Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”),
announced that an investigation into the New York City Housing Authority’s (“NYCHA”) inventory tracking
and controls of large appliances is insufficient and places inventory at risk for theft. DOI undercover
investigators entered six NYCHA facilities and removed new and used refrigerators and stoves without being
stopped or detected. In each of these instances, subsequent interviews with NYCHA employees revealed
that managerial staff was unaware the items had been removed and did not report any appliances as
missing. This investigation was a follow-up to DOI’s investigation in 2016 that exposed the problem of large
appliance theft from NYCHA facilities, resulting in the arrest of a NYCHA caretaker and the recommendation
for NYCHA to perform an inventory review and strengthen controls in tracking and safeguarding large
appliances to prevent further theft. A copy of DOI’s Report follows this release and can also be found at the
following link: http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doi/newsroom/public-reports.page/
Commissioner Mark G. Peters said, “At a time when NYCHA faces a severe budget crisis, its
failure to safeguard property simply compounds this problem. DOI undercover investigators were able to
enter into NYCHA facilities and cart away large appliances, without challenge or notice.”
DOI first informed NYCHA of breakdowns in its inventory management in July 2016, when it
arrested a NYCHA caretaker for stealing three refrigerators from a NYCHA facility, and subsequently
discovered that same employee had stolen additional appliances on multiple occasions, including stoves and
washing machines, and sold them to an appliance store for cash. That employee pleaded guilty to Petit
Larceny and resigned from NYCHA after his arrest. A copy of the press release from the July 2016 arrest
can be found at the following link: http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doi/press-releases/2016/jul/23KenyonAllen07-
22-16.pdf
In July 2017, DOI began its follow-up investigation and surveyed 19 NYCHA developments,
focusing its undercover investigations on six that readily presented security vulnerabilities. Dressed as either
NYCHA employees or in plainclothes, DOI undercover investigators went to these six sites to determine
whether NYCHA had strengthened its safeguards against large appliance theft, as DOI recommended a year
earlier. Investigators easily removed large appliances, including refrigerators and stoves, at these six sites:
Pelham Parkway Houses in the Bronx, Wald Houses and Smith Houses in Lower Manhattan, Sheepshead
Bay Houses in Brooklyn, Hammel Houses in Queens and Mariner’s Harbor in Staten Island. During follow-up
visits to these same sites, storeroom and managerial staff were unaware that any appliances were missing,
telling DOI investigators that no appliances were missing from the storerooms, no thefts had occurred, or all
appliance stock was accounted for. In one of these developments – the Sheepshead Bay Houses – a week after investigators removed a new stove from the premises, investigators observed that the storeroom
remained open and unsecured, and the Assistant Superintendent reported that no appliances were missing
or stolen.
DOI also identified several other vulnerabilities at these NYCHA properties that need to be
addressed to further secure appliances at developments, including the inadequate use of CCTV cameras to
monitor employee areas like development storerooms, and a lack of routine physical inventory counts by
managers to aid in the detection of theft or other losses.
As a result of this follow up investigation, DOI determined that NYCHA failed to address the
vulnerabilities identified in DOI’s 2016 theft investigation. As a result, DOI has made the following
recommendations to NYCHA:
Survey and improve security as needed at development storerooms and supply rooms, including
installing self-closing and self-locking doors, alarm systems, electronic-layered access control
systems, roll-down gates, and CCTV cameras.
Ensure that Housing Managers and Superintendents are practicing appropriate controls over
storeroom and supply room keys such that only authorized NYCHA personnel – Housing Managers,
Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Storeroom Keeper, Supervisor of Housing Caretakers,
and Supervising Housing Groundskeeper – have key access. Development staff should be
instructed to question unauthorized individuals found in development storerooms and to promptly
report any suspicious activity to NYCHA’s Office of the Inspector General.
Install signage at each storeroom indicating that access is restricted to authorized personnel.
Implement policy to track large appliances and other valuable items by manufacturer’s serial
numbers via computerized systems, beginning at receipt from the supplier, through storage in
storerooms/supply rooms, and following through to installation in individual resident’s apartments.
Enforce NYCHA policies requiring development managers to personally count 100% of all high-value
(“Closed Kit”) inventory items each year, and to document and investigate any inventory imbalances.
DOI Commissioner Mark Peters thanks NYCHA Chair and Chief Executive Officer Shola Olatoye
and her staff for their cooperation in this investigation.
The investigation was conducted by DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for NYCHA, specifically
Deputy Inspector General Osa Omoigui and Confidential Investigator Alfred Carletta, under the supervision
of First Deputy Inspector General Pamela Sah, Inspector General Ralph Iannuzzi, Associate Commissioner
James Flaherty, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Michael Carroll and First Deputy
Commissioner Lesley Brovner.
