NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The largest public housing authority in the nation was infested by a \u201cclassic pay-to-play\u201d culture of corruption where workers dispensed repair jobs to contractors willing to pay bribes, a prosecutor said Tuesday as authorities revealed they had arrested 70 current and former employees for illegally pocketing over $2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams told a news conference that the corruption was so widespread over at least the last decade that it affected nearly a third of the 335 housing developments citywide where 1 in 17 New Yorkers lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bribery and extortion charges led to a roundup of current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority that represented the largest single-day bribery takedown in the history of the U.S. Justice Department, Williams said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe corruption we\u2019ve alleged infected every corner of the city,\u201d he said. The defendants were arrested in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams said housing superintendents, assistant superintendents and other employees demanded over $2 million in bribe money from contractors in exchange for over $13 million of work, which usually involved small but essential jobs such as plumbing or window repairs that did not require competitive bidding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the contactors didn\u2019t pay up, the defendants wouldn\u2019t give them the work. That\u2019s classic pay-to-play, and this culture of corruption at NYCHA ends today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city\u2019s public housing authority receives over $1.5 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In charging documents, authorities said that the defendants typically demanded the payment of bribes valued at between 10% and 20% of jobs that sometimes cost as little as $500 to $2,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some defendants, authorities said, demanded even greater amounts of money in return for using their discretion to favor one contractor over another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters in Albany that he expected to be briefed later in the day about the probe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bart Schwartz, a court-appointed monitor who has served as a watchdog over the housing authority for the past five years, in a statement called the arrests a \u201cstep in the right direction\u201d so that employees and vendors know they cannot continue taking advantage of residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n