NEW YORK - The city’s beleaguered public housing authority, home to more than 400,000 New Yorkers, is still without a permanent leader.
“We’ve looked at dozens of candidates already, it’s been an extensive day by day process, we all agree that we want to take a little more time here, we think there are some other candidates that would be really important to consider,” de Blasio said Monday during an appearance on "Inside City Hall".
But it’s been more than two months since Mayor de Blasio and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson announced a landmark deal to appoint a new federal monitor to oversee the agency.
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That deal was part of an agreement following a years-long investigation by the US Attorney’s office which found widespread mismanagement, fraud and unlivable conditions at NYCHA.
“We see this as a partnership to get things done for the residents,” de Blasio said in January during that announcement.
That partnership also required City Hall, HUD and federal prosecutors to select a new permanent NYCHA chair.
Since the deal was announced in January, federal authorities have been working with City Hall to come up with a list of prospective candidates.
So far no one has stepped up.
The mayor who has the power to make a final decision on the hire, said the process is expected to stretch out over the coming weeks.
"When we look at people we have to vet them, we have to look at them, whether we think they fit multiple interviews but it comes down to, this is a big job, to make a fine parallel it’s like being a mayor of a city of 400,000 people,” he said.
Kathryn Garcia, the city’s former Sanitation Commissioner has been serving as interim chair at NYCHA while City Hall finds a permanent replacement. Officials said she will continue in that role until the position is filled.
The new extension gives all the parties 45 more days to come up with a permanent chair.