Agency pledges $2.2 mill for Marble Hill

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Marble Hill Houses will soon be getting some much needed repairs.

According to an informed source, the New York City Housing Development Corporation asked New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to ensure funds that were part of a $2.2 million allotment earmarked for NYCHA, which includes 11 buildings along Broadway from West 225th Street to West 230th Street, would go to Marble Hill Houses.

A HDC spokesperson added that NYCHA is currently in discussions with Wells Fargo who is the tax credit syndicator in the Federalization, to possibly make some of the capital reserves available for repairs.

The check could cover the cost of repairs to the buildings’ roofs, elevators and other areas that have been in a state of disrepair over the years in the 14- and 15-story-high buildings.

The repairs are expected to be completed by spring of 2015, the source said.

HDC has been the conduit financial entity that provides the money to NYCHA so that it can do these repairs and other things, the source said.  

The $2.2 million allotment comes just months after Comptroller Scott Stringer released an analysis of citywide housing conditions. The report revealed that conditions at NYCHA were worsening.

According to Mr. Stringer in a Sept. 8 release, “Housing conditions at NYCHA have become a laundry list of tenant frustration, from broken windows and peeling paint, to faulty heaters and scurrying rats.” 

Among the key findings of Mr. Stringer’s report on housing and maintenance deficiencies, 79 percent of NYCHA units had at least one major defect in 2011 compared to 60 percent in 2002. 

The report found that 34.8 percent of NYCHA apartments had three or more housing deficiencies, from rat infestations to water leaks, in 2011.

The bequest to revamp Marble Hill Houses, a complex that was built in 1952, aims to address similiar housing conditions that are affecting the estimated 3,433 people that live in the buildings.

The source said the Stringer report is an accurate appraisal of a serious ongoing problem in the maintenance of city property, adding that tenants who live in Marble Hill Houses are entitled to properly maintained housing. 

Update: A source clarified that the money is still allocated, however, the money is not being provided directly from HDC.