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“We almost feel like we’re doing something wrong by asking,” Jazmin Grubb said of her family’s struggles to obtain American Sign Language accommodations for her aunt, who is deaf and lives at NYCHA’s Taft Houses. “It shouldn’t be a problem if she’s just asking for someone to communicate the way she communicates.”
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) must provide qualified interpreters and other accommodations to deaf or hard-of-hearing public housing residents, following a settlement with the federal government alleging that its communication efforts fall short of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The settlement, announced last month, comes after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York investigated complaints from tenants and public housing applicants about NYCHA’s communication methods. It forces NYCHA to take appropriate steps to “ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to programs, services and activities, and that communications with individuals with disabilities is as effective as communications with individuals without disabilities,” according to a press release.
“The ADA requires NYCHA to communicate effectively and provide auxiliary aids and services to people who are deaf or hard of hearing,” Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement announcing the deal, which he said “ensures that individuals with disabilities receive appropriate services.”
As part of NYCHA’s written protocol, an ASL interpreter must be provided if a tenant requests one during inspections, repairs or any circumstance that requires significant communication.
But residents say this often doesn’t happen. Jazmin Grubb spoke to City Limits about her family’s struggles to obtain American Sign Language (ASL) accommodations for her deaf aunt, Serita Harvey, a tenant at NYCHA’s Taft Houses in East Harlem, where she’s lived since she was 5 years old.
The water from the bathtub and faucets at her aunt’s apartment comes out brown, Grubb says, and the floor is full of old tiles that need replacing. But work orders filed by the family have often gone ignored, they say, as have their requests for an ASL interpreter to be on hand for conversations about repair plans.
“We almost feel like we’re doing something wrong by asking,” Grubb said. “It shouldn’t be a problem if she’s just asking for someone to communicate the way she communicates.”
The language gap has complicated the family’s interactions with housing authority staff. When someone from NYCHA’s environmental team came to check on the conditions of the apartment in 2024 and again at the end of January, they discovered asbestos—a pertinent issue Grubb said was never previously relayed—and suggested temporarily relocating Harvey while they fixed the floor’s old tiles.
Harvey refused to proceed. She also suffers from stage four pancreatic cancer and is afraid that the tile repair work and asbestos abatement won’t be performed correctly. The 55-year-old is currently steps away from Mount Sinai Hospital, where she undergoes chemotherapy regularly.
Grubb says the housing authority previously called Adult Protective Services (APS) on her aunt to conduct “wellness checks.” In a series of emails obtained by City Limits, NYCHA claimed that Harvey might need help with services because she wasn’t going to medical appointments, which Grubb disputes. “They’re making it look like we’re being difficult and being shady when really she just wants an ASL interpreter,” she said.
The one time Adult Protective Services provided an interpreter for her aunt, “they were phenomenal,” Grubb said. Since then, “it’s almost been like pulling teeth to get an ASL interpreter.”
Out of frustration, Grubb, who frequently takes turns with her mother as Harvey’s caretaker, has considered putting her name on the lease to serve as her aunt’s new power of attorney, allowing her to communicate directly with NYCHA staff. She says the housing authority has also pressured her aunt to relocate to a smaller apartment from her current three-bedroom unit, and suspects they want Harvey to unknowingly sign relocation paperwork.
“It hurts me,” said Harvey, who has refrained from speaking to NYCHA employees on her own as much as possible. “I can’t do that. They say I’m stupid. Don’t pay me no mind.”
In a statement, NYCHA said they rely on outside vendors to provide ASL interpretations, and have apologized to Harvey for the delay.
More generally, the housing authority denied being in violation of the ADA, saying that “policies and procedures for providing appropriate auxiliary aids and services complied with applicable law.” According to NYCHA, tenants have lodged a total of 147 ASL interpreter requests since Jan. 1, 2025, though the authority did not disclose how many of those requests were fulfilled.
“ It’s not surprising, but shocking and upsetting that NYCHA isn’t providing them with a needed language access or accommodations,” said Anna Luft, associate director for housing policy and advocacy at New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG). “ These are all administrative burdens being placed on the tenant who already is facing a barrier that they shouldn’t have to face.”
As part of the federal settlement struck in March, NYCHA appointed an ADA coordinator to oversee the implementation of the agreement’s provisions. In addition to ensuring access to interpreters, NYCHA is responsible for creating signs and videos in ASL format and installing free auxiliary aids in apartments and throughout developments, like visual doorbells and smoke detectors.
The housing authority will also update its forms and staff training materials, and make sure that remote interpretation by video is available during standard business hours. These terms must be met by Feb, 27., 2027, per an agreement with the Department of Justice, a NYCHA rep said.
In the meantime, Grubb’s sister gifted Harvey a doorbell system last Christmas that turns off the apartment’s lights when someone is ringing, because “safety can not wait.”
“I don’t want people to be afraid to speak up about conditions. I don’t want people to be afraid to ask for an interpreter,” Grubb said. “I don’t want anyone to feel like anything they ask for in terms of help, it’s gonna get them looked at in a certain way.”
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