The post mortem for the Wild’s 2023-24 season, their second without a postseason appearance in 12 years, was full of disappointed faces. General manager Bill Guerin, coach John Hynes and a phalanx of players all expressed regret at what might have been.

Still, Kirill Kaprizov’s sour puss stood out.

This spring marked the first time in Kaprizov’s professional career that he finished outside of the postseason since 2016-17. Asked if he would watch this year’s NHL playoffs, he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to watch a lot.”

This is not a great sign for the Wild, whose general adequacy has hamstrung its efforts to draft a superstar — and general postseason inadequacy is wearing out its fan base. Now they have a superstar, nabbed in a savvy move by former GM Chuck Fletcher with a fifth-round pick, and after next season he’ll be negotiating a contract extension.

And he’s not happy.

If that sounds familiar it’s because you’re old enough to remember the long contract saga of Marian Gaborik, the Wild’s previous franchise player who ultimately opted to leave for the New York Rangers for less than the Wild were offering.

Is Kaprizov as unhappy as Gaborik was? It doesn’t seem so. But it’s naïve to believe that another season like this one — or, frankly, another season with a first-round playoff exit — won’t be a wobbly platform from which to negotiate a contract extension for one of the NHL’s best players.

“Kirill wants to win. I know that,” Guerin said the day after Minnesota’s season ended with a 4-3 loss to Seattle. “And yeah, I do feel that we need to show him that we’re committed to winning.”

Kaprizov, who joined the Wild after five full seasons in Russia’s elite Kontinental Hockey League is three years into a five-year, $45 million extension that itself was something of a difficult birth. He played 54 playoff games in the KHL and won a championship in 2016-17.

Since arriving, Kaprizov has rewritten the Wild record books, the first franchise player to finish with consecutive 40-goal seasons, three and counting. Starting with the 55-game COVID-19 season in 2020, he has amassed 160 goals and 330 points in 278 games. But Kaprizov has played in only 19 playoff games in Minnesota, and won only seven of them.

Signing a burgeoning star, and restricted free agent, to a five-year deal that makes him a millionaire several times over was the easy part for Guerin. Now, he will have to convince Kaprizov, already a rich man with a rich NHL resume, that staying with his buddies in Minnesota will give him a realistic chance to win a Stanley Cup.

By NHL rules, that can’t start until Kaprizov has finished the penultimate year of his current deal, which means immediately following next season. It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of the 2024-25 Wild not just making the postseason, but winning at least a series to show Kaprizov that the roster is on track for a deep playoff run.

The Wild have several promising prospects — forwards Liam Ohgren and Riley Heidt, goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, defenseman Carson Lambos among them — and good young NHL players in Brock Faber, Marco Rossi and Marat Khusnutdinov. Guerin’s hope is that, soon, those young players meld with veterans such as Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Marcus Foligno and Mats Zucarello to create a Stanley Cup contender.

Losing Kaprizov for nothing — they’re not going to trade him — would be catastrophic to everything this franchise has been building.

Marian Gaborik was a very good player, the most talented forward to lace up skates for the Wild. If he continues at this pace, Kaprizov will be a Hall of Fame forward — because he’s getting better. He’s not just preternaturally talented. He has a work ethic and competitive drive, and he turned 27 last week.

“That’s a guy we obviously want to keep happy and make sure that he’s feeling comfortable here and knowing that it’s a team that can get the job done,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “He’s such a huge piece of this team.”

One can make a cogent argument that Kaprizov’s mid-winter rib injury is ultimately what killed Minnesota’s chances of pulling itself out of the 5-10-4 hole they dug early. Three points out when he was hurt Dec. 30 in Winnipeg, the Wild lost seven of their next eight games (1-6-1) without him and never recovered.

“You need superstars to win and to pull you out of holes,” Foligno said. “But at the end of the day, he wants to win a championship. So do we all, so not getting anything done — especially this year — I’m sure he’s very frustrated.”

How frustrated would Kaprizov be after another season like this one?

“I don’t know. We’ll see what happens next year,” he said in his improving English. “I can’t say if we don’t make playoffs. I hope we make playoffs next year.”

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A bittersweet accomplishment for Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov

To date, 37,707 NYCHA units are either in the planning and engagement stage, under construction or have already been converted to the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) initiative, officials testified at a recent City Council hearing.

Adi Talwar

NYCHA’s Manhattanville Houses in Harlem is among the public housing campuses that have been converted to the PACT program.

During a recent City Council hearing, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) testified that an “incredibly impactful initiative” is bringing in billions of needed dollars to help restore and repair its aging properties.

The initiative referenced was the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program—which converts public housing properties, also known as Section 9, to the federal Section 8 program as a means to unlock additional repair funds. To date, 37,707 NYCHA units are either in the planning and engagement stage, under construction or have already been converted.

As part of the process, NYCHA campuses are turned over to private developers to carry out renovations such as new windows, kitchens, bathrooms and building facades. The new management team also handles the day-to-day operations, while NYCHA continues to own the land.

“Right now, 57 developments are under active construction, representing over $3.9 billion in construction work happening across the city—work that we would not be able to accomplish without PACT considering the lack of federal capital funding available,” Jonathan Gouveia, NYCHA’s executive vice president for real estate development, testified to councilmembers at the April 19 hearing.

NYCHA presented a survey of PACT tenants which showed that 77 percent of respondents were “very satisfied” with renovations to their buildings, 87 percent said they were “likely or very likely” to recommend the PACT program to other NYCHA developments, 78 percent said the grounds were more kempt than before, and close to 70 percent said they feel “more stable” than prior to the conversion.

But some tenants who testified at the Committee on Public Housing hearing painted a different picture. They shared concerns such as getting timely repairs post-conversion, and questioned NYCHA’s process for selecting the campuses it converts to PACT. Councilmembers also had a plethora of questions.

Councilmember Alexa Aviles, the former chair for the public housing committee, asked officials about tenant participation in the survey results they shared, which included responses from residents at just four PACT-converted developments, out of the 138 that are currently under the program or in the process of converting.

Gouveia shared that roughly 1,000 residents from the four developments replied to the survey. It is unclear how many tenants responded from each campus.

“I would love for you to provide for the Council what that breakdown actually looks like,” Aviles said.

Repairs and rights

PACT is New York City’s version of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, introduced in 2011. NYCHA developments that convert are also referred to as RAD-PACT properties.

It is one of the programs—alongside the newer Public Housing Preservation Trust—being used to help chip away at the near $80 billion the housing authority says it needs over the next two decades for capital repairs.

When NYCHA tenants have maintenance issues, there are a couple of ways to flag them. Public housing tenants can either call the Customer Contact Center (CCC) or submit a ticket or work order online, where they can track the status of the request.

When a development is transferred to PACT, the new private management team takes over repairs at a development. But the housing authority is responsible for maintenance repairs up until the date of conversion—which can take about two years, according to advocates—potentially leaving tenants in a period of limbo.

Alexandra MacDougall, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society, testified about concerns she has heard from clients who live in PACT developments post-conversion.

While NYCHA receives frequent criticism for how it handles repairs and the pace of making fixes—it took the Housing Authority an average of 370 days to complete repair work in March, when the target is 15 days—residents are at least able to track the status of their work order requests online. 

There is no such uniform system for tenants to place work orders at PACT-converted campuses, advocates noted.

 “A lot of tenants tell us there’s not really a clear way to make requests for repairs and to track those requests which is a huge problem,” MacDougall said. “Especially after hours in the evenings and on the weekends when there’s serious issues like boilers going out.”

August Leinbach, a staff attorney at the Manhattan Housing Unit of Legal Services NYC, said tenants they’ve worked with have continued to live in poor conditions post-conversion despite the promise of rehabilitation.

“While the central promise of the RAD-PACT program has… [been] to fund repairs for rehabilitation, this promise often comes slowly, if at all,” said Leinbach.

Different PACT partners use their own tracking software for repairs and are supposed to provide NYCHA with a summary of that data, according to Gouveia. According to NYCHA’s “PACT Project Progress and Compliance Oversight” dashboard, 93 percent of work orders submitted by PACT residents were completed on time as of the third quarter of 2023.

“We track work orders and resolutions of work orders on a monthly basis and overall the performance is strong, well over 90 percent on time,” said Gouveia.

“However, as we’ve heard, sometimes that doesn’t seem to be the case so I would invite the residents to obviously work with their property managers,” he added. “But also if they’re not getting satisfactory answers, they can reach out to us through the PACT hotline, through CCC, through 311, but primarily through us and we’ll look into the issue.”

Which developments get PACT?

In December 2018, NYCHA set a goal to convert 62,000 of its properties to the PACT program by 2028, according to Gouveia. The housing authority has surpassed the halfway mark with more than 37,000 converted units, or units in the process of converting.

NYCHA developments are considered for PACT based on several factors, he said, including the level of deterioration determined by NYCHA’s Physical Needs Assessment (PNA) and the overall quality of maintenance on a day to day basis.

For prospective PACT developments, NYCHA said that the team works with resident leadership and will then have meetings with the development at large to determine if the program is a fit.

One East New York tenant who only wanted to go by the name “Miss Yves” said that she is living in a PACT development, the Penn-Wortman Houses, which was converted in 2021.

 “We didn’t have a choice to vote,” she said.

Brian Honan, the senior vice president of NYCHA’s office of intergovernmental relations, said that the housing authority has no interest in forcing the program onto residents who don’t want it.

“The federal law does not require a percentage of residents to support a PACT project for conversion, however, we have engaged residents at certain sites and they told us they are not interested,” Honan said.

Last year, the housing authority introduced an election process for the first time, by which residents at selected campuses who are over the age of 18 and are on the household composition—a list of authorized tenants who live in the unit—can vote on the future of their homes.

On the ballot is PACT and another funding model called the Public Housing Preservation Trust, signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022. Under the Trust model, properties will also convert to Section 8 and can unlock funds through bonds for repairs (NYCHA would continue to manage the properties, rather than bringing in private companies, as PACT does.) Residents can also vote to remain in traditional Section 9 public housing.

So far, two developments—Nostrand Houses in Brooklyn and Bronx River Addition Houses—have been allowed to vote on which model they want, and voters at both opted for the Trust.

Other ways of getting tenant input have been introduced, but also faced skepticism. Last year, residents of the Fulton Elliott-Chelsea Houses in lower Manhattan were given a survey to determine whether their properties should get traditional PACT renovations or start from scratch  by way of razing the existing buildings and constructing new towers.

NYCHA announced that a majority of participating residents opted for demolition, but questions arose about how the options were presented,  how many tenants participated and whether the survey was an accurate representation of what the majority of residents want.  

Ramona Ferreyra, a resident of Mitchel Houses in the Bronx, testified as a member of the group Save Section 9, which is fighting to keep units in the traditional public housing program and to see Section 9 funded adequately without shifting units to private management or the Trust. 

“What you’ll know today is that the tenants are telling you that in spite of the tenant repairs that we need, what we want is to keep public housing,” Ferreyra said.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Tatyana@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

Tikki Brown is set to serve as the first Commissioner of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. (Courtesy of the Office of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan)

Gov. Tim Walz has named a longtime Minnesota Department of Human Services official the first commissioner of a new state government agency that will be responsible for state child care and public assistance programs.

Tikki Brown will head the new Department of Children, Youth and Families when the agency is established in July. Brown is currently the assistant commissioner for Children and Family Services with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, an agency she has worked at since 2001.

“From the initial inception of the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families, I have been excited about the opportunity to create better outcomes for Minnesotans,” Brown said in a statement.

Brown will run an agency handling responsibilities currently held by others, including the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education.

The new Department of Children, Youth and Families will handle child care services, child support, and welfare programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It also will deal with some juvenile justice-related divisions from the Department of Public Safety.

Brown has served in many roles related to the areas DCYF will cover when it starts operating, according to the governor’s office. In her 22 years at the Department of Human Services, Brown has worked in nutrition assistance and food programs, and climbed into senior administrative roles.

Walz pitched a new state agency focused on youth and families in his 2023 budget recommendations, and DFL lawmakers approved the move during the last session. The new agency was part of the governor’s push to make Minnesota the “best state in the country for kids.”

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By STEPHEN GROVES (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress gave one of its highest final tributes on Monday — a lying in honor ceremony at the Capitol — to Ralph Puckett Jr., who led an outnumbered company in battle during the Korean War and was the last surviving veteran of that war to receive the Medal of Honor.

Puckett, who retired as an Army colonel, died earlier this month at the age of 97 at his home in Columbus, Georgia. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2021, the nation’s highest military honor, seven decades after his actions during the wartime.

The lying in honor ceremony at the Capitol is reserved for the nation’s most distinguished private citizens. Only seven others have received the honor, and the latest, in 2022, was Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, who was the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from World War II. The ceremonies for both Williams and Puckett were meant to also recognize the broader generations of veterans who are now dwindling in numbers.

“Ralph Puckett wore our nation’s highest military decoration. And in the hearts of generations of soldiers to come, the courage and self-sacrifice that earned that honor will be this great man’s eternal legacy,” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

He said that Puckett led 50 Army Rangers through “a crucible of staggering odds” during a 1950 battle on a strategically important hill near Unsan in which they were outnumbered 10-to-1. He “repeatedly risked his own life to defend his position, rally his men, and order them to safety without him,” McConnell said.

During the battle, Puckett sprinted across an open area to draw fire so that Rangers could spot and target enemy machine-gunners. Though badly outnumbered, Puckett’s troops repelled multiple attacks from a Chinese battalion of an estimated 500 soldiers before being overrun.

When two mortar rounds landed in his foxhole, Puckett suffered serious wounds to his feet, backside and left arm. He ordered his men to leave him behind, but they refused.

“Many soldiers in the Korean War paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson. “Seven thousand others remain unaccounted for. But a select few, like the colonel, went above and beyond the call of duty.”

Eight other Medal of Honor recipients attended the Capitol ceremony and gave final salutes to Puckett.

Born in Tifton, Georgia, on Dec. 8, 1926, Puckett graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and received his commission as an infantry officer in 1949. He volunteered for the 8th Army Ranger Company, and despite his inexperience, Puckett was chosen as the unit’s commander. He had less than six weeks to train his soldiers before they joined the fight.

When Puckett took command, McConnell said, he did so “with humility and with clear eyes about the horrors of war.” He also prayed: “Dear God, don’t let me get a bunch of good guys killed.”

__

Associated Press writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.