Shola Olatoye

Last updated

Oyeshola "Shola" Olatoye (o-LAH-twoh-yay) [1] (born 1975) was the 22nd Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) before resigning due to a lead-paint poisoning and lack-of-heat scandals. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Oyeshola Olatoye grew up Waterbury, Connecticut. Her father is Nigerian. [1] After her parents' divorce, Olatoye lived with her mother in one of the first integrated rental housing developments in the city, later using the down payment assistance program to purchase her first home. Her mother was highly involved with their community and was someone who people turned to when they needed help. [3]

Olatoye graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in history and African American studies from Wesleyan University in 1996 and later earned a master's degree in public administration from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University (NYU). [2] [4]

Career

In 2001, Olatoye worked for Public Advocate Mark Green's 2001 mayoral bid as the issues director. [5]

In 2009, she joined Enterprise Community Partners where she became the vice president and market leader for the New York office prior to being named chair and CEO of NYCHA. At Enterprise, she led a team of roughly 50 employees to build and preserve 3,000 units of affordable housing in the New York area. She also helped secure over $30 million in federal recovery dollars for 11,000 residents impacted by Hurricane Sandy. [6]

New York City Housing Authority

In 2014, Olatoye was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio as the chair and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). As chair and CEO she developed a 10-year turnaround plan called NextGeneration NYCHA (NextGen) and balanced the $3.1 billion operating budget for four years through help from the federal government upping its aid to the agency, hiking rents, removing community and senior centers from its property list, and not being charged for police services. [2] [7] [8] During her tenure, she announced the plan to lease public housing land to private developers to build roughly 500 apartments for low-income tenants. [9] She also reduced central office costs by $23 million and negotiated a deal with union leaders to complete maintenance repairs faster. [8]

Failure to inspect NYCHA properties of lead paint had begun during the Bloomberg administration in 2012, but Olatoye signed off on paperwork stating the agency's compliance of inspection and neither she nor top officials alerted the public or tenants until after they had remediated apartments. In 2015, NYCHA officials and the Department of Investigation (DOI) knew they were not in compliance with city law to inspect apartments for lead paint but denied any wrongdoing to federal prosecutors. Later that year, the office of the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York requested the agency to send documentation relating to lead paint. On March 28, 2016, Olatoye testified before the City Council that the agency was in compliance. Her testimony was quickly cited as false. [10] [11] [12] The de Blasio administration denied any wrongdoing on the part of Olatoye or NYCHA. [13] In April 2018, she resigned from her position, stating she never intended to retain the position in a second mayoral term and joined building contractor Suffolk as vice president in charge of business development in New York. [8] [14]

Oakland Department of Housing & Community Services

In 2020, Olatoye was appointed by Mayor Libby Schaaf as the Director of the Department of Housing & Community Services for Oakland, California. [15] Her goals in the position were to lay out a capital plan, gather data to direct those goals and offer transparency, hiring, and work towards racial equity. These goals were challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic where she helped secure state COVID-19 funds for new housing sites and oversaw the city’s rental assistance program. [16] Under her leadership, the city removed barriers for residents at risk of losing their homes and needing quick access to $32 million in relief funds, ultimately serving roughly 3,000 households. [17] [16] Olatoye also created partnerships with the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford to gather necessary data for residents to understand where money was being spent. [16]

In October 2022, Olatoye became the chief operating officer of Eden Housing, a non-profit developer in Oakland. [16]

Awards

In 2014, she was listed on Crain's list of "40 under 40" of New York's "most talented, driven, and dynamic" young professionals. [5] [2]

In 2017, she received the Elizabeth B. Wells Memorial Award by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), [7] the Coalition for Queens public service award, Wesleyan University Distinguished Alumni Award, Urban Upbound, and Green City Force. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service is the public policy school of New York University in New York City, New York. The school is named after New York City former mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Housing Authority</span> Public development corporation responsible for New York Citys public and leased housing

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the United States, it aims to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. NYCHA also administers a citywide Section 8 Leased Housing Program in rental apartments. NYCHA developments include single and double family houses, apartment units, singular floors, and shared small building units, and commonly have large income disparities with their respective surrounding neighborhood or community. These developments, particularly those including large-scale apartment buildings, are often referred to in popular culture as "projects."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill de Blasio</span> Mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021

Bill de Blasio is an American politician who was the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New York City Public Advocate from 2010 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulton Houses</span> Public housing development in Manhattan, New York

The Robert Fulton Houses is a housing project located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, owned and operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The 6.27-acre (2.54 ha) site is located between West 16th and 19th Streets and bounded by Ninth and Tenth Avenues. The project consists of 945 apartments in eleven buildings; three of the developments are 25 stories, while the others are 6 stories high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breukelen Houses</span> Public housing development in Brooklyn, New York


Breukelen Houses, also known as Breukelen or Brookline Projects, is a large housing complex maintained in Canarsie, Brooklyn, by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Its main office is located at 618 East 108th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11236. It is bounded by Flatlands Avenue, East 103rd Street, Williams Avenue and Stanley Avenue. The community sits on 64.98 acres (26.30 ha) and consists of 1,595 apartment units inside 30 structures, all of which are either three or seven stories high. As of March 2008 the population was estimated to be 4,038.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holmes Towers</span> Public housing development in Manhattan, New York

The John Haynes Holmes Towers is a public housing project for low income residents of the Yorkville section of the Upper East Side located just south of the neighborhood's northern limit at 96th Street, in New York City, New York, United States. The neighboring Isaacs Houses and the Holmes Towers border East Harlem, which has the second highest concentration of public housing in the United States. The two public housing buildings, designed by Architects Eggers and Higgins, were completed in 1969, are 25 stories tall and contain 537 apartments. The project is located between 92nd and 93rd Streets from 1st Avenue to York Avenue and the FDR Drive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliott-Chelsea Houses</span> Public housing development in Manhattan, New York

The Elliott-Chelsea Houses is a combined housing project of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), located between West 25th and 27th Streets and Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It consists of two contiguous projects which were originally separate but have been combined for administrative purposes: the John Lovejoy Elliott Houses, named after the founder of the Hudson Guild, has four 11- and 12-story buildings which accommodate over 1400 residents in 589 apartments. The Chelsea Houses has over 1,000 residents in 426 apartments within two 21-story buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Lhota</span> American politician

Joseph J. Lhota is an American public servant and a former politician who served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and was also a former deputy mayor of New York City. He was the Republican nominee in an unsuccessful bid for the 2013 election for Mayor of New York City. In January 2014, he became senior vice president, vice dean, and chief of staff at NYU Langone Medical Center. In 2017, he returned to the chairmanship of the MTA, but would not run the authority day-to-day. He resigned from that position in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chirlane McCray</span> American writer and political figure

Chirlane Irene McCray is an American writer, editor, and activist. She is married to former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and had been described as de Blasio's "closest advisor." She chaired the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and was appointed by her husband to lead a billion-dollar initiative called ThriveNYC. She has also published poetry and worked in politics as a speechwriter.

Vicki L. Been is an American lawyer, public servant, and professor who served as the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Housing and Economic Development from April 2019 to December 2021. She previously served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She is a law professor at the New York University School of Law and has served as director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farragut Houses</span> Public housing development in Brooklyn, New York

The Farragut Houses is a public housing project located in the downtown neighborhood of northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, bordering the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Farragut Houses is a property of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The houses contain 3,272 residents who reside in ten buildings that are each 13 to 14 stories high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Walden (lawyer)</span> American lawyer

James Walden is an American lawyer. After serving in the U.S Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York from 1993 to 2002, he entered private practice where he was involved in several prominent white-collar and antitrust cases in addition to a series of cases seeking governmental reform. He represents Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Russia's anti-doping laboratory. At one time Walden represented former UFC Lightweight champion Conor McGregor in McGregor's pending court case for felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor assault in Brooklyn, NY. Walden has represented plaintiffs in class action lawsuits suits against the New York City Department of Education and the New York City Housing Authority. He served as Special Counsel to a task force created by the Governor of New Jersey to investigate the administration of the state's tax incentive programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corey Stern</span> American lawyer

Corey Stern is an American lawyer, known for representing children and their families in lead-poisoning and sex abuse lawsuits.

Carl Weisbrod is an American public sector executive and urban development expert. He is currently a senior advisor to HR&A Advisors and a Senior Fellow at the New York University Marron Institute of Urban Management.

Community gardens in New York City are urban green spaces created and cared for by city residents who steward the often underutilized land. There are over 550 community gardens on city property, over 745 school gardens, over 100 gardens in land trusts, and over 700 gardens at public housing developments throughout New York City. The community garden movement in NYC began in the Lower East Side during the disrepair of the 1960s on vacant, unused land. These first gardens were tended without governmental permission or assistance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hook Houses</span> Public housing development in Brooklyn, New York

The Red Hook Houses are two connected public housing complexes located in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York City. Managed by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), they comprise the largest housing development in Brooklyn.

The Louis Heaton Pink Houses or Pink Houses are a housing project in New York City that were established in the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn in 1959. It consists of 22 eight-storey buildings with 1,500 apartment units over a 31.1-acre expanse, bordered by Crescent Street, Linden Boulevard, Elderts Lane and Stanley Avenue. It is owned and managed by New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edenwald Houses</span> Public housing development in New York City

Edenwald Houses are a housing project in the Eastchester and Laconia neighborhoods of the Bronx, New York City. Established on October 30, 1953, the project consists of forty buildings, 3 and 14 stories tall with 2,039 apartment units. It covers a 48.88-acre development is bordered by Grenada Place, East 225th Street, Baychester Avenue, Schieffelin Avenue and Laconia Avenues. It is owned and managed by New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and is the largest development in the Bronx. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathryn Garcia</span> American government official (born 1970)

Kathryn A. Garcia is an American public official serving as Director of State Operations for the state of New York. She served as commissioner for the New York City Sanitation Department from 2014 to 2020 and was a candidate in the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, losing by 0.8 percentage points to Eric Adams.

Stanley Brezenoff is a civil servant who served as Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from 1990 to 1995. He was appointed by Mario Cuomo, and stepped down when George Pataki assumed the office. He also served as a Deputy Mayor under Ed Koch from 1984 to 1989. He worked with future Executive Director, Christopher O. Ward, in helping re-establish freight to Howland Hook.

References

  1. 1 2 Navarro, Mireya (February 24, 2015). "The Troubles Pronouncing Shola Olatoye, New York's Housing Chief". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Shola Olatoye | NYU Wagner". wagner.nyu.edu. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  3. ↑ Luu, Jolie (October 28, 2022). "Q&A with Shola Olatoye, Eden Housing Chief Operating Officer". Eden Housing. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Olatoye '96 Appointed Chairwoman of NYC Housing Authority". News @ Wesleyan. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "40 Under 40 – Shola Olatoye". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Ludwig Statement on Shola Olatoye". Enterprise Community Partners. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Shola Olatoye Wins NAHRO's Commissioner Award | NAHRO". www.nahro.org. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 "Olatoye stepping down at NYCHA, de Blasio names interim replacement". POLITICO. April 9, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ Navarro, Mireya (May 4, 2016). "500 Affordable Units to Rise on Housing Authority Land in Bronx and Brooklyn". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  10. ↑ Goodman, J. David (April 9, 2018). "Embattled Housing Authority Chief in New York City Is Resigning". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  11. ↑ "DOI INVESTIGATION REVEALS NYCHA FAILED TO CONDUCT MANDATORY LEAD PAINT SAFETY INSPECTIONS FOR FOUR YEARS" (PDF). November 14, 2017.
  12. ↑ Goodman, J. David; Neuman, William (December 4, 2017). "Lead Paint Failures Magnified by City Hall's Failure to Communicate". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  13. ↑ Goodman, J. David (November 14, 2017). "City Filed False Paperwork on Lead Paint Inspections, Inquiry Finds". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Former NYCHA chair Shola Olatoye joins contractor Suffolk". The Real Deal New York. October 17, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Oakland Announces Appointment of New Director of Housing & Community…". City of Oakland. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Orenstein, Natalie (September 19, 2022). "Oakland's outgoing head of housing talks evictions, buying buildings, and red tape". The Oaklandside. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ Orenstein, Natalie (September 2, 2021). "Millions more in rent relief is coming to Oakland tenants and landlords". The Oaklandside. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.