The leader of the New York City Housing Authority gave false testimony about lead paint inspections to the City Council last month, according to an explosive letter released the same day that Mayor de Blasio said he has “great faith” in her.
The letter from Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters to Councilman Ritchie Torres detailed how NYCHA chair Shola Olatoye’s sworn statement contained “factual errors” and didn’t line up with records provided to investigators by her own agency.
Olatoye testified on Dec. 5 that workers who performed visual inspections of about 4,200 apartments had certifications from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“It’s a very short training that HUD offers online,” she told lawmakers at the time. “Staff had done that.”
When asked directly if the 4,200 units were inspected by people with the HUD credentials, she again affirmed: “Yes, that is correct.”
But records show “none of the inspections were conducted by employees who NYCHA reported as having the HUD certification,” the Department of Investigation reported Tuesday.
When investigators examined the certificates currently possessed by NYCHA staff, they found only 15 actually had the required training.
“Even if there was no intent to deceive at the time of the testimony given to the Public Housing Committee in December 2017 — which is questionable — the decision to conceal the truth is the kind of concealment that should be held accountable legally,” said Torres (D-Bronx). “I’m preparing legislation to make it a crime to fail to correct erroneous testimony made to the City Council under oath.”
The DOI letter comes one day after the city announced the resignation of NYCHA general manager Michael Kelly and amid renewed calls for de Blasio to fire Olatoye.
During her tenure, the agency lied to the federal government about lead paint inspections, ignored complaints about a leaky ceiling that later collapsed on tenants and allowed tenants to endure the freezing cold in their apartments.
But the mayor on Tuesday hailed his appointee as an effective leader.
“When Shola took office the Housing Authority was literally teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. She righted the ship. So I want to give her a lot of credit,” de Blasio said at an unrelated press conference. “I continue to have great faith in her.”
Public Advocate Letitia James and City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx) on Monday both called for Olatoye to be fired.
There was no immediate comment from NYCHA on the DOI letter.