Chairman Rhea meets NYCHA staff at Rutgers Houses. Photo credit: Leticia Barboza

Chairman Rhea had an easy rapport with the many stakeholders that he met on Monday, June 1st, and clearly showed his interest in hearing what they had to say. "My job here today is to hear your concerns so that when I go back I can take them into consideration," said Chairman Rhea. "This is a great time for public housing, with new support from Washington, stimulus funds, and the need for affordable housing more pressing than ever."

Residents and staff gathered in front of management offices as the Chairman arrived, and accompanied him on walks throughout development grounds. Conversations went beyond pleasantries to include comments the Chairman solicited about how NYCHA can improve service for residents and provide employees with the support they need.

One young man was smart enough to leverage Chairman Rhea's math skills to complete a computer-based math exercise. Photo credit: Pete Mikoleski

The day's activities allowed the Chairman to gain insight into the Authority's physical assets and its programs, which serve a wide range of New Yorkers. From an environmentally-efficient boiler room in the basement of Rutgers Houses on Manhattan's Lower East Side, to an elevator motor room on the rooftop at Bushwick Houses in Brooklyn, Chairman Rhea inspected equipment upgrades reflecting major Authority initiatives to reduce fuel consumption and improve service. "Sometimes the best way to see how things work is to go where the 'guts' of the operations are housed," said Rhea.

The Chairman also greeted seniors at Queens Community House, Pomonok Center in Flushing, and visited a field office at Adams Houses in the Melrose section of the Bronx, where NYCHA provides employment services for adult residents. Children who were using the state-of-the-art ATTAIN computer lab at the Polo Grounds Community Center in Harlem were excited about meeting NYCHA's 21st Chairman. Chairman Rhea clearly enjoyed helping one young boy with his computer-based math exercise. The Chairman ended his day in West Brighton, Staten Island, where he saw new housing construction at Markham Gardens, a mixed-income community being developed by a private management team on the site of a former housing development, and visited with the first returning former Markham resident, who was ecstatic to be "back at home."

Chairman Rhea is shown here with 88-year-old Mollie Winter (left), who has lived at Pomonok Houses since it opened in 1951, and New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) Commissioner Lilliam Barrios-Paoli. Photo credit: Pete Mikoleski

Throughout the day, Chairman Rhea also met with Commissioners from other City agencies with whom NYCHA partners to deliver services, and also with elected officials committed to coordinating efforts in their communities with NYCHA's new leadership. During the visit to Adams Houses in the Bronx, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo engaged Chairman Rhea in a spirited discussion about job training and placement opportunities provided by NYCHA's Resident Employment Services program.

In his remarks during the staff meeting that kicked off Chairman Rhea's first day, he described his working class upbringing in Detroit as being the motivation for pursuing a new career in public service. "Service to the community is the most important value that my parents instilled in me," he said. "There is no nobler cause."

When asked about Day One, Rhea said, "This was a great start but I'm ready for tomorrow."