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Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams unseals indictments against public housing employees in biggest one-day takedown in Department of Justice history.
Feb 6 10:36am EST
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announces bribery charges against 70 current and former NYCHA superintendents, Feb. 6, 2024. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
Federal prosecutors have announced bribery charges filed against 70 former and current development superintendents who run public housing developments across the city for the city Housing Authority.
The charges relate to the control these mid-level employees have over the contractors hired by NYCHA in its ongoing struggle to address a myriad of problems plaguing its aging portfolio of 175,000 apartments.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams was scheduled Tuesday morning to unseal the indictments in a takedown that the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development described as the biggest single-day bribery takedown in Department of Justice history.
“NYCHA has zero tolerance for wrongful and illegal activity,” said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “The individuals allegedly involved in these acts put their greed first and violated the trust of our residents, their fellow NYCHA colleagues and all New Yorkers. These actions are counter to everything we stand for as public servants and will not be tolerated in any form.”
This is a developing story; check back later for more.
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I’ve been bitching to 311 NYC, Mayor Adams and the NYC Collections folks for a year or so about the rotting raw vermin-infested oozing organic garbage that gets strewn out on the sidewalk around 146 West 91st Street. I have gotten a very minor bit of notice- Twitter or Instagram works best Id say. I put a photo or two on the site… in light of this article, I wonder if the Super for the two NYCHA Wise Towers has a, shall we say, “vested interest” in NOT getting the garbage picked up? 90th Street on the south side of Wise Towers had a stinking rotten dumpster filled to the brim for months with organic and inorganic garbage, a Puerto Rican battle flag flying over it, rotting as well, of course.
It sounds trivial, but if you are a neighbor, it’s disgusting, unsanitary and depressing. At night, walking a rodent-sized dog, rats bigger than she run out of the boxes and torn bags right in front of us…
Trinity School, at $100K/year per kid, prewar buildings at $3-$10 Million condos, beautiful brownstones… come on MAYOR ADAMS, GET OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CLEANED UP!
How did he get elected?