that we welcome that discussion.
1:59:32
Obviously, we have to work through the court system.
1:59:38
And you know the building in your district that we've been talking about.
1:59:44
Owners sometimes have the ability to tie the system up and not and based on legitimate property rights and but they often abuse the system.
1:59:56
And we have to go through process to get to the conclusion, to the right conclusion.
2:00:02
So if there are, you know, authorities new ideas about how to handle this process.
2:00:10
We we welcome that, you know, any policy shifts that we can make.
2:00:15
But frankly, you know, on our end, we're doing everything that we can to get it across the finish line and get rid of bad owners for the sake of New York City residents.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
2:00:27
Thank you.
2:00:28
According to an analysis by Community Service Society, there are 10,000 buildings in the city of New York with over a 100,000 households that are that fit the statutory definition of distress on the 7 8 program.
2:00:44
And so my question is, you mentioned 24 buildings are currently in the 7A program and using 7A for a stand in for any of HPD's enforcement programs, AEP, underlying conditions, etcetera.
2:00:57
How many buildings could HPD be acting on that you are not, whether it's because of resource constraints, or whatever the case may be.
Adolfo Carrión Jr.
2:01:11
I'll just say from a from a very general level, we can always do more with more resources.
2:01:21
Our our team works very hard.
2:01:28
You see it in the numbers of violations that were issued in the last cycle.
2:01:33
The number of inspections that were attempted and completed in the last cycle.
2:01:37
And we can we can talk numbers all day, but they're dramatic increases.
2:01:44
You passed some local laws that require us to do more.
2:01:50
Mhmm.
2:01:52
It's a challenge obviously because for every new local mandate, We require more bodies, more time.
2:02:01
So but just to an overarching response would be we can always do more with more and are willing to do more with the resources available to us.