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Bronx Junior Photo League
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Image of entrance into the Melrose houses. © Itzel Robles/ BDC
NYCHA LIGHTS RAISE CONCERN FOR RESIDENTS BY ADVANCED DOCUMENTARY HIGH SCHOOL ANALOG CLASS (HS2) Melrose Houses, Bronx New York—On a recent sunny November afternoon, dozens of LED floodlights burned brightly outside the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) complex known as the Melrose Houses. From sunrise to sunset the massive lights glared down on the residents passing by, burning precious electricity and warming the earth. The lights have been on so long that residents seem unsure when they were first turned on, or why they are not turned off during the day. The New York City Housing Authority is a public development corporation that provides public housing in New York City. NYCHA was created in 1935 to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. Since then, it has become the largest public housing authority in North America.
Residents of the housing authority say that the money being used to keep the lights on throughout the day should be used for a better cause, such as the backlog of repairs inside residents apartments. Nadine, 39, a neighborhood resident, believes NYCHA is wasting energy and money. “If you think about it, all that energy is being used during the day and everybody is in school or at work,” she said. A two-month-long Bronx Documentary Center student investigation has revealed that NYCHA, home to more than 350,000 New Yorkers, is violating the agency’s own guidelines, leaving on more than 200 high-wattage lights during the day at Melrose, Patterson and Jackson Houses, three South Bronx developments that are home to more than 8,800 residents.
“all that energy is being used during the day and everybody is in school or at work”