The City of New York’s failure to replace a light bulb or “ballast” may have very well contributed to the death of 28 year old, Akai Gurley two and half weeks ago.
Akai was struck in the chest by a bullet from that ricocheted through a darkened stairwell of the Pink Houses after being fired from a rookie NYPD Officer Peter Liang’s gun.
As expected, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is claiming that no report for repairs had been submitted which may or may not be the case.
The likelihood is that NYCHA who has a history that dates back decades of failure to upkeep and address repairs ignored complaints filed about the darkened stairwell.
New York Daily News
After the shooting, NYCHA officials tried to piece together whether repair failures — an epic issue with which they have struggled for years — contributed in any way to the tragedy….
The caretaker, who Lebow said has a ‘record of reliability,’ reported there were lights out in another stairwell on the fourth floor, but said she ‘didn’t recall any lights out in Stairwell A.’
But when a NYCHA administrator went to the stairwell after the NYPD cleared it as a crime scene, he found the light on the eighth floor was out due to problems with its “ballast,” NYCHA officials told The News….
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‘record of reliability,’ — Officials should leave that opinion to the tenants of the Pink Houses.
Supposedly, a request was placed several months ago by a supervisor of the Pink Houses which is over a half-century old (one of the most dangerous of NYC’s housing projects for the City) to upgrade the lighting. The upgrade, however, was put on hold because, according to NYCHA officials, there are higher priorities repairs that need to be addressed on the property.
Rest assured heat for tenants living on the upper floors of dilapidated City-run housing properties or NYCHA is not among the priorities. So it must be that deal that NYCHA is about to close selling “a 50% stake in close to 900 apartments to a pair of private developers” that don’t have the best track records” to real estate moguls, L+M Development Partners and BFC Partners who “are expected to pay $150 million for the half-interest in the units, plus another $100 million for much-needed renovations in the six housing complexes, which are in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx….
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It should be noted that NYCHA has a backlog of repairs in the sum of $10 billion plus. Somehow, under the de Blasio administration (not that Bloomberg was any better), I am myself recalling NYCHA and other NYC housing properties during the David Dinkins era, i.e., INHABITABLE AND INHUMANE. So how will these conditions improve under rampant cronyism?
What are the odds of the new owners prior to major renovations and upgrades of NYCHA properties commencing mass evictions, which will spark an uptick in the number of homeless throughout New York City?
Politics is the priority of the day.
On Monday the NYC (Communist) Council made a political statement by blocking traffic (as if someone gives a damn) in protest of the grand jury’s decision not to indict an NYPD officer in the Eric Garner case.
While they acknowledged concerns for living standards or lack thereof in City Housing projects and promised to hold a hearing on the matter NEXT WEEK, they opted this week to play up the drama and politics of the dead.
“‘This Council will not remain silent, because black lives matter—because all lives matter. And we are not going to stop until there is reform and justice for all,’ Councilwoman Debi Rose, a Staten Island Democrat, said when the members had reached the floor of the council chambers.”
SIDEBAR
In another disgusting display of politics (2016???), New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman is seeking a temporary executive order from Governor Andrew Cuomo to “Restore Public Confidence In Criminal Justice System” by burning law enforcement involved in the death of civilians at the stake (to put it mildly).
AG.NY.GOV
NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today was joined by a broad coalition of elected officials in outlining an immediate first step toward restoring public trust and confidence in the fairness of reviews of cases involving unarmed civilians killed by law enforcement officers. In a letter sent to Governor Cuomo, Attorney General Schneiderman formally requested that the Governor immediately issue an interim executive order now directing the Office of the Attorney General to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute cases involving unarmed civilians killed by police officers.
While several proposals for reforming the criminal justice system are expected to be considered when the State Legislature reconvenes, the Attorney General noted the urgent need for immediate action to restore public trust in the outcome of cases involving unarmed civilians killed by law enforcement officers by ensuring these cases receive a thorough, impartial and independent review. The proposed order would be drafted to expire when the Legislature acts to permanently address this problem.
Attorney General Schneiderman announced his proposal at a news conference in Manhattan, where he was joined by a broad coalition of elected officials, including New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and City Comptroller Scott Stringer.
‘The horrible events surrounding the death of Eric Garner have revealed a deep crisis of confidence in some of the fundamental elements of our criminal justice system,’ said Attorney General Schneiderman. ’Nothing could be more critical for both the public and the police officers who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe than acting immediately to restore trust and confidence in the independence of reviews in any case involving an unarmed civilian killed by a law enforcement officer. While several worthy legislative reforms have been proposed, the Governor has the power to act today to solve this problem. I strongly encourage him to take action now….’
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The short of it: Progressives got their butts handed to them across New York State and throughout the country this past November. The non-indictment in the Eric Garner case presents the perfect opportunity for a much needed diversion.
END OF SIDEBAR
In the meantime, the tenants in the Pink Houses will have to wait for their repairs, heat and other services because social justice, playing the race card and the coming dog and pony show because a failure to indict takes precedence over the living standards of those doomed to reside in public housing.
“Next week, the City Council Public Housing Committee will hold a hearing exploring whether maintenance issues contributed to the Pink Houses shooting, and crime in general at NYCHA’s 334 developments.”
LINKS:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/repair-failure-contributed-akai-gurley-death-article-1.2035837
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/city-sell-stakes-housing-projects-developers-article-1.2037359
http://observer.com/2014/12/city-council-members-block-traffic-to-protest-eric-garner-decision/
http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-requests-executive-order-restore-public-confidence-criminal-justice
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