City presses for Design-Build from State, which would save an additional 12 to 15 months on these repairs
The de Blasio Administration today announced measures to expedite major heating upgrades at public housing by 8 to 20 months, depending on the size of the project. In January, the Mayor announced $200 million in heating system upgrades at 20 developments experiencing chronic outages. The Administration conducted a review of NYCHA’s capital program and will make the scoping and design, procurement and construction processes more efficient. The City is also pressing the State to grant Design-Build authority, which would save an additional 12 to 15 months on these upgrades.
“Our investment in new heating systems goes right to the heart of the biggest problems NYCHA residents face, and will make a difference thousands of them will feel,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We are cutting through red tape to expedite these critically needed repairs for tenants, and urge our state partners to do the same by authorizing design-build immediately.”
“This interagency partnership is about looking at how we can all work smarter and more collaboratively in support of New York City residents,” said NYCHA Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye. “With the Mayor’s investment and commitments from our city agency partners, we are able to bring better quality heat service to 45,000 New Yorkers much faster. This is a tremendous effort from everyone involved.”
The Administration reviewed NYCHA’s capital program and identified several ways to expedite repairs by 8 to 20 months, depending on the size of the heating system, including:
- Design Phase: NYCHA will provide estimated load calculations to engineers to minimize pre-design services. They have also committed to reviewing fewer submissions from designers, and will create a single standard specification to streamline design. These steps will shave 6 months off what is normally a year long process.
- Procurement: NYCHA is seeking authority from the NYCHA Board to delegate authority for awarding contracts ahead of Board approval; the Board would ratify the contracts. This would cut 30 – 45 days each time a contract is awarded.
- Construction & Commissioning: DEP has agreed to expedite review and approval of NYCHA installations for usages, saving 3 weeks. NYCHA will also work with DOB to streamline the inspection and approval processes.
Since 2014, NYCHA has committed nearly $300 million in HUD funds to upgrade heating and plumbing at 100 developments. Also, more than $100 million of the $3 billion FEMA grant for Sandy Recovery and Resilience will fund replacement of 67 boilers at 17 developments, and NYCHA’s three in-progress Energy Performance Contracts include more than $40 million in heating-related improvements.
The de Blasio Administration has made an unprecedented commitment to preserve and strengthen public housing. This latest investment brings the Administration’s total commitment to $2.1 billion to support NYCHA’s capital infrastructure from Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2027 and $1.6 billion to support NYCHA’s operations from Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2022. This investment includes $1.3 billion to fix over 900 roofs, over $500 million to repair deteriorating exterior brickwork at nearly 400 buildings, and $140 million to improve security at 15 NYCHA developments. The City waived NYCHA’s annual PILOT and NYPD payments to the City, relieving NYCHA of nearly $100 million in operating expenses a year. In January 2018, the Mayor announced $13 million to improve NYCHA’s response to heating emergencies this winter.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
This announcement came out at the time the State Senators Jeff Klein and Marcia Alcantara of the Independent Democratic Conference of the State Senate were holding a press conference on the 'Mold Crisis in NYCHA' right across from City Hall.
The IDC will be advocating for legislation for the state to declare a state of emergency at NYCHA and for design build in NYCHA buildings to expedite repairs.
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