With the bipartisan vote in both houses of the legislature, the NYCHA "has the opportunity to access roughly $100 million in new federal funds annually to preserve, maintain and modernize our NYCHA developments," says Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement. He calls passage of the legislation "one of the city's top legislative priorities."

Assemblyman Alan Maisel, D-Brooklyn, says in a statement, "Under current law, the NYCHA does not have the funding it needs to maintain these housing projects. This legislation would help bring much-needed structural improvements to these buildings, and ultimately create a safer environment for the families who inhabit them."

The legislation allows for the financial reorganization of all or part of the residential buildings within state- and city-financed projects owned by NYCHA, with the approval of the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal. The housing projects which would be affected by this legislation include Marlboro Houses, Bushwick Houses, Independence Towers, Jonathan Williams Plaza and Independence Towers in Brooklyn; Castle Hill Houses, Arthur H. Murphy Houses and Baychester Houses in the Bronx; Chelsea Houses, 344 E. 28th St., Amsterdam Addition, Stephen Wise Towers, Drew-Hamilton Houses, Rutgers Houses and Manhattanville Houses in Manhattan; and Stapleton Houses in Staten Island. Six of these are owned by the city, with the remainder owned by New York State.

Currently, the NYCHA operates 334 public housing projects with a total of 400,000 residents. Mixed-finance public housing allows HUD to mix public, private, and non-profit funds to develop and operate housing developments, according to the federal agency.

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Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.