Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City Housing Authority are taking their outreach straight into public housing, rolling out a series of in-person “NYCHA in Your Neighborhood” forums where residents can bring repair and safety complaints directly to senior officials. The first session is set for May 20 in the Bronx, with follow-ups on June 3 in Brooklyn and June 17 in Manhattan. Each event will combine small-group discussions with on-site resource tables so tenants can get one-on-one help with repairs, environmental hazards and tenancy questions.
In a May 8 press release, the NYC Mayor's Office said the forums will bring senior City and NYCHA leaders into community centers to hear about mold, elevators, pests, lead and public safety, while also connecting residents with other agencies for immediate assistance. “NYCHA in Your Neighborhood will help put public housing residents at the center of policymaking,” Mayor Mamdani said in the release.
When and where
The first three forums are scheduled for May 20 at the Classic Community Center at Melrose in the Bronx, June 3 at the Van Dyke Community Center in East New York, Brooklyn, and June 17 at the Ethel Battle Velez Community Center in Manhattan. Sessions are slated for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m., as detailed on NYCHA. Registration is required because capacity is limited.
Residents say repairs are long overdue
At developments like the James Monroe Houses in Soundview, tenants say these listening sessions are badly needed. Residents told reporters they deal with intermittent water, elevators that stay out of service for long stretches and repairs that feel more like temporary “band‑aids” than real fixes. “They’re always fixing it, like putting little band‑aids on it,” said Giselle O., who has lived in the development for 24 years, while Wendy Pagan described previously living in an apartment “with no cabinets, no sink, the walls were falling down” before finally being moved, as reported by News12 Bronx.
How the forums will work
City and NYCHA officials say each forum will mix small-group conversations with resource tables staffed by NYCHA and multiple city agencies so residents can submit work tickets on the spot or talk through tenancy and environmental worries one-on-one. Representatives from the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Youth and Community Development and the Department for the Aging are expected to be on site, according to the NYC Mayor's Office.
Sign-up, accessibility and deadlines
Residents must register and are being asked to choose a single forum to attend, since space is limited. Requests for reasonable accommodations or language interpretation have borough-specific deadlines: Bronx residents must submit requests by May 11, Brooklyn residents by May 25 and Manhattan residents by June 8. Requests can be made by emailing [email protected] or calling 212-306-3335, per NYCHA.
Why this matters
The neighborhood forums come on the heels of Mamdani’s “Rental Ripoff” hearings earlier this spring, where tenants laid out many of the same complaints about mold, pests and slow repairs, and advocates warned that public housing residents were being overlooked in broader housing debates, according to NY1. Advocates and resident leaders say they will be watching closely to see whether these neighborhood forums lead to faster, lasting fixes instead of more short-term patch jobs.
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