It looks like NYCHA chair Shola Olatoye didn’t tell the truth when she testified before the City Council last month about lead paint inspections.
Olatoye told the council that NYCHA workers with the proper certification from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development inspected 4,200 apartments in 2016. But the Department of Investigation found that none of the NYCHA employees who conducted the inspections had the proper certifications, the New York Daily News reported.
“There are only two explanations — either she lied to the city council or she left uncorrected a false statement to the city council made under oath,” Council member Richard Torres told the Daily News. “In either case, there should be consequences.”
In November, the DOI released a report that found that NYCHA failed to inspect thousands of apartments for lead paint but falsely claimed that it had. Three top NYCHA officials have resigned in the scandal’s wake, most recently the organization’s general manager, Michael Kelly.
The Real Deal recently took a look at how the agency, which is facing a $17 billion capital shortfall, is increasingly turning to New York developers to stay afloat. [NYDN] — Kathryn Brenzel