Mayor Eric Adams has named two veteran officials to lead New York City’s public housing system and guide the sprawling bureaucracy through major financial needs, federal oversight requirements and a controversial shift to private management at campuses across the five boroughs.
NYCHA interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt will take over the top job on a permanent basis, the agency confirmed to Gothamist. Bova-Hiatt, NYCHA’s former general counsel, stepped in to replace her ex-boss Gregory Russ in September after he resigned in the wake of a botched arsenic warning to residents of the Jacob Riis Houses in the East Village.
Adams also named former state Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner James Rubin to take over as chair of the NYCHA board. That position was also held by Russ until he departed in January.
"Lisa Bova-Hiatt has proven that she has what it takes to run this city within a city, and Jamie Rubin brings the wide-ranging experience and critical skills to guide NYCHA’s rejuvenation," Adams said.
Roughly 528,000 New Yorkers are authorized to live in NYCHA’s 177,000 apartments, though many more live in a system that is crucial to preserving affordable housing in a city of gaping inequality.
But years of federal disinvestment and local mismanagement have taken their toll on the agency, leading to an estimated $40 billion backlog in capital needs and conditions that have subjected tenants to toxic lead paint, broken elevators, heat and hot water outages, and doors that don’t lock.
Under Russ, the agency accelerated plans to shift thousands of NYCHA apartments to private management and switch the source of federal funding attached to each unit. NYCHA also pushed for an alternative to private management, called the Preservation Trust, which state lawmakers enacted last year.
Bova-Hiatt has steered the agency in the same direction, with NYCHA now supporting a development team’s once-unthinkable proposal to tear down apartment buildings across two Chelsea campuses and replace them with new towers alongside market-rate housing.
She also urged lawmakers to cover rent arrears for NYCHA tenants after the state locked public housing authorities out of its $3 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Bova-Hiatt said $454 million in unpaid rent during the pandemic further jeopardized NYCHA’s ability to make repairs and comply with the requirements imposed by a federal monitor.
Before leading HCR, the state’s housing agency, Rubin held several roles overseeing rebuilding plans following Hurricane Sandy, including as director of the New York State Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, where he worked closely with Bova-Hiatt.
He entered the private sector after leaving state government in 2017 and now serves as chief investment officer at Aligned Climate Capital, an asset management firm that invests in alternative energy and other businesses addressing the climate crisis.
Danny Barber, president of the Jackson Houses in the Bronx and chair of the Citywide Council of Presidents, said he was unfamiliar with Rubin, but said he hoped the pair of leaders will work with tenants and implement their goals and ideas.
“I’m hoping it can be a lot better than the way it is now,” Barber said. “They say residents are their partners but they pick the times when they honor the partnership.”
Iziah Thompson, senior policy activist with the Community Service Society of New York, also advised the two leaders to prioritize the needs of tenants, especially when it comes to life-changing decisions like the Chelsea tear-down plan.
“I hope they continue to center the voice of tenants in giving them the key deciding role in the rehabilitation process,” Thompson said.
