NYCHA takes about 415 days to make repairs, data shows. This resource may offer a faster fix for some issues.
The time is takes for the New York City Housing Authority to fix an issue in an apartment is getting longer, according to new data analyzed by CBS News New York.
NYCHA repairs now take about 415 days on average, as of February. In May of last year, the average wait time was about 370 days.
Some residents, however, are taking advantage of a little-known solution to get a faster fix.
Ombudsperson Call Center helps residents address mold, leaks
Cesar de Castro, a criminal defense attorney, leads the court-ordered Ombudsperson Call Center, which works to ensure NYCHA's compliance with a federal consent decree to fix mold and leaks.
"Whatever I ask them to do is an order from me that is unappealable. So it's not that they can then delay and say, 'We're going to go appeal to the judge.' No, if I say we need to fix your apartment in two weeks, they have to do their best to fix the apartment in two weeks," he said.
De Castro said he thinks very few NYCHA residents know about the call center, but he's trying to spread the word because he wants to help more people.
You can reach the OCC at ombnyc.com or by calling 1-888-341-7152.
NYCHA encourages residents to call the OCC, but complaints must be submitted to NYCHA first.
The OCC only offers help for mold and leaks.
NYCHA resident says OCC helped get leaky pipe fixed
NYCHA resident Bernard Smith said he discovered a leaky pipe in his apartment as he was hosting a dinner party.
"It had a smell, a rusty smell," he said. "And my guests were saying, 'What is that?' They said, 'You have a leak there.'"
So he reached out to NYCHA for a fix.
"They say they'll email the maintenance guys, and the maintenance people were saying, it's not our problem, it's the plumbers'," Smith said. "I called and called and called, but I had to wait."
Rather than just wait on NYCHA, Smith tapped into the OCC.
Smith says his leak finally got fixed about two months after it first happened. He says he believes if he hadn't called the OCC, he would still be waiting.
NYCHA says progress has been made despite rising wait times
Dan Greene, NYCHA executive vice president of property management, admits the repair wait time is too high.
"We talked several months ago, it was still too high then. We have made progress in some of our key trades, like plumbers and plasterers, electricians," he said.
As NYCHA looks to build on that progress, it's also hoping to reduce a backlog for painting and carpentry jobs.
The housing authority says it's also discovering more issues and taking on more repair jobs because of a requirement as of last year to inspect every apartment each year. NYCHA used to inspect half its apartments one year and the other half the next year.
"We're also buying more materials for our carpenters, so that we have more materials on hand for things like cabinet repairs or door repairs so people are not waiting for a cabinet delivery to get the repairs done," Greene said.
NYCHA did say their budget is a challenge and they're in need of capital investment. The housing authority also said it may have some duplicate complaints in their system driving up the backlog.
Even so, NYCHA acknowledges they need to improve.
