Exclu! HUD secretary scolds NYCHA over waste, fraud, abuse

A top Trump official scolded the city’s public housing agency over “waste” and “fraud” — and took aim at the federal monitors that have failed to clear the “abuse”, at a meeting with New York housing officials in the city Friday.U.S.Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner issued the scathing rebuke of the New York City Housing Authority Friday during a tense meeting with agency’s head.

“I see a lot of waste.I see a lot of fraud, and a lot of abuse,” Turner said.

The ex-NFL player, who was visiting NYCHA to take inventory and discuss financial management, also took aim at the agency’s independent monitors — federal watchdogs that ensure NYCHA is carrying out its duties — saying their performance was lackluster.“The monitoring is not going well at all.We need to take inventory of that.

We need to ask a lot of hard questions,” he saidTurner cited crime — including a recent shooting at Chelsea’s Fulton-Elliot houses that left a 21-year-old dead, and the 50,000-person waiting list that NYCHA currently has despite an estimated 5,000 vacant units — as some of his primary concerns.“This kid being killed yesterday, that’s deeply disheartening to me,” said Turner.The federal monitorship was instated in 2019 following a series of scandals within NYCHA that drew major national criticism between 2015-2018.

During this time, it was uncovered that the housing agency was covering up hazardous conditions, and falsely certifying inspections.The 2019 monitorship agreement served as a compromise between the Feds and the City to prevent a full federal takeover of the housing authority.

Though it seemed to be working for a time, NYCHA took another major blow in 2024 after 70 employees were arrested on bribery charges in a shocking sweep by the Department of Investigation.Considered the largest single-day bribery takedown in history — the scheme involved about $13 million in contracts and $2 million in bribes.The current m...