Plan to eliminate mold complaint backlog at NYCHA unveiled

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- NYCHA is promising relief to thousands of public housing residents who have been living with leaks and potentially toxic mold in their apartments.

The federal monitor assigned to oversee improvements at the struggling agency detailed a plan Thursday to eliminate the agency's long term backlog of mold complaints by July 2020.

The task will require crews to address at least 300 work orders a week in order to complete 7,306 remaining long term work orders.

By the end of January, the agency had already eliminated 1,274 long term work orders for mold.

The agency is also setting new standards for remediating mold complaints.

Starting next year, in 95% of cases, the agency has committed to remediating mold complaints within 5 to 15 days depending on the complexity of the job.

According to the federal monitor's mold report, 35,000 mold work orders were reported in 2019 and many of the work orders were for recurring mold.

With that in mind, the agency has also committed to addressing ventilation issues throughout its portfolio by June 2021.

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