Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Administrator Lynne Patton toured various South Bronx NYCHA Houses and visited the Patterson Houses, a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) development.
The Patterson Houses “temporary” boilers have been installed since 2011, despite having been fully funded for replacement. During last winter’s severe cold snap the boilers became a symbol of the inability of NYCHA to properly address the heat crisis that faces its more than 400,000 residents during the colder months.
Above - Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. talks about the problems at the Patterson Houses where funding was provided in 2011 to install new boilers, but to date nothing but temporary boilers have been placed at the Patterson Houses.
Below - HUD Regional administrator Lynne Patton says that the federal government gives the city $2.5 Billion dollars for NYCHA every year, but it seems that very little gets done and there is little if any accounting for the monies that NYCHA gets. She added that she spoke recently with the acting head of NYCHA, and was disappointed to hear his response that NYCHA only has enough money to handle emergency situations.
Above - The temporary boilers in the street in front of the Patterson Houses that have been there since 2011.
Below - New temporary boilers being added in the yard behind one building that will be burning oil to provide heat. A furnace is being built along side this building to let the fumes from the boiler go above the building.
BP Diaz and HUD Regional administrator Lynne Patton look inside one of the new temporary boilers being installed at the Patterson Houses.
