Comptroller Stringer and NYCHA Announce New Level of Transparency, Accountability and Public Disclosure in NYCHA Contracts

  New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced that information for NYCHA contracts, spending and payroll will now be publicly available and accessible. Through Checkbook NYC — an award-winning, first-of-its-kind online tool that provides near real-time data on the City Mayoral agencies’ budget, revenue, spending, contracts and payroll — New Yorkers will now be able to view how the largest public housing authority in the country spends its dollars with external vendors and contractors hired to perform services.

“City government must work for the benefit of all New Yorkers — and that requires full transparency in every agency,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer. “This announcement brings us that much closer to achieving an open government that is accountable, approachable and accessible to everyone. I want to thank Chair Russ and NYCHA for collaborating with our office to make this a reality. More transparency and disclosure will help build a new level of public trust — and NYCHA residents deserve nothing less.”

Comptroller Stringer and Chair Gregory Russ reached a joint agreement to publicly display the agency’s financial information. The addition of this information will enable the general public, good government groups and government officials to review how and where budgeted dollars are spent within NYCHA.  The Comptroller’s Office will upload NYCHA spending and contract data from NYCHA’s ORACLE Financial system, as well as payroll data from New York City Office of Payroll Administration (OPA) on a daily basis. As of today, NYCHA will be categorized within Checkbook NYC application as “Other Government Entities” along with the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

“NYCHA is committed to bringing a new level of transparency and accountability to our budgeting processes and we are excited to partner with the Comptroller on this important initiative,” said NYCHA Chairman & CEO Greg Russ. “Giving more citizens, elected officials, and community stakeholders the ability to see how we are allocating our resources is essential to restoring trust in the Authority and the work that we’re doing to improve the lives of NYCHA residents.”

Since Comptroller Stringer and NYCHA came to an agreement, Checkbook NYC now contains NYCHA financial information on contracts, spending and payroll dating back to January 1, 2010, including:

• $19.8 Billion in total value of contracts since January 1, 2010
• $37.1 Billion in NYCHA spending since January 1, 2010
• $7.8 Billion in Payroll.

In 2010, the New York City Comptroller’s Office launched the beta version of Checkbook NYC, an online transparency tool that for the first time placed the City’s day-to-day spending in the public domain. The updates announced today by Comptroller Stringer and NYCHA are the fourth update to Checkbook NYC since he took office. Previously, the Comptroller’s Office added detailed sub-vendor spending, data from the City’s Economic Development Corporation and included information about minority- and women-owned businesses. NYCHA budget, revenue and M/WBE data will be made available in a future update.

To see the update or view other contracts, spending, payroll, budget and revenue data, visit Checkbook NYC here. To view NYCHA data in Checkbook NYC, visit www.CheckbookNYC.com and go the drop-down, “Other Government Entities”.