The federal one-size- ts-all model won’t work for NYCHA

The authority needs accountable leadership to turn it around e Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is the federal oversight body for NYCHA and all other public housing in America, said the move to a volunteer post would re ect “public housing industry norm.” Discussions are continuing over the size of the stipend, which could be increased.

The chairman of the beleaguered New York City Housing Authority, Gregory Russ, will step down this month. Previously, as both chairman and CEO, Russ once earned more than $400,000 annually, far more than the mayor or the governor. Last year he left his CEO role, cutting his pay, and now he will be gone altogether.

What’s distressing about Russ’ departure is the announcement that the paid chair role he occupied will now be a volunteer position, with a mere $250 stipend to attend monthly meetings.

Traveling back and forth e arrangement with Russ was far from ideal. Russ, based in Minneapolis, never moved his family to the city and attempted to manage the city’s public housing stock while traveling back and forth across the country. When he was in New York, he leased an apartment in a Tribeca high-rise with a doorman, a heated pool and a valet laundry service. e public housing authority is both badly mismanaged and underfunded; there are tens of billions of dollars in capital needs that the federal government, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, simply hasn’t met. In addition to more funds, NYCHA requires competent professionals to turn it around, and that would only be a greater challenge for a part-time executive collecting a paltry stipend. e decision to make New York’s chair voluntary came out of a federal investigation that documented years of mismanagement and cover-up of deteriorating conditions.

One-bedroom apartments listed for $6,000 monthly.

But there’s no reason to make the chair position voluntary now. HUD’s explanation doesn’t pass muster because NYCHA is not like any other public housing development in the country. More than 300,000 people live in NYCHA housing. New York is one of the last cities that has not walked away from its public housing stock. In the 20th century, municipalities pared down or demolished their public housing, hoping that would eradicate urban blight. Instead, the disappearance of public housing fed the a ordability crisis and homelessness. As much of a challenge as homelessness remains in New York, it would be exponentially worse if the working class and poor lost their cheap housing in NYCHA developments.

An outside monitor was appointed in 2019 with an agreement to reshu e top management. In 2021 NYCHA put forth a plan that rst broached the idea, and after NYCHA split the CEO and chair positions in September, NYCHA began discussions with HUD, City Hall and the Department of Justice about changing the chair’s role. Perhaps this new arrangement will make a di erence, even if NYCHA’s problems run quite deep. Whoever is tasked to head the housing authority in place of Russ needs to be far more committed to the future of public housing in New York. It was bizarre that Russ divided his time between here and Minneapolis. NYCHA itself is larger than many American cities; the residents of Toledo or Sioux City would be rightfully aghast if their mayors were periodically ying across the country and living elsewhere. Public housing residents deserve far better.

Quick takes

● Gov. Kathy Hochul is going to have to decide how badly she wants to increase the number of charter schools in the city. Democrats in the state Senate are roundly opposed to the idea, and she’ll either have to horse-trade—sacri cing another policy priority—or eventually abandon the push.

● A new Quinnipiac poll showed that more New Yorkers disapprove of Mayor Eric Adams’ job performance than approve. At this point in his tenure, Bill de Blasio still had a positive approval rating. If Adams is going to experience a turnaround, the crime picture will have to improve. ■

Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.

While TCJA benefits are still in effect, Grassi advises clients to consider these strategies:

• Maximize gifting up to the 2023 annual exclusion amount of $17,000 per taxpayer ($34,000 for married couples).

• Depending on the value of the estate, consider strategies to keep it below the current exemption amount of $12.92 million (individual) or $25.84 million (married). An estate is not subject to federal estate tax if its value is less than the exemption amount.

• Make the maximum contributions to IRAs ($6,500 limit for 2023, or $7,500 for those over age 50).

• Plan charitable giving (including charitable IRA rollovers) to maximize the deduction on 2023 income tax returns. Qualified charitable distributions made directly from an IRA could satisfy required minimum distributions and exclude them from taxable income.

• Set up 529 Plan accounts for children and grandchildren and consider including five years’ worth of annual exclusion gifts, taking into account any gifts made during the year to children and grandchildren.

• Submit tuition or nonreimbursable medical expenses directly to the school or medical provider to avoid these amounts counting toward the annual or lifetime gift tax exemption.

• Consider creating and funding a grantor retained annuity trust, which is an irrevocable trust created for a certain amount of time. Assets are placed under the trust, and an annuity is paid out every year. When the trust expires and the last annuity payment is made, assets are passed to beneficiaries outright or (preferably) remain in a trust for the beneficiaries.

• Find out if a qualified personal residence trust is a good fit. This irrevocable trust allows homeowners to transfer the home at a significantly discounted rate.

• Explore the option of intrafamily lending, which transfers partial wealth earnings to family members without lowering the lifetime estate tax exemption or triggering gift taxes.

• Consider a freeze transaction, through which future growth in investments is removed from the taxable estate.

• Re-evaluate life insurance coverage, which presents significant opportunities to either defer or avoid income taxes, or both, as well as to provide assets to pay estate tax or replace assets used to pay estate tax.

• Owners of nongrantor trusts should consider making income distributions to beneficiaries. They may be taxed at a lower tax rate.

Not all taxpayers will need or want to take all 12 of these steps, but understanding their options and communicating with their tax and estate planning advisors will ensure they are implementing the most effective strategies for achieving their wealth preservation and transfer goals.

Rozleen Giwani is a tax partner in the Private Client Services Group at Grassi, where she specializes in tax planning strategies for highnet-worth individuals and businesses. grassicpas.com