Judge Rejects NYC Housing Authority Settlement Over Unsafe Conditions

A federal judge rejected a settlement deal Wednesday that would have forced New York City's largest housing authority to fix unsafe living conditions for hundreds of thousands of people.

Here's some background: In June, a federal complaint claimed the New York City Housing Authority, or NYCHA, misled inspectors, left its residents in dangerously unsanitary conditions and potentially poisoned multiple children.

The housing authority agreed to spend billions of dollars to fix the problems, but prosecutors said in September that the NYCHA had continued to violate the agreement.

In Wednesday's decision, U.S. District Judge William Pauley III said he listened to testimonies from tenants about how "NYCHA's apartments and buildings are literally falling apart." Pauley said he didn't reject the deal lightly, saying he understands it "will likely delay sorely needed relief for NYCHA tenants." But the judge said the current agreement "suffers from fatal procedural flaws," such as enforcement mechanisms.

Pauley ordered NYCHA to make a decision by Dec. 14 on how it will move forward.