On September 2nd, 2021, the New York Post headlines blared “At least 17 dead as Hurricane Ida remnants spark floods in Northeast.” Only a few weeks earlier, people and businesses in New York City were using their air conditioners to cope with the heatwave. Thanks to climate change, these extreme events are just the beginning of the new normal facing cities all over the country, but our infrastructure is not yet equipped to deal with them.

Nobody in the city has faced this inadequacy more starkly than tenants of public housing. . Even today, Baruch Houses  haven't fully recovered  from the physical and emotional impacts of Hurricane Sandy.   And with increasing heat waves comes an increase in energy demand that is dramatically straining  the New York City Housing Authorities’ power infrastructure. 

Public Housing architects and managers overlook that NYCHA is a crumbling infrastructure that requires more than just cosmetic changes. It requires full retrofitting of its infrastructure, which hasn’t been improved since the 1940’s to cope with this change. 

Any future funding for public housing should use green architecture innovations, energy reduction strategies, and green infrastructure to prepare the developments for the future. Tenants can be a part of these solutions by starting green businesses in NYCHA properties and using the ground levels for small business startups and stores, having more jobs available through Section 3. The retrofitts can be union-based jobs that pay good wages to its workers. A large population that lives in NYCHA are people of color. The BIPOC community is the first to be affected by the effects of climate change.

With funding for green architecture at the national level, we could bring public housing to the forefront of green architecture. Public housing has a diversity of incomes from all ethnic backgrounds, and many developments house service-based workers that are the lifeblood of many cities. Instead of becoming stuck in the past, we ought to rethink the future. Below are possible funding sources to start this vision of a green future.

And what's more is that we can only expect to achieve this affordable, safe, and lasting green future if we stay resolute in fully funding public housing through federal legislation. We know that when the private real estate industry has control over the funds that provide us our homes, corners will be cut for the sake of their profits. It's happening right now, and it's why people simply call the public/private partnership of housing a return to "slumlords." With public housing being completely supported by federal funding alone, oversight of that funding is subjected to the democratic process, and those who need and live in public housing will have the power of the vote. After all, housing is a human right, and we can only ensure that through government action.

Congressional Demands

1. Instruct HUD to place a moratorium on privatizations via RAD/ PACT and Section 18. The privatization of public housing has led to an erosion of rights and protections for tenants. A moratorium must be issued immediately and remain, at least, until #2 is completed. 

2. Conduct a thorough impact study of all project-based Section 8 privatizations, and determine the cost of operation per unit nationally. HUD must conduct an impact study of project-based Section 8 and other privatization programs being implemented nationally. In order to properly manage Section 9, housing authorities need to receive fiscal support in line with their operating costs. HUD must analyze housing stocks throughout the country to determine the operating costs, and ensure Congress, and state and local governments are meeting the operational cost needs of each housing authority. 

3. Issue a national state of emergency for Section 9 housing. The conditions in public housing are deplorable and violate our human rights. In order to expedite adequate fiscal allocations and ensure that federal oversight leads to real change for tenants, a state of emergency must be issued for all Section 9 public housing.

4. Reinstate federal and tenant oversight of public housing authorities. The US Department of Health should step in as HUD has demonstrated they are unable to assess and remediate hazards public housing tenants face. FEMA should provide resource allocation to ensure corruption doesn't lead to any further misappropriation of funds. A robust tenant-led governing body must be created to oversee and directly inform federal oversight and hold officials accountable to residents' needs. 

5. Allocate $100B to Section 9 for rehabilitation immediately and create a framework to increase funding to $180B by 2025. The Housing Act of 1937 made Congress financially responsible for funding Section 9. Their failure to do so has turned 970,000 units into slums. Between 1980 and 1988 Congress slashed investments in Section 9 in half. This trend must be reversed. Privatization is not a viable solution; fund Section 9 now and in perpetuity.

6. Restore the Section 9 housing stock to 1999 numbers and work to fully repeal the Faircloth Act by 2025. Since 1999, we have lost Section 9 units to disrepair stemming from government neglect. We must restore the stock to allowable limits and expand the Section 9 housing stock by repealing the Faircloth Amendment. This is key to addressing the national housing crisis. We also must uncouple the repeal of Faircloth and RAD, which is a giveaway to the private sector that will only lead to more harm for tenants, the loss of public land, the further concentration of wealth; worsening political inequality. 

7. Support the sustainable and resilient rehabilitation of public housing campuses and units. Components of the GND4PH must be incorporated into any legislation addressing the conditions within public housing. SEC. 40006 of the Build Back Better bill must be expanded to include Section 9 public housing. 

8. Ensure that racist and derogatory beliefs surrounding public housing do not continue to impact policy making. We reject the racist and classist language in the bill that suggests our communities do not “function” (BBB SEC. 40001.3). Poor communities have repeatedly been impoverished by bad policy decisions like those that further the privatization and financialization of public housing. We oppose the choice neighborhood initiative and any actions that would displace poor communities.