NYCHA expects to bring in $31 million to $46 million in annual lease payments, which it will put toward fixing buildings in need of repair, according to the News. The agency has a backlog of 420,000 repair orders and each year it amasses a $60 million budget gap. It has come under fire recently for those shortfalls, which have been reported in conjunction with a consultant's findings of inefficiency at the agency and calls by local politicians for massive changes.

Politicians are taking issue with this latest plan too. The News reports that City Councilwoman Margaret Chin—whose lower Manhattan district includes two of the targeted developments—called the 20% of units earmarked as subsidized housing “definitely not enough.” The agency's chairman, John Rhea, allegedly responded to her by saying “with every unit of affordable housing, you're taking away [money] that could be used by NYCHA.” The plan also seems to fly in the face of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to build and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing by the time he leaves office this fall.

Critics also question whether NYCHA needs the money. It's been widely reported that the agency recently has suffered gross mismanagement and in fact is sitting on unused funds. Earlier reports in the News blast the Housing Authority both for spending $10 million on a consultants study and on shelling out $26 million to hire two different consultants who peformed largely duplicate work.

This ground-lease program is a first for NYCHA; it has not previously leased land for market-rate housing. It was unclear how the idea came about or why it was being deployed at this time. The plan could still be subject to change: the agency said in its initial announcement that it would discuss all plans with residents, politicians and other interested parties before making any moves. Watch for updates with additional information as it becomes available.