As we continue to grasp the size and scope of the systemic state-wide failures that devastated Texans after last month’s storms, it is crucial to understand that such failures, which left countless residents without heat or water, are not unique to Texas. These types of outages occur all too often in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing, disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities--a direct result of structural racism here in NYC.
Last year sixty-four percent of NYCHA developments experienced some sort of outage, less than half of which were related to routine maintenance. A gas outage at the Astoria Houses knocked out an entire building for more than three months last fall. During December’s big snowstorm, the heat and hot water at the Woodside Houses in Queens failed for several hours; in January a utility outage left twelve of their apartments without gas.
Want to learn more? Here are some articles we recommend as starting points!
Medium Reads:
How New York Must Respond to New Covid-Related Challenges as Communities of Color Face Deadly Summer Heat (Gotham Gazette)
It’s not just snow and storms that can create unsafe conditions; heat can also become deadly for people who can’t access locations with cooling systems. This op-ed explores the need for systemic solutions to the dangers posed by heat, especially given the added challenges posed by COVID.
New York Public Housing Commits to Electrification and Decarbonization (Rocky Mountain Institute)
In October, NYCHA announced a strategic plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, committing the agency to electrifying its buildings by 2050. This matters not only in terms of climate change, but also in terms of the health of NYCHA residents.
Longer read:
NYCHA Villages: Building a Community Vision of Health and Sustainability in New York City Housing Authority’s Dyckman Houses (We Act for Environmental Justice)
This community-driven roadmap for the future of NYCHA’s Dyckman Houses focuses on three main areas for recommended improvements: environmental, social, and economic.
In solidarity,
SURJ NYC