The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), which oversees over 170,000 apartments across the city, allegedly paid a vendor more than $700 to replace a broken lightbulb.
In a report published Monday, nonprofit organization The City claimed NYCHA had paid a vendor $4,250 to replace six LED bulbs and covers at Throggs Neck Houses in The Bronx, citing records. That would amount to $708 per lightbulb.
That same vendor was then hired to replace 12 LED bulbs and covers at the same building weeks later and paid $4,980 for the work. The NYCHA also awarded the vendor $4,950 to replace 48 LED bulbs and light covers in the Robinson Houses in East Harlem.
For all the projects, NYCHA approved the invoices and awarded the contracts despite the vendor asking for nearly similar amounts for different levels of work, according to The City.
Apart from lightbulbs, the same scheme was seen in the installation of drop ceilings. One vendor, which the publication did not name, charged $4,945 to install 860 square feet of drop ceiling in a building in the Jefferson Houses in East Harlem. That same vendor also charged $4,945 to install just 630 square feet of drop ceiling in another Jefferson building despite both projects being in the same development.
Curbing Corruption in NYCHA
The City's report comes weeks after it was revealed that former NYCHA Chair Greg Russ repeatedly refused to implement advice from New York City's Department of Investigation aimed at curbing corruption in the housing authority.
Corruption in NYCHA came to a head earlier this month when federal prosecutors charged 70 employees for pocketing more than $2 million in cash payments for no-bid contracts. That operation was touted as the "largest single-day bribery takedown" in the history of the Department of Justice.
Since then, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-NY, has authored a new bill that will require NYCHA to publicly disclose information about all contracts it enters with private actors, including details about the goods and services being procured and the vendor involved in the transactions.
NYCHA is also allegedly adopting the reform recommendations from the Department of Investigation in 2021, including barring superintendents from awarding small contracts.
