Political Arena

Borough president blasts NYCHA

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Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. slammed NYCHA for its plans to lease open parts of public housing property so developers can build on it.

An Aug. 19 Politico New York interview with NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye prompted Mr. Diaz to send out a scathing press release last week. In the interview, Ms. Olatoye said green spaces should be leased to developers in part because “If you go to any of those open spaces today, they’re strewn with trash. We don’t have the resources to keep up with them, no one is sitting in them because they’re gated off. So I think there’s a little bit of this nostalgia that’s heaped on the authority... If we only could go back to the good old days.”

Mr. Diaz criticized both the plan and the commissioner’s tone.

“She trivializes what I believe is the value of childhood memories and sharing time with families by saying we have to poke holes in the nostalgia of folks with reality,” the borough president said in a phone interview.

He added that while he has contributed some of his capital funding so developers can build on NYCHA land in the past, he objects to the latest proposal on grounds its scope would undermine communities.

“One size doesn’t fit all,” Mr. Diaz said. “You’re taking away green spaces from children, where they play? You’re taking away green spaces from where they sit, on the bench? Creating more housing, what does that mean for the neighboring schools, local police precincts already stretched as much as they can be? What does that mean for sanitation, parking, transit?”

NYCHA was expected to designate two to four housing projects for private development “some time in the next two weeks,” according to Politico New York.

Mixed feelings about Times Square

Ruben Diaz Jr., NYCHA, Shola Olatoye, Bill de Blasio, Andrew Cuomo, Times Square, Shant Shahrigian
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