NYC Launches Neighborhood Forums To Address Public Housing

NEW YORK, NY — New York City will begin a new series of neighborhood forums that place NYCHA residents face-to-face with senior city officials to discuss repairs, mold, pests, elevators, public safety and other long-running concerns inside public housing developments.

The first forums are scheduled for May 20 in the Bronx, June 3 in Brooklyn and June 17 in Manhattan.

Each event will gather residents from multiple nearby developments rather than focusing on a single property. Officials said residents will be able to speak directly with agency representatives about apartment repairs, tenancy disputes, environmental conditions and community services.

At the forums, residents will rotate through small-group conversations with NYCHA executives and City Hall officials while visiting resource tables staffed by city agencies, including the Department of Social Services, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Youth and Community Development and Department for the Aging.

“We will be bringing senior NYCHA staff and subject matter experts directly to residents to discuss their visions for their homes and campuses," NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt said.

The initiative builds on existing tenant association meetings, resident roundtables and surveys already used across the housing authority’s system, which serves more than 500,000 New Yorkers.