This decision involved a motion for court approval of a proposed consent decree between HUD and the city of New York (decree). The court denied the motion.

The United States (government) had alleged, inter alia, that NYCHA had deployed various strategies to “temporarily conceal the crumbling physical conditions of its housing.” Efforts to conceal “included (1) temporarily shutting off a building’s water supply to hide water leaks; (2) plugging holes in walls and ceilings with newspaper and cork before painting over the hole; (3) building fake walls to conceal broken doors and dilapidated rooms; (4) locking doors and posting ‘danger’ signs to keep inspectors away from rooms with dangerous or unsanitary conditions; and (5) hiding improperly stored hazardous materials….”