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QUESTION
What are HPD's strategies for addressing severe housing violations and improving enforcement?
1:25:57
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5 min
The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) explains its comprehensive approach to address pervasive housing maintenance code violations, including both reactive and proactive measures.
- HPD responds to 311 complaints and conducts inspections to assess the scope of problems in affected units or buildings.
- For severe cases, HPD implements programs like the Emergency Repair Program and the Alternative Enforcement Program, financially backing repairs and enforcing compliance.
- HPD conducts annual assessments to enroll buildings in intensive correction programs, making the list public and informing tenants.
- Collaboration with other agencies and legal actions form part of HPD's strategy to address and rectify housing violations.
- HPD also focuses on proactive outreach and tenant protection efforts, working closely with various district attorney offices and establishing the tenant protection cabinet.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
1:25:57
So the 2023 HBS identifies a higher trouble of most housing quality issues relative to previous HDS cycles.
1:26:05
So a higher number of units that are facing these housing quality issues.
1:26:09
When segmented by status, we have public housing units in the in the worst shape.
1:26:15
With then rent controlled units following and rent stabilized units following that.
1:26:22
So given these housing quality issues, can you talk to me about HPD's enforcement improvements.
1:26:30
And in particular, you know, I have been talking to the administration.
1:26:33
HPD included about a building in my district that I believe represents too many others.
1:26:40
Right?
1:26:40
I had 1915 Billingsley collapse in my district, has had over a 100 HPD violations, a number of department of bill building violations.
1:26:50
And yesterday, we had a an announcement about 221 dash 2205 Davidson, which has nearly 500 HPD open violations and 90 DOB violations, 60 Department of Health violations, it is quite literally falling apart.
1:27:05
And I know we're talking about it.
1:27:08
But it is a building that is representative of many others.
1:27:11
And it it is an illustration of HPD's housing, quality enforcement, tools falling short.
1:27:18
So can you help us understand how is HPD addressing these 10,000 buildings estimated by CSS who are in these desperate conditions of having pervasive housing maintenance code and other violations and issues.
Ahmed Tigan
1:27:32
So I I think we we try to attack each building with its specific problems in the in a number of different ways.
1:27:40
So We have, 1st, the standard protocol of being able to respond to 311 complaints, getting inspectors to those sites and understanding if the problem is limited to the unit itself, the building as a whole.
1:27:53
We can go further and do roof to cellar inspections, We, you know, use that data and we combine that with information that we have with sister agencies at DOB or other agencies where that information if need be taken to a next level, could be useful to working with the owner to get those things corrected for buildings that have severe issues class c violations and owners go beyond the completion date or the date to certify that the work has been completed.
1:28:24
We do have programs like the emergency repair program where we do use Citi dollars to do the work and then build the owner after.
1:28:31
We have more extensive programs, programs like the alternative, enforcement program.
1:28:36
We do an annual assessment at the end of January of every year, in which case buildings based on their class b and class violations, the amount of violation ERP charges that we've done for a particular building.
1:28:50
Once they meet certain criteria, they are enrolled, in this program or HPD is more intensely involved in ensuring that the corrections are done.
1:28:58
That list is made public.
1:29:00
We set up meetings.
1:29:01
We're actually in the in the period now where we're setting up meetings with tenants in those buildings and make them aware.
1:29:08
Of their billings enrollment in this program and what that means and how they can help ensure that we have that structure in place.
1:29:15
We continue to have the ability to take cases to take cases to court with our litigation division.
1:29:23
I'm sorry, I don't have those numbers by no will be before you on Monday for the budget hearing, and we'll make sure to to have more of that information available.
1:29:32
So from our and then separate and apart from that, We, you know, proactive and cross agency work either through the, you know, harassment task force where it's we're sitting with both DLB, DP, other enforcement agencies.
1:29:48
We're working with the various district attorney offices where it it it makes sense.
1:29:54
We have the 10 protection cabinet where we're doing proactive outreach to tenants so that we're getting the information about the most problematic buildings so we can't understand what there's portfolio issues.
1:30:05
There's both a reactive framework in place for HPD using tools of various degrees, and there is a proactive focus through a task force that's geared from a tenant's perspective and a tenant's lens not only using the HPDs, resources, but sometimes you have construction and harassment, which is why you have the office of the tenant advocate at DOB.
1:30:28
And those are two offices that work our office and their office works closely together to see where we could be maximizing our resources.
1:30:35
So again, it's both reactive and proactive.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
1:30:38
Thank you for Stephanie, and, you know, it's not that HPD's enforcement programs don't work.
1:30:43
It's that they don't work for the worst.
1:30:45
Cases, and and that's what we've seen.
1:30:47
So look forward to talk talking more about that and and giving you tools that hopefully, then the agency does use to take ownership back from from buildings like 2201, 2205 Davidson.
1:31:00
Where that that landlord has no business being being an owner.