Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan chastised the city Housing Authority for the first time Wednesday for dragging its feet on spending nearly $1 billion in federal repair funds.
Donovan took aim at NYCHA during a Senate hearing on Hurricane Sandy aid when an Oklahoma Republican raised questions about why NYCHA deserved a dime.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) asked Donovan if NYCHA was “likely to receive significant” federal money because of damage to developments flooded by Sandy.
Donovan said he expects that will occur, although NYCHA has yet to submit its formal request. NYCHA Chairman John Rhea said recently the storm caused the agency nearly $1 billion in damages.
A skeptical Coburn cited a report by City Comptroller John Liu calling NYCHA “an onion — I’m quoting — ‘the more you peel back, the more you want to cry.’ “
He then cited a Daily News’ story last August that said NYCHA still had $995 million of the $1.2 billion allotted by the feds to repair aging buildings, half of which dated to 2010.
“I would hope that you would take that into consideration. That $1 billion . . . should be applied first to these issues before we give more money for the disaster up there,” Coburn said.
He asked the HUD secretary whether he was “at all concerned” about how NYCHA would spend the Sandy money. “I’m talking New York City Housing Authority — given their track record.”
Donovan first defended NYCHA. He said HUD has been “looking at this issue” and found most of the billion dollars ” is committed to particular projects that are underway.”
But then he acknowledged that HUD has its eye on the agency’s level of competence.
“We do have some concerns about the speed of that — the spending and the effectiveness — and we will be looking very carefully at how they are spending this money,” Donovan said.
NYCHA and Mayor Bloomberg often complain that the authority is broke and short-changed by the feds, which supply 90% of its funds.
Rhea insists the agency spends its federal funds properly, but a report by the Boston Consulting Group found NYCHA “has a limited capacity to efficiently or effectively spend” federal money, and “struggles to spend and obligate existing funds.”
jstraw@nydailynews.com
