Thursday, October 17, 2019
We are aware of residents’ safety concerns and the lack of adequate exterior lighting at many developments, which I briefly discussed in my First Quarterly Report. At our most recent Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting on October 7, I talked about a recent investigation done by Eyewitness News at Cypress Hill Houses in East New York.
There are factors other than the poor or non-existent lighting at NYCHA that contribute to residents’ safety concerns, such as scaffolding and broken security cameras, among others. For now, I would like to first gather information about the exterior lights at individual developments and get it to the right people.
To do that, we need help from those with firsthand knowledge of what is happening on the ground at the developments. Here are some suggested questions to think about when submitting information to us.
- How long has the exterior lighting been out?
- Is the problem isolated to only some parts of the development, or is it development-wide? (ex. X Block, Building X, area in front of X)
- Is this the first time this development has had issues with exterior lighting, or is it a recurring problem?
- Does the development currently have portable lights from the NYPD to compensate for the lack of exterior lighting?
- Is the development in the process of getting new lights installed? If yes, do you know the source and the status of the funding?
- If there is lighting with timers, is the timing set correctly so that the lights are on when they are needed?
Please send any information you have, including photos, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 347-809-5555 or a toll-free number 844-309-6080.
Thank you for your help.
Very truly yours,
Bart M. Schwartz
Federal Monitor appointed pursuant to Agreement dated January 31, 2019