Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is demanding that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) issue an immediate emergency declaration in order to speed the procurement process and replace defective boilers in their developments.
The call for an emergency declaration comes in the wake of the recent severe cold that struck the city earlier this month, during which mobile boilers across the five boroughs stopped working, leaving public housing residents in the cold. Borough President Diaz made the request in a letter to NYCHA Chair & CEO Shola Olatoye.
“NYCHA residents should not be forced to suffer in the cold due to the glacial pace of the procurement process,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “An emergency declaration will set the ball rolling for the faster replacement of out-of-service boilers in our city’s public housing developments. The hundreds of thousands of residents who call NYCHA their home deserve action, not excuses.”
The complete letter to Ms. Olatoye can be read at http://on.nyc.gov/2DDvcRL.
An emergency declaration is the first step in a process that would cut the bureaucratic red tape on the applicable procurement rules that NYCHA says is tying their hands. Declaring an emergency is a critical step in ensuring residents the services that they deserve. It also allows the agency to access resources, and to do so in an expeditious manner.
“In time of crisis we must act immediately,” wrote Borough President Diaz in the letter. “It is inhumane to have hundreds of thousands of tenants living in apartments without dependable hot water and heat during the freezing winter. It is time for NYCHA to act and approve an emergency declaration to cut through the red tape.”