Denouncing the Bush administration’s $14 million cuts to New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) operating budget, close to a thousand Local 237 Housing Division members and supporters rallied outside City Hall Park Mar. 20, waving placards that read, “No Cuts in Housing,” and “Local 237 Members and Residents United for Decent Housing.”

Photos from the Housing Rally. Click each thumbnail for a large-size view.

Standing in freezing temperatures and a howling wind, protestors were joined by union leaders, including Local 237 President Carl Haynes and Secretary-Treasurer Gregory Floyd, and public officials, including Congressman Gregory Meeks, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, former federal housing secretary Andrew Cuomo, Council Members Charles Barron, Joseph Addabbo and Eric Gioia, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, all of whom blasted the Bush administration for sacrificing services to the city’s low and middle income citizens in order to fund multibillion dollar tax cuts for the wealthy and pay for the war in Iraq.

The 10,000 Local 237 Housing Division members, along with tenant advocates, who fear the latest round of annual cuts to NYCHA’s budget under President Bush would lead to further deterioration of the city’s housing developments, are united in demanding that the federal Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD) restore vital funds to the Housing Authority and that the city and state pay their fair share to preserve public housing in the city.

The Housing Authority, which provides housing for 450,000 city residents, recently announced that it was facing a $168.3 million deficit this year as a result of huge reductions in federal subsidies, and it had no other means of closing the budget gap except to increase a variety of fees for tenant services and seek “creative ways to streamline service delivery.” Since 2001, HUD has cut NYCHA’s budget by $14 million.

“Enough is enough,” said President Haynes addressing the rally. “The Housing Authority is the only affordable housing for thousands of poor and working people in the city, and it cannot absorb any more cuts to its budget.” Emphasizing the plight of union members, Haynes added, “Housing Authority workers are doing the best they can, but they are not magicians. They are frustrated because they can only do so much with less and they cannot do much without the necessary cleaning supplies and materials to make repairs.”

Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks told the protestors, “We’re going to bring back compassion and stop this reverse Robin Hood system of robbing the poor to give to the rich.”

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer declared that the Housing Authority’s budget situation could lead to an “unprecedented housing crisis” in the city, and he called on the federal government to “stop hurting our people.” Stringer also called for the Housing Authority to “fully rent every unit of public housing, repair those apartments and start collecting all the rents.”

Andrew Cuomo, former HUD secretary and candidate for state attorney general, insisted, “We need funding, fairness and equity.” He noted that “the economy is making the rich richer, the poor poorer and starving the others.”

Brooklyn Council Member Charles Barron asserted, “We’re delivering a message,” then fired up the crowd with the chant: “Bush has got to go.”

In addition to criticizing the federal government, which is responsible for providing 90 percent of the subsidy for public housing, Haynes insisted the city and state governments “have a responsibility to pay the 10 percent that is their portion of the cost of maintaining public housing.” He added, “If City Hall and Albany pay their fair share using the same formula as the federal government, that 10 percent subsidy would bring in $70 million for housing.”