Code Enforcement Campaign Update

The campaign to increase the city’s and state’s budgets for more housing inspectors continues. Deborah Schutt, representing Met Council, testified at two hearings, one at Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields’ office on Feb. 25 and the other at the City Council Housing and Buildings Committee budget hearings on March 9. The testimony pointed to the decline in the city’s commitment to code inspections and how that has made HPD incapable of enforcing the housing code.

The New York Law Journal echoed these thoughts in its March 24 issue. It stated that the Civil Service Bar Association has criticized the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for not filling vacancies in its Housing Litigation Bureau, resulting in a loss of more than 25 attorneys—half of its staff—over the past three years. Gloria Johnson, the association’s president, said the cutbacks have placed in “serious jeopardy” the bureau’s effectiveness in prosecuting landlords for housing-code violations and serving as a “deterrent” to others who might consider curtailing basic services such as adequate heat and hot water.

Assemblymember Scott Stringer (D-Manhattan) sent a letter to Speaker Sheldon Silver, which over 30 other Assemblymembers also signed, in support of an increase in building inspectors.

Finally, Met Council has written to all 51 members of the City Council requesting their support in this matter. We are setting up meetings with Speaker Vallone and many of our Councilmembers. Tenants should continue to call and write to their elected officials. Tell them to increase the budget to hire more housing inspectors.