Proactive Preservation Initiative(PPI):

The Proactive Preservation Initiative is the City’s comprehensive approach to identifying and addressing deteriorating physical conditions in multifamily buildings across New York City before they endanger the health and safety of residents and threaten the quality of the surrounding neighborhood.  Proactive Preservative uses a network of information sources to preemptively identify at-risk buildings and, through a variety of intervention strategies and programs, provides the tools or incentives to ensure that owners are both accountable and equipped to maintain their buildings in safe condition.

Links to Press & Events section:

HPD COMMISSIONER WAMBUA, COUNCIL SPEAKER QUINN CELEBRATE SUCCESS OF PROACTIVE PRESERVATION INITIATIVE AND ANNOUNCE PUBLICATION OF THE SECOND AT-RISK BUILDINGS LIST

“Early Checks Help Multifamily Units,” Joseph De Avila, Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2012

Proactive Preservation Initiative Launch

Proactive Preservation Initiative Launch Photo Gallery

Proactive Preservation Initiative to Improve Conditions in Distressed Building Portfolio

Mayor Bloomberg Discusses Proactive Preservation Initiative in Weekly Radio Address 

 How it Works:
Buildings eligible for Proactive Preservation are those deemed to be actively declining and at risk of becoming blighting influences based on data collected from various sources, including complaints registered through calls to 311, direct reports from elected officials and advocate groups, Housing Maintenance Code violation trends, and emergency repair and property tax and water liens. Properties are identified monthly and then surveyed by HPD’s Division of Neighborhood Preservation (DNP) staff in order to confirm that data from those sources reflect the actual conditions of the building.

Based on the data and surveys, buildings can follow one of the following key pathways.:

• Buildings that are surveyed which show severe distress and neglect by the current ownership may receive a direct referral to HLD for litigation in Housing Court.
• Buildings that exhibit significant levels of distress are referred to HPD’s Proactive Enforcement Bureau (PEB) for roof-to-cellar inspections where additional Housing Code violations may be added. The PEB team will re-inspect the building in 45-days to confirm whether the violations were corrected. During this time, the DNP team will continue outreach effort to the building owner to understand the needs and issues of the building and to attempt to help the owner devise strategies to improve the overall health of the building.   
• For buildings with non-emergency distress HPD will devise appropriate, individualized strategies to help ensure that conditions improve. These could include giving low-cost repair loans, financial counseling and referrals as well as more aggressive, punitive tactics involving Housing Maintenance Code enforcement, litigation, moving properties into receivership, and transferring ownership to more responsible, experienced hands.
• Buildings exhibiting little to no demonstration of physical distress will be monitored over time. If a building on the watchlist begins to trend negatively over the course of a year, HPD will re-inspect the building and determine whether it should be referred to other Proactive Preservation disposition strategies

HPD plans to identify and evaluate 500 buildings through Proactive Preservation in the program’s first year. Every six months, HPD will publish a public at-risk buildings list of those buildings that were distressed and warranted action from the Proactive Enforcement Bureau (PEB) or Housing Litigation.

The At-Risk Building List:
The following is a list of at-risk buildings that were referred to the Proactive Enforcement Bureau (PEB) and/or directly to HPD’s Housing Litigation Division based on data and survey ratings from HPD’s Division of Neighborhood Preservation that indicated significant levels of physical distress. To view the At-Risk Building List click here.

The list includes the building addresses and total violations on record prior to the PEB inspection, immediately following the PEB inspection, and upon publication of the list, which takes place at least 45 days after the first inspection.

Buildings are graded by a color-coded system—from green to red—that notes improvements or decline in the property’s condition. Buildings which show an 80% or higher reduction in violations since the first PEB inspection are coded green; 35-79% reductions are coded as yellow; 1-34% reductions are coded as orange; and, buildings with no improvement or worsening conditions are coded as red. Buildings referred to HLD have litigation pending with outcomes yet to be determined and therefore results are not yet rated.

The list will be updated every six months; any buildings whose violation counts have dropped at least 80% and are found to be in fair condition by HPD surveyors will be removed from subsequent lists.

To view Frequently Asked Questions about the Proactive Preservation Initiative click here.