70 current and former New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) employees have been charged with federal corruption and bribery. The arrested individuals are accused of participating in a 10-year, $2 million pay-for-play scheme. The employees were NYCHA building superintendents, which means they have greater access to and control of the buildings than other employees. This is the most expansive bribery bust in the history of the Department of Justice.
The allegation is that contractors would secure no-bid contracts on public housing controlled by NYCHA by paying employees on the inside. Evidence presented to the court showed bribes for $1,000. This amount, of course, would vary depending on the circumstance and the super who took the crash. The scheme is illegal and may have given NYC residents poor and/or lower-quality services due to the lack of a bidding process for contractors. NYC is notorious for squalid living conditions in public housing.
SOURCES:
70 NYCHA employees arrested in federal corruption investigation in NYC – ABC7 New York
70 NYCHA supers busted in NYC corruption raid, DOJ’s largest one-day bribery nab
NYCHA corruption bust: Dozens arrested – NBC New York
Congressman Ritchie Torres reacts to NYCHA corruption arrests – CBS New York
NYCHA worker with three suspensions allowed to retire ahead of bribe indictment
Legionnaires’ Disease Kills NYCHA Resident, Puts Brooklyn Public Housing Complex on Alert | THE CITY — NYC News
Harlem grandma struggles to get hot water fixed in NYCHA apartment
