Judge Provenzano hangs up his robe to take over P.C. Housing Authority
October 10, 2024 at 1:23 a.m.
Though it’s been some time since he last dealt with one, Anthony Provenzano is no stranger to landlord-tenant disputes.
Throughout his law career, he’s been on every side of the aisle during court cases.
“I’ve represented both landlords and tenants when I was a lawyer. And when I served as a judge, I made decisions on them,” he said. “Now I’m looking at it all from a different angle.”
As the new executive director of the Port Chester Housing Authority (PCHA), he’s in charge of 340 units across five properties—and the 760 registered tenants within them.
He’s taken over the role of Michael Morris, whose one-year contract was not renewed by the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.
Provenzano began his new job, which comes with an annual salary of $135,000, on Sept. 11, though it was a position he had been eyeing for some time.
“It’s something that I’ve been interested in for a while,” he said. “I applied for the job a few years ago. I went through the interview process, but I changed my mind because it wasn’t the right time.”
He said his primary focus had been his law career. His law practice and duties as a court judge took precedence.
The 61-year-old is known across the community as a Rye Town Court justice, an elected position he’s held for the last 25 years. He continued to sit on the bench when he started as PCHA executive director, under the impression there would be no conflict of interest.
Since the Rye Town Court absorbed the Village of Port Chester’s justice functions in 2021, he’s served as the administrative judge, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the new court system.
When he received the PCHA offer following his application, he stepped away from the head judge role. In his place, Justice Max Di Fabio has taken the reins of the Rye Town Court, an appointment the Rye Town Council approved at their Sept. 19 meeting.
“I wasn’t doing eviction cases when I took the job,” Provenzano said. “Ever since the courts merged, I had primarily been doing traffic and parking. In theory, (serving both roles) was okay, but it didn’t really work out practically.”
While he wouldn’t have been presiding over cases involving tenants in the PCHA buildings, other justices quickly brought their concerns to his attention.
“They pointed out to me that a court judge here would, in essence, be the manager of the tenant in any cases that come to the court,” he explained. “And if they were to recuse themselves because of the situation, another judge from the county would have to be brought in. I thought it would have been too much of a burden on the system.”
With that in mind, he submitted his resignation to the Rye Town clerk and district administrative judge, effective Wednesday, Oct. 9.
According to Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman, the town council plans to appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy. As town judges are elected, the appointee will serve until the general election in November 2025.
The position will be included on the ballot and the winning candidate will serve a full four-year term, ending in 2029.
Provenzano said hanging up his robes was a difficult decision, but the right one.
“I spent 25 years there, and it was a really satisfying job,” the Rye Brook resident said. “My whole objective there was to help people. But I think I might be able to do that here.”
Now able to put his complete focus on the PCHA, Provenzano is doing his best to acclimate to the role.
“Right now, my day-to-day is getting a lay of the land,” he said. That means getting to know the five properties, along with their tenants, and finishing his training.
“I’ve been taking time every day to go around and introduce myself to tenants,” he said. “I’m going into this with a tenant-centered approach. When I was hired, the board mentioned they wanted to improve tenant relations, so that’s a priority.”
It’s an area where he feels his time as a judge will allow him to excel.
“I’m really attuned to dealing with most tenant issues because I’ve seen them all at this point,” he said. “But I’m very mindful of the fact that even if I’ve seen 300 inter-tenant or tenant-landlord issues, it might be someone else’s first.”
Though he’s confident in his ability to handle tenants, he was also forthcoming about the fact that he still needs to acclimate himself to the technical aspects of the job.
“I’m very familiar with the administration side of the job. It’s something that I learned to really like during my time at the court,” Provenzano said. “My questions right now are about specific forms and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) codes.”
To get a handle on the specifics, the director is turning to those who are most familiar with them.
“The staff here is my greatest resource,” he said. “They’re very independent workers and they have a lot of knowledge, so I’m turning to them for their expertise.”
He’s supplementing their assistance with his online HUD training.
“What I’m learning with HUD is that everything is either an acronym or an initialization,” he said. “So, I’m doing my best to pick those up. But I know that will come with time and experience, and I figure I’ve got at least two years here.”
His contract with PCHA Board of Commissioners is set to expire in 2026, and while he’s open to staying longer, it’s a decision he plans to make down the road.
“I’m not really thinking that far ahead right now,” Provenzano said. “I’m not going to think about that kind of thing while I’m doing this. As an attorney and as a judge, I was trained to sit and analyze things without being reactionary to outside factors, so that’s how I’m taking this.”
Comments:
You must login to comment.