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Dear New Yorkers,

The New York City Housing Authority did little to follow up on apartment repairs by hired vendors and in dozens of cases could not provide evidence that the work they paid for had actually been done, an audit by Comptroller Brad Lander’s office found.

The findings come in response to February’s federal arrests of 70 NYCHA workers on charges of taking kickbacks in exchange for handing out hundreds of “micro-contracts” that don’t require the rigorous and public competitive bidding protocols of larger contracts.

THE CITY flagged warning signs of these no-bid deals in 2019.

Lander’s auditors looked at $135 million in contracts awarded in 2022 and 2023. Based on the lack of documentation to back up work NYCHA paid for, Lander’s team estimates that some $30 million in government money was wasted during that time.

Read more about what the NYCHA audit found here.

Weather ⛅️

Keep your rain boots close. Except rain throughout the day with highs in the lower 50s.

MTA 🚇

Coney Island-bound N trains will run via the Q overnight from Canal Street to Dekalb Avenue. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.

Our Other Top Stories

Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday unveiled a modified 2025 city budget that includes funding for 1,600 new police officers. He also announced that Jessica Tisch, who currently heads the Department of Sanitation, will now serve as NYPD commissioner. Today, members of City Council's subcommittee on Zoning and Franchise will vote on Adams’ City of Yes housing proposal, in which parking requirements have emerged as a central focus of negotiations between the Council and the mayor's representatives. During CUNY’s state of the university address, Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez highlighted that enrollment is up for the second year in a row, with 3% more students enrolled this year than last. The university-wide spike was particularly pronounced at community colleges, which saw a 6% increase. What once was the longest suspension bridge in the world has now spanned six decades of New York City history. Today marks 60 years since drivers first paid a 50-cent toll to drive over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn.

Reporter’s Notebook

Where Home Flipping Happens

Real estate investors flipped nearly 12,000 New York City homes between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from the Pratt Center for Community Development. Flipping is a practice in which investors buy properties, sometimes fix them up, then sell them for a profit. Pratt’s analysis considers a flip to happen in two years, from purchase to sale.

The neighborhoods with the most flips were in majority non-white areas in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens, where median home values were lower compared to citywide. The report also found an eviction rate of six times higher for flipped one-to-three-family houses, co-ops and condos than among those that were not flipped during those five years.

The report argues that flipping erodes neighborhood affordability and results in displacement, and it offers a suite of policy recommendations to deter speculators.

— Samantha Maldonado

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Thursday, Nov. 21: A talk with four contemporary artists whose works were recently added to the Brooklyn Museum’s collection. Tickets: $20 (members $12), from 7 to 9 p.m. at the museum’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium. Friday, Nov. 22: Join NYC Parks for a 90s and 2000s themed silent disco at the J. Hood Wright Recreation Center. Party starts at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24: Plant daffodils and tulip bulbs with the Urban Park Rangers for their spring garden at Inwood Hill Park from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

THE KICKER:  Letterpress printing shop Bowne & Co. at the Seaport Museum is kicking off its annual Wayzgoose —  a printers’ tradition that dates back 500 years. Join them and have the opportunity to create your own holiday-themed work.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday.

Love,

THE CITY

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