HA Center Closings To Result in 200 Layoffs; Move Blasted by '371'

The Housing Authority has announced the closing of 18 community centers in housing projects across the five boroughs, which will trigger the layoffs of 200 employees, predominantly social workers represented by District Council 37 Local 371.

FAYE MOORE: Wrong way to balance budget.

The center closings, which the HA estimates will save $20 million, are the key part of what HA Chairman Tino Hernandez calls "tough short-term decisions" that will close the agency's budget gap, which is estimated at $150 million for the 2009 fiscal year.

Cites Wage-Deal Costs

In testimony to the City Council on the budget Nov. 21, Mr. Hernandez cited "the skyrocketing cost of non-discretionary employee benefits," and said that "the most recently announced labor settlements will cost approximately $46 million in 2009," referring to DC 37 and Teamsters Local 237 contracts settled with the city. He added that "while we will continue to support our dedicated workforce, we must find a way to rein in these costs over the coming years."

"This is not the way you fix a budget shortfall," Local 371 President Faye Moore said in a phone interview. "There have to be other ways that they can make up that gap. They are putting 165 people onto the street, not because they weren't providing the appropriate service."

Ms. Moore said the community centers offered key services in their housing projects and that their loss could have drastic consequences. "These centers are open from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. They go a long way preventing gang violence and crime," she said. "It's reasonable to believe that there's going to be a gap in service. And then, who's responsible for the deterioration in the quality of life?"

'An Attack on Poor People

Ms. Moore said that she believed the cuts, both in the HA and in other city agencies announcing their budgets this month, unfairly targeted the poorer members of the city. "It's such a tone of disrespect for working-class people in the city, because they pay income taxes on a smaller salary," she said. "In this round [of cuts], it seems like there's a general tone, this attack on poor people."

In total, the closings will affect six community centers in Manhattan, four in Brooklyn, three each in The Bronx and Queens, and two in Staten Island.

In an additional statement, HA spokesman Howard Marder said that the city would try to limit any effect on HA residents. "In our endeavor to deal responsibly with these challenges, a plan has been developed under Mayor Bloomberg's leadership that will enable NYCHA residents to continue to access services we no longer have the funds to support," he said.

"New York is fortunate to be a city with a rich network of community-based services," he continued. "In that light, NYCHA will turn to several city agencies including [the Department of Youth and Community Development, the Department of Small Business Services, Human Resources Administration and the Administration for Children's Services], to transition over the next 24 months our directly operated youth, prevention and employment programs to those agencies best suited to provide those services. These creative actions will enable NYCHA to reduce its budget deficit by up to $50 million by 2011 and allow us to safeguard our core mission of preserving public housing."