The chairman of the council’s public housing committee wants answers as to why stairwell lights weren’t functioning at the Brooklyn housing project where an unarmed man was shot by a cop.
Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) sent a letter Monday to NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye demanding all the records over the last year related to lighting conditions at the Pink Houses in East New York.
On Friday probationary Officer Peter Liang entered the darkened stairwell with his gun drawn. Akai Gurley, 28, was fatally shot just as he entered the stairwell.
The Daily News reported Friday that a few months back, a superintendent at the Pink Houses requested an upgrade to the light system in that building.
It appears no one was assigned to fix it, leaving the dimly lit conditions when Liang and Gurley crossed paths last week.
In his letter, Torres demanded all complaints and reports to NYCHA about the lights this year from tenants, NYCHA staff and police officers who patrol there.
“While building conditions like inoperable lighting and pitch-black stairwells cannot fully excuse the policing decisions that led to the killing of Akai Gurley, NYCHA’s failure to correct lighting conditions at the … Pink Houses requires further scrutiny,” Torres wrote.
NYCHA spokesman Joan Lebow said the agency “will review the requests. We look forward to working with our local elected officials and colleagues and, together, ensuring the safety of our developments and communities.”
