A plan to retrofit New York City’s massive public-housing system with the help of former President Bill Clinton is stuck in bureaucratic limbo 17 months after it was announced — and no one will say when it might actually begin, The Post has learned.
Clinton, Mayor Bloomberg and former federal Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson came together at the Eastchester Community Center in The Bronx on Dec. 7, 2007, to unveil what was described as a “first-ever sustainability partnership,” in which the Clinton Global Initiative would help the New York City Housing Authority obtain clean-energy technologies at reduced prices so it could reduce its electricity and gas bills by 15 percent.
Software was to be installed to manage 210 large central-heating plans remotely; aging hot-water heaters were to be replaced with instantaneous steam-water heating devices; incandescent bulbs were going to make way for compact fluorescent bulbs that use one-fourth the electricity in each of 177,976 apartments; and new energy-efficient windows were to be ordered.
What wasn’t clear at the time was that since NYCHA is largely federally funded, the ambitious project required the approval of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
That approval has yet to be granted. “The proposal remains under our review because of its very size and complexity,” said Adam Glantz, a spokesman for HUD in New York.
In an appearance with Clinton last week, Bloomberg pointed to the NYCHA-Clinton plan as “innovative” and beneficial to the entire city.
While HUD ponders its decision, NYCHA is struggling with ever increasing energy costs.
Its bill last year for electricity, gas, water and heat was $530 million, up from $486 million in 2007.