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Public Advocate Jumaane Williams addresses housing and building issues in NYC
0:08:56
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4 min
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams delivers a statement on housing and building issues in New York City, focusing on staffing challenges at HPD and DOB, safety concerns in the construction industry, and the impact of federal funding cuts on housing programs. He emphasizes the need for fully staffed agencies and expresses concern over unsafe infrastructure.
- Highlights high vacancy rates at HPD (13.8%) and DOB (12.41%), urging prioritization of hiring to fill gaps
- Discusses increase in housing violations and decrease in Section 8 voucher utilization rate
- Raises concerns about construction worker safety and increased wait times for building inspections
- Inquires about the city's response to federal funding cuts and potential backlog in Section 8 applications
Jumaane Williams
0:08:56
Thank you very very much, madam chair.
0:08:59
Just wanna congratulate acting commissioner.
0:09:03
Congratulations.
0:09:03
It couldn't happen to a nice and more attentive guy, so I appreciate that.
0:09:07
And I wanna shout out my 16 year old, Monique Claremont, who's who's here today out of school.
0:09:14
Thanks for joining me.
0:09:16
Junior in high school.
0:09:19
My name is Jaimani Williams.
0:09:20
I'm public advocate for the City Of New York.
0:09:22
Thank you very much to chair Sanchez and members of the committee on housing and buildings for holding this hearing and always, allowing me the opportunity to provide a statement.
0:09:30
Our housing agencies have faced high attrition rates with HPD experiencing 45.6% change from pre pandemic to current trends.
0:09:38
As of February 2025, HPD's vacancy rate is 13.8% with a total of three eighty two vacancies.
0:09:45
HPD has bounced back from the pandemic lows with production in fiscal year twenty twenty five increasing from the low point of the previous two fiscal years.
0:09:55
However, the vacancy rate from last month is still very high.
0:09:59
It's my hope that HPD continues to prioritize hiring to fill the gaps to ensure it does not negatively impact the agency's capacity.
0:10:06
According to the preliminary measures management report, MMR, in the first four years of fiscal year twenty five, HPD issued 13% more violations compared to the same period fiscal year twenty four for hazardous conditions including 15% increase for class a non hazardous violations, 13% increase for class b hazardous violations, 11% increase for class c immediately hazardous violations.
0:10:27
In addition, HPD section eight voucher utilization rate has 89% in the first four months of fiscal year twenty five which was an 8% decrease compared to fiscal year twenty four.
0:10:38
The rate is much lower because of the transfer from Nature that saw 3,000 vouchers added to the agency's baseline, which is in turn increasing the number of vouchers issued by 26%.
0:10:48
DOB faces similar staffing changes with a higher attrition rate of 68.3% change from pre pandemic to current trends.
0:10:55
As of February 2025, I know DOB will be later, just putting on the record now.
0:10:59
DOB's vacancy rate is 12.41% with a total of 216 vacancies.
0:11:06
Compared to HPD, DOB has been falling behind from the pandemic lows with production in fiscal year twenty five being minimally compared to the previous fiscal years.
0:11:14
It's critical that we ensure that also DOB is able to fill all its vacancies for this year.
0:11:18
There's been a concerning trend in building safety in the past couple of years.
0:11:22
Twenty twenty three was the deadliest year for the construction workers.
0:11:25
There are thirty construction deaths, on the job, which was the most in a decade.
0:11:29
According to the preliminary MMR, construction related incidents with injury decreased from two hundred thirty seven to one hundred forty three and construction related injuries decreased from two sixty six to one forty six.
0:11:40
DOB has put several steps in place to prioritize and ensure the safety of workers.
0:11:44
In addition, the average inspection response had been negatively impacted due to being understaffed.
0:11:48
The average wait time for construction inspection increased four point two days, plumbing inspection increased three point nine days, electrical inspection increased nine point four days, more than double from before.
0:11:58
I'm hoping to hear from the administration some concerns and asks for this budget cycle.
0:12:02
Also noticed that 214,000 that was set aside for the asylum seekers was removed.
0:12:08
We're interested to find out where that money is going and is it possible to substitute that money for a different need within HPD.
0:12:14
The current federal administration is dismantling agencies including HUD and it is currently facing agency cuts and massive layoffs during a housing crisis.
0:12:22
One department is particular that has seen the deepest cuts in the office of community planning and development.
0:12:27
This office funds disaster recovery and programs that help local communities build affordable housing.
0:12:32
In addition, this office provides more than 3,600,000,000 in federal funding for rental assistance, substance use treatment, mental health, and outreach to get those living outside into housing and shelter.
0:12:42
HPD runs an emergency housing program for people who need to be relocated because of the fires.
0:12:47
I'd like to find out how HPD is impacted by these cuts and the folks on the verge of homelessness.
0:12:54
HUD has only one staff person for the entirety of the state of New York which has a population of approximately twenty dollars twenty million.
0:13:01
What is the city planning to do to protect the federal funds and capital projects?
0:13:05
Also, is the city responding to a potential probable backlog and administration of Section eight applications?
0:13:10
I hope during today's hearing the administration will provide information on the issues I just highlighted in my statement.
0:13:15
We cannot have unsafe and weakening infrastructure that puts New Yorkers at risk.
0:13:19
I'd like to know if the administration plans to respond to the federal government and meet the goal of being fully staffed for HPD and DOB.
0:13:26
I'll just end by saying a few weeks ago I was here on a public safety hearing.
0:13:30
The only thing discussed during that public safety hearing was law enforcement.
0:13:34
Just wanna re up the fact that all of these issues, whether it's education or housing, really really have to be a part of the public safety discussion.
0:13:42
I hope soon we'll talk about it as such.
0:13:44
Thank you so much.