TESTIMONY
Viviana Gordon, Director of Planning and Implementation at Center for Justice Innovation, on Housing Instability and Public Housing Oversight
4:52:06
·
3 min
Viviana Gordon testifies on the impact of housing instability and inequity on New Yorkers, advocating for improved public housing oversight and code enforcement.
- Center for Justice Innovation serves tens of thousands of New Yorkers across all five boroughs annually
- Gordon emphasizes the traumatic effects of unsafe, unstable housing on marginalized communities
- Advocates for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to be fully under Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) oversight
- Urges implementation of state law requiring HPD to maintain public records of code violations in public housing
- Calls for direct communication of code violations from HPD to NYCHA to address conditions more quickly
Viviana Gordon
4:52:06
Good evening.
4:52:07
Good afternoon.
4:52:08
Chair of Sanchez and members of the Housing And Buildings Committee.
4:52:11
My name is Viviana Gordon.
4:52:12
I'm the direct of planning and implementation at the Center for Justice Innovation.
4:52:16
And today, I'm here to share the toll that housing instability and inequity are taking on our clients and the communities we work in.
4:52:25
Our programs collectively serve tens of thousands of New Yorkers across all five boroughs each year, including people involved with criminal family and housing court systems, young people, individuals who are most at risk of being victims or perpetrators of violent crime and public housing residents.
4:52:43
Across all of our projects we see every day how the lack of safe, stable housing is inherently traumatic.
4:52:50
And causes real crisis and despair.
4:52:53
I work most directly with our housing justice projects, including the eviction diversion initiative in Brooklyn Housing Court, the Redhook And Harlem Community Justice Centers, which are the city's only community based landlord tenant courts that also have on-site help desks and a network of neighborhood housing navigators across the city, including Far Rockaway, the South Bronx, East Harlem, and Redhook.
4:53:16
Our focus is preventing eviction and displacement, responding to hazardous repair conditions, improving access to justice, and connecting people to public benefits and legal services.
4:53:27
We often find ourselves bridging the gap between the court system, city agencies, and communities.
4:53:33
It's not lost on us every day that the disparity and disinvestment we see are deeply rooted in historic racial injustice and disproportionately impact already marginalized communities, particularly residents of public housing.
4:53:49
Every day we work with nature tenants experiencing egregious home conditions, including chronic stock leaks, electrical fires, infestations, gas outages lasting months, mold and crumbling walls.
4:54:03
These conditions contribute to chronic health problems and are devastating for mental health, something that is not acknowledged enough.
4:54:11
May I continue?
4:54:12
Yes.
4:54:13
Thank you.
4:54:15
Unlike residents of private housing, who can call 311 and receive a city inspection from HPD.
4:54:22
Nitro residents must go to housing court and file an HP action, a burdensome process that can take months to resolve.
4:54:30
This experience of working with tenants who have to go through this process has reinforced our cul de city council for Nieta to be fully under HPD oversight So public housing tenants have the same protections under the city housing maintenance code as private tenants.
4:54:47
We also ask the council to urge HPD to to begin implementing state law as 72a9387, which requires h PD maintained public record of code violations in the same manner as privately owned housing.
4:55:05
Finally, we ask for the council to urge HPD to communicate cited code violations directly to NACHA, which is causing needless delays and addressing conditions.
4:55:16
We know these measures will take additional resources, and we urge the council to ensure the nonprofits like ours.
4:55:24
All of ours, and city agencies receive adequate support to tackle this crisis effectively.
4:55:31
Equitable access to safe quality housing and code enforcement are essential to the health, safety, and vitality of our communities.
4:55:39
Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify.
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Shekeema Gillans, Resident of an Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) in the South Bronx, on critical building issues and financial instability in her cooperative