Feds Drop NYCHA Complaint With Monitor In Place

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors moved Thursday to drop their court case accusing the New York City Housing Authority of exposing tenants to lead, mold and other wretched conditions. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office filed paperwork to dismiss the sweeping complaint it filed against NYCHA last year, pursuant to the recent oversight deal the housing authority and the city reached with the federal government.

"(I)n light of the relief obtained in the Agreement, the United States wishes to dismiss the complaint without prejudice," prosecutors wrote in the court filing, which amNewYork first reported.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development named Bart M. Schwartz as NYCHA's independent monitor under the Jan. 31 agreement. The deal said federal prosecutors would move to dismiss the complaint within 14 days of his appointment, which was made on Feb. 28, according to the court filing.

Prosecutors do not need a court order to dismiss the case, the filing says. A NYCHA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the move.

In addition to the monitor, the agreement sets specific targets for NYCHA to address problems with lead, mold, heat failures, elevator breakdowns and pest infestations, and requires the city to commit $2.2 billion in capital funding to NYCHA over the next decade. It also gives HUD and the U.S. Attorney's Office a role in appointing the housing authority's next permanent leader.

Federal prosecutors first brought their complaint in June 2018. The city Department of Investigation had revealed months earlier that NYCHA failed to perform required lead paint inspections for years but told the federal government that they had been done.

The complaint was filed the same day as a settlement agreement between NYCHA and the U.S. Attorney's Office. But a federal judge rejected that deal in November, forcing more negotiations about how to proceed.