LONG ISLAND CITY, Queens (PIX11) — Mayor Eric Adams visited the New York City Housing Authority’s Emergency Operations Center in Long Island City for the first time since becoming mayor.
Adams met with his chief housing officer, NYCHA chair and NYCHA heating director in long island city. The focus of the meeting, according to Mayor Adams, was improving the response time to heat and hot water outages across the city, as well as assessing systems capital needs.
PIX11 News exclusively caught up with Adams after he spoke to NYCHA management and workers Wednesday in a closed-door meeting at NYCHA headquarters in Long Island City.
“We must give NYCHA support to make it happen. Our focus: Heat, heat, heat,” he said.
Bringing consistent heat to the over 400,000 NYCHA residents, Adams said, is a top priority of his new administration. One big issue: how to pay for it.
PIX11 News has covered heat and hot water complaints inside NYCHA complexes every winter, for four years — even visiting several times with Adams when he was Brooklyn borough president.
Adams said the solution now is trying new technology and raising capital.
“He’s a mayor that wants people to see what we are doing. We will be able to deliver that,” said NYCHA’s CEO Greg Russ.
Russ told PIX11 News at the top the of their agenda is collaboration in making major changes fast. First on the list is introducing a new work order system that will be reformed and more effective, based off of a HUD agreement pilot.
Tenant presidents hope Adams can improve communication within NYCHA.
“We have seniors who are still cold here at Ingersoll. There is a glitch in the system,” said Darold Burgess, the tenant president of Ingersoll Houses.
Mayor Adams told PIX11 News this was the first of many visits to the Long Island City headquarters to meet with workers and to check in on emergencies and the city’s response.
