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Q&A
Council Member Mealy questions NYCHA officials about emergency services funding
1:06:19
ยท
3 min
Council Member Darlene Mealy engages in a discussion with NYCHA officials about the agency's five-year plan and its approach to funding emergency services. The conversation focuses on clarifying why the plan shows zero allocation for property emergencies and how NYCHA handles various types of emergencies within its budget structure.
- NYCHA officials explain that emergency funding is distributed across multiple budget lines, including operating and capital budgets.
- They clarify that the zero allocation in one specific line item does not mean a lack of emergency funding overall.
- Examples of large-scale emergencies that require separate budget allocations are discussed, such as water main breaks and structural issues.
Darlene Mealy
1:06:19
With your five year plan, why do how can you justify having no property emergencies?
1:06:33
Could someone explain that to me?
1:06:35
Because a senior fell out and the fire department came and broke down her door, got inside, and do you know how long her door just was fixed after I found out?
1:06:51
So you're saying now any NYCHA development will not have emergency services?
1:06:56
No, ma'am.
1:06:57
That number is just an estimate.
Annika Lescott-Martinez
1:07:00
We do it year over year to figure out
Darlene Mealy
1:07:04
But it's going down
Annika Lescott-Martinez
1:07:05
to zero?
1:07:06
Yes but any of the funding so I'll take a step back and say that any of the funding that we have for our capital plan could be reallocated at any moment to address a property emergency.
1:07:17
So we address all property emergencies in a timely manner.
1:07:21
For example
Darlene Mealy
1:07:22
So why would you put this on your capital plan?
1:07:26
That's given us to say that you're just not gonna have it or you're now gonna find money whenever it arrives.
1:07:34
But that may be too late.
Shaan Mavani
1:07:35
Yeah.
1:07:36
Council member Milla Tore.
Darlene Mealy
1:07:37
I already see how long it take you just to fix a door.
1:07:40
Do you know people was coming into her house stealing her food, her chair?
1:07:45
So tell me.
Shaan Mavani
1:07:46
Sure.
1:07:47
So maybe I can help clarify.
1:07:49
There are allocations and budgets for each property which can be used for emergencies.
1:07:54
There's also allocations on the operating budget side.
1:07:56
And then there are allocations on the capital budget side in multiple places.
1:08:00
And so that line you're seeing in the budget was one of those contingency budgets we hold to deal with larger emergencies within What
Darlene Mealy
1:08:08
kind of emergencies?
Shaan Mavani
1:08:10
Or larger emergencies that Large and like what?
1:08:14
What's a good example?
1:08:15
Like a break.
1:08:16
Yeah, like a water main break.
1:08:18
If we find a gas outlet and it requires a riser replacement, if we find a major unusual roof issue that's structural and is putting residents on the top floor at risk.
1:08:31
Those type of things will require a larger one time allocation in the millions of dollars rather than a smaller emergency situation.
1:08:38
So it's important, I think, for us to clarify that our emergency service team, and all the work that they do and emergency respond to are fully funded on the operating side, to the extent we can keep them funded, just like previous years.
1:08:51
And even on the capital budget side, this is not the only line item that we hold to deal with those type of emergencies.
1:08:57
For example, in my area we maintain a facade emergency team.
1:09:02
When there's any brickwork issues and we have to mobilize, that is a separate budget line item which is budgeted.
1:09:07
And so I just want to clarify that line being zero does not mean that we're not holding various funds to ensure we can deal with any contingencies that come up at the property.
Darlene Mealy
1:09:15
It's like a miscellaneous budget item?
Shaan Mavani
1:09:20
It's an additional contingency item that we hold, right, explicitly in the capital budget.
1:09:25
But there's a number of places we have that on capital and operating.
Darlene Mealy
1:09:28
Thank you.
Chris Banks
1:09:30
Thank you, council member Mealy.