Council Member Dinowitz on warranty accountability for completed capital work

I have one more question.

Okay.

The same concerns about the elevators, the same concerns about the repairs, the loans that were taken out in 2016 remain the same today.

The residents at Tracy Towers say, well, 10 years ago, they told us they were fixing the elevators and they're still broken.

There isn't a day where all six elevators in either building are working.

I think last we checked, you were there 40 times this year.

The fire department had to come for the elevators.

Those are not fixed elevators.

And so for the residents of Tracy Towers, what guarantees do they have that HPD is conducting the oversight to ensure that the money that our tax dollars are being invested in, that we are investing in our affordable housing with these loans?

There's oversight over that and the quality of the work and that if we replace all the elevators, that in two years, they're not all going to break down again.

That if they replace the roof, it's not going to start leaking in two years.

What mechanisms do you have to hold accountable the people who do the work?

So like I mentioned before, we have monthly construction requisitions where the contractors

is only paid based on work that has been completed.

So there's someone from HPD because we have city capital.

There's someone from HDC because they're the first mortgage lender.

Can I just clarify my question?

I'm not sure you understood it.

Maybe I didn't say it right.

No, I think I got it.

I think what we're trying, what we need to parse here is what is the actual scope of work?

Is it a repair or is it a complete replacement?

Complete replacement of elevators, which I think was in the scope of work for this particular building.

But not in 2016.

Not in 2016.

So let's say 2026, we're looking forward.

Scope of work, brand new elevators, right?

You have, let's just go with that one project.

You requisition, the work's being done, great.

After the work is completed and after the contractor has left,

Is HPD going to stay and monitor it to make sure it is continuing to function?

Are they going to stay to hold the contractor accountable if it breaks down, if in five years they still don't have working elevators?

Or is HPD's only job to make sure that the work is being done on a month-by-month basis?

Our main goal is to make sure that the work is done correctly at the time it's being done, right?

So we're ensuring that the requisitions that are going through are being processed and paid correctly and the work is done as it should.

We can have oversight and we can work with the owner to make sure that they are holding the contractor's feet to the fire.

There is also typically a warranty period, right?

So if after...

A year, there are problems with the elevator.

It's incumbent upon the owner to ensure that they are going back to the manufacturer or the contractor and holding them to the warranty standards.

And that's standard across all affordable housing projects.

co-ops or rentals.

Okay.

And just a little bit about housing supervision, the portfolio analysts will still be there.

The constituent services coordinators will still be there.

The technical services team will still be there.

The engineers that work at HPD will still be there.

So whenever there's an issue, we will still be able to call on folks within across the agency to come out.

And so it doesn't end when a project ends.

We're still there.

Yeah, it sounds like there's room to grow in this regard, given the experience.

Tracy, I see amalgamated nodding their heads at all of our other Mitchell alums.

It seems like there's room to grow.

I don't know if the one-year warranty was a...

Hypothetical or like was that what the warranty typically is one year?

It's a hypothetical.

Okay.

Every contractor is responsible for completing the work to the owner.

Typically things that are installed have a warranty period.

Typically roofs have a warranty period, elevators, different mechanical equipment.

It varies based on what's installed.

All right.

It sounds like there's room to grow in this area and work to be done together on this because the work done 10 years ago had a warranty and it wasn't fixed.

And we're concerned the work going forward at any of these Mitchellamas around the

city, that we make sure as a city we are holding accountable these contractors who are ostensibly doing the work, and then it falls on the tenants to pay for more repairs after the work's done.

And we know things go slowly in government, that a year, two years is going to go by before there's any oversight.

We want to work together to make sure we're holding those accountable.

To keep costs down, to use all the tools in our toolbox.

And I just, again, I want to thank you for your testimony.

There's lots of work to be done on this to keep these rents down, to maintain that promise of affordability that was promised to us from this administration.

I stand ready to work with all of you.

The tenants stand ready to work with you, but they deserve dignity and affordability in their affordable housing developments.

Thank you, Chair.

We don't clap in hearings.

We only, we do the silent approval gesture, but.