Mayor Bill de Blasio fires back at HUD executive Lynne Patton's NYCHA criticisms
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Federal Housing and Urban Development executive Lynne Patton continues her tour of New York City's public housing complexes amid a rebuke from Mayor Bill de Blasio, who lashed out at her criticism of the city's handling of NYCHA problems.
Patton is touring two NYCHA facilities on Staten Island Friday -- the New Lane Area and the South Beach Houses -- alongside Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis.
Earlier, she blamed the mayor for holdups in selecting a permanent NYCHA director.
De Blasio didn't let that slide, accusing Patton of being President Donald Trump's pawn.
"Everything she is saying is false, to make it simple," he said. "False, false, false. You're Donald Trump's agent in New York City, and you are taking money away from public housing. Time to stop acting like you are here to help people in public housing."
The president's proposed budget would slash funding for NYCHA.
"It's important that we shine a spotlight on the problems that you've been having here," she said at the complex Friday. "We've been trying to do that all month. We've been generating about 500 to 600 articles every week, nationwide. And the world is watching, and we are going to let them know exactly what is going on here. And what's going on here is nothing short of a humanitarian crisis. It's inhumane. The money is being wasted, the repairs are not getting done, and the game is over. And we're here to make sure that you guys get the attention that you finally deserve and the repairs that every rent-paying, tax-paying American should be living in."
Patton has spent the past month living in NYCHA housing to survey conditions.
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