Nigerian, Shola Olatoye, Appointed Head of New York City Housing Authority

A Nigerian has been announced the head of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Bill de Blasio, the Mayor of New York, appointed Shola Olatoye as the new head of the Housing Authority as he plans to overhaul the housing policy implemented by the previous administration. Mr. de Blasio stated that his administration plans to build and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next ten years to combat the challenges of health and safety in the city.

“We are going to take a new approach to this crisis that holds nothing back,” de Blasio said. “From doing more to protect tenants in troubled buildings, to innovating new partnerships with the private sector, to forging a new relationship with our NYCHA communities, every decision we make will focus on maximizing the affordability of our neighbourhoods. “These agencies are going to work together as a collective to lift up families and make this one city—where everyone rises together,” he added.

Mrs. Olatoye described her appointment as the chair of NYCHA an “honour”. she will be responsible for developing suitable housing plans in line with the Mayor’s mandate. “Everything we will do will be focused on improving the quality of life for our tenants, especially protecting their safety,” Mrs. Olatoye, who is married with two sons, said. “This is an enormous opportunity. Public housing helped people in my family. I want it to do the same in the future for others,” she added. Mrs. Olatoye was vice president and New York Market Leader for Enterprise Community Partners before her recent appointment. During her tenure at Enterprise, she oversaw a cross-functional team that worked with community partners, the public sector and private capital sources to build and preserve approximately 3,000 affordable homes per year in New York City among many other projects. Mrs. Olatoye had also served as a Vice President and Senior Community Development Manager of HSBC Bank; Director of HR&A Advisors, Inc., an advisory and economic development consulting firm; and Director of Community Outreach at the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. “I cannot wait to work with Shola and this administration to make New York proud of their public housing again,” said Cecil House, NYCHA General Manager. “We’ve never had a leadership this committed to making that happen, and to treating our NYCHA tenants with the same respect as every other tenant in this city. We are ready to roll up our sleeves, get to work, and change the way we do business,” he added.  

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This article was first published on 9th February 2014

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