The funding rollback is expected to worsen under the new administration
The Trump Administration has rolled out its first major cuts to the New York City Housing Authority, marking the most significant decrease in federal funding to the ailing agency in five years. The Wall Street Journal reports that NYCHA will receive at least $35 million less in federal aid this year. The figure represents the first of several anticipated funding cuts that are projected to total $150 million according to conversations between HUD and NYCHA officials cited by the Journal.
Shola Olatoye, the Chair and CEO of NYCHA, says a reduction in funding of that magnitude would "evaporate" the progress made by the housing authority in the past three years.
NYCHA, the largest affordable housing program in the country, which provides homes to more than 400,000 people, has an operating budget of $3.2 billion, $2 billion of which is funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD, the federal agency now helmed by Ben Carson).
A letter from HUD to NYCHA dated February 26—several days before Carson was approved as HUD secretary—notes that the department plans on slashing the agency's funding by 5 percent, a whole 2 percent increase over what NYCHA has braced for. The Journal notes that an additional $7.7 million in cuts have been made to federal Section 8 programs by HUD since Trump's election.
Meanwhile, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer is having none of it. In a statement issued by the comptroller's office, Stringer writes:
We all have long known that leadership in Washington seeks to shred the social safety net by slashing funding for those who need it most. Last year, we put out a report laying out those potential federal cuts to our city. Now, it's happening — and it's starting with NYCHA. The White House is actively targeting our most vulnerable citizens. It's wrong.
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