A gas explosion that tore through part of the New York City Housing Authority’s Mitchel Houses in the Bronx earlier this month has intensified scrutiny over federal housing oversight just as a key group of inspectors was sidelined during the government shutdown.
The October 1 explosion at the complex on Alexander Avenue in Mott Haven caused a partial collapse, destroying the building’s 20-story chimney shaft. Residents evacuated, but no injuries were reported, according to local officials.
After structural failures in subsidized housing, building inspectors are typically among the first called to investigate under federal law. But according to a Bloomberg report, 90 members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Real Estate Assessment Center were let go on October 10. About half of them were building inspectors, Ashaki Robinson, president of the union representing those workers, told Bloomberg. The layoffs reportedly leave no staff available to conduct or coordinate inspections of federally subsidized housing nationwide.
Under strict federal rules governing shutdown operations, departments must determine which employees are essential. Those designated essential continue working without pay, while others are told to stop reporting for duty. The conflicting circumstances at HUD have raised questions over whether the Real Estate Assessment Center staff were considered essential or were directed to halt work when the shutdown began on October 1.
President Donald Trump told reporters on October 15 that his administration would be “closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we wanted to close up or that we never wanted to happen,” according to a separate Bloomberg report. It remains unclear whether HUD’s layoffs are tied to that broader policy decision or reflect unrelated administrative cuts.
GlobeSt.com contacted HUD for clarification on the current and prior employment status of the affected workers. The agency’s automated response said its public affairs office was “operating in a limited capacity” during the shutdown.
Bloomberg noted that while most HUD inspection work is handled by contractors, those contractors typically stop work during shutdowns. Federal staff normally coordinate these inspections and handle the most complex assessments themselves.
According to the independent GovFacts website, HUD inspections are “the primary mechanism through which HUD upholds its core mandate and fulfills its promise to the American public.” Bloomberg reported that inspection schedules, meant to occur every three years, remain significantly behind, with some properties going more than five years without review since the pandemic.
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