Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 20, 2017

CONTACT: media@nycha.nyc.gov | (212) 306-3322

NYCHA EXPANDS SUCCESSFUL NEXTGEN OPERATIONS PROGRAM MANHATTAN-WIDE

New Property Management model improves the operation of developments and includes a training academy for staff to learn new customer service skills to better NYCHA residents’ quality of life.

NEW YORK—Today, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced it is expanding its successful NextGeneration Operations (NGO) property management model to all Manhattan developments, vastly changing how the developments are run day-to-day. NGO is a new way of preparing staff to more efficiently run their own developments, serve residents and manage a cleaner, more connected NYCHA. Since July 2016, Queens has been under NGO and already seen dramatically reduced repair times among other improvements.

NYCHA’s staff traditionally works in a centralized, top-down decision-making environment where most decisions for the property level are made from the central office, borough offices, or by deputies and administrators. This structure does not allow property managers the control or accountability to make decisions that affect their properties’ needs, or to base them on real-time data.

With the new model, NYCHA is striving to increase staff control and accountability and to improve customer service and resident engagement. NGO places more authority in the hands of the staff based at the individual sites. This new approach allows them to address issues directly and more quickly.

 “We are committed to improving every day for our residents, and NextGen Ops is a great example of where we are making a real difference in the operations of our developments,” said NYCHA General Manager Michael Kelly. “NGO will help us become more modern and efficient as a landlord. We have over 100,000 residents in Manhattan and soon they will see daily progress in how their developments are run, dramatically improving their quality of life.”

“The diffusion of decision making power to property managers, who see the most pressing needs of NYCHA residents every day, will help streamline onsite repairs, and improve the quality of life for residents. I believe residents will soon see the tremendous benefits of a more highly trained staff determined to take care of the tenants they serve” said Councilmember Ritchie Torres.

This week, to prepare staff for the new NGO model, NYCHA launched a training academy with courses on property maintenance, budget management and other necessary skills. The Regional Asset Managers, Property Managers, Assistant Property Managers, Property Maintenance Supervisors, Assistant Property Maintenance Supervisors, Supervisors of Caretakers and Supervisors of Grounds are currently undergoing the training academy.

In addition to providing development staff with more training, the property managers will be entrusted with broader authority to organize and oversee the budgets for their developments, cutting down on the red tape and allowing managers to resolve issues faster. By empowering development staff with more autonomy, improvements to buildings can be made more efficiently.

The goal of NGO is to improve customer service for the residents. This includes how residents pay rent, interact with staff and also what their developments look like. At each Manhattan development, one particular building will be selected as a ‘model’ building. As every development is different, the ‘model’ building will allow for the staff who knows the site best to identify how to most improve the janitorial standards and the appearance of the development. The ‘model’ building will be used to roll-out pilot upgrades and possible cosmetic improvements under consideration for the broader site.

“Our staff deserve the best tools to complete their jobs, and this training academy is an opportunity to help everyone perform at a higher standard,” said NYCHA Senior Vice President for Operations Brian Clarke. “Stronger customer service and improved janitorial standards will have an immediate impact on how our residents and staff interact day-to-day.”

NGO already covers most of Staten Island as well as a selection of other sites across Brooklyn, Bronx and some of Manhattan. Last year, NYCHA moved all Queens developments under the NGO model for a borough-wide pilot. Since this change was effected, the maintenance repair times have shifted from 11.5 days in 2015 and 6.9 days in 2016 to 4.3 days today, Queens-wide.

Manhattan’s training academy kicked off this week with an expected completion date in December. Residents should begin to see the new property management model at their development in early 2018.


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About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
NYCHA’s mission is to increase opportunities for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers by providing safe, affordable housing and facilitating access to social and community services. More than 400,000 New Yorkers reside in NYCHA’s 326 public housing developments around the five boroughs, and another 235,000 receive subsidized rental assistance in private homes through the NYCHA-administered Section 8 Leased Housing Program. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/nycha and for regular updates on NYCHA news and services, connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCHA and www.twitter.com/NYCHA.