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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 2004

SCHUMER TO FEDS: PROBE COMPANY MANAGING HARLEM HUD SITES OF GAMBLING DEN DEATHS, PIT-BULL MAULING

Early morning shootout at HUD property managed by controversial National Housing Group left 2 dead yesterday; woman mauled by pit bull at nearby HUD home run by same company on Saturday

Schumer – member of Senate Housing Oversight Committee – seeks immediate independent investigation by nonpartisan watchdog agency

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today requested an immediate and comprehensive investigation of National Housing Group, the company whose properties in Harlem have been the scenes of two tragedies since Saturday including one which left two people dead.

"As you know, National Housing Group has been widely criticized since it was hired last year to manage HUD properties," Schumer wrote this morning in a letter to Kenneth M. Donohue, the Inspector General of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). "National Housing Group's limited experience and a spotty track record managing other housing developments now appear to be having tragic consequences in New York City."

Two men were killed in a shootout in a Harlem gambling club early yesterday morning located in a brownstone at 134 West 123rd Street in Manhattan – a building that is owned by HUD and managed by National Housing Group. On Saturday, a woman was mauled by a pit bull at another National Housing Group property in Harlem located at 203 West 134th Street. The pit bull was guarding a drug-dealing operation and, according to residents, had attacked at least five other people.
The National Housing Group was widely criticized for a having limited experience and a questionable record when it was hired last year to manage HUD properties in New York and 41 other states. According to the non-partisan General Accounting Office, National Housing Group secured the bid to manage properties in New York City because its bid was significantly lower than the previous contract-holder.

Schumer today asked the independent HUD Inspector General for a full investigation of National Housing Group and an explanation of HUD's oversight policies for these type of programs. As a ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee, Schumer has direct oversight over HUD.

"I am extremely concerned that National Housing Group secured the New York HUD contract by cutting corners and cutting costs in ways for which residents and members of the community are now paying the ultimate price," Schumer wrote to Donohue.

A copy of Schumer's letter to Donohue is attached.

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