He played hard to get, and it won him nearly half a million dollars a year.
Newly appointed NYHCA chairman Greg Russ initially turned down the gig in February — but came back to the negotiating table in May when pay for the position was almost doubled, The Post has learned.
The Minneapolis public housing honcho ultimately landed an eye-popping yearly salary of $403,000 that nears a $500,000 payout thanks to his benefits package — which includes a car and driver — and a one-time $15,000 moving allowance.
“He was always at the top of the list, but we didn’t think he was interested,” said a senior official for Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The 69-year-old father of two first pulled his name from consideration in February, citing “personal reasons,” the official said.
At one point early on in the search, De Blasio was hoping that interim NYCHA chair Kathryn Garcia, the city’s well-respected Sanitation Department boss, could win approval.
But federal authorities, who were required to vet and approve a list of candidates, insisted that City Hall look outside the five boroughs to find the scandal-scarred authority’s next top boss.
“We were really looking for someone who didn’t have an existing relationship with the mayor,” said local HUD administrator Lynne Patton, who engaged in a fierce back-and-forth with city officials Friday about Russ’ hire.
The feds insisted on “culture change” at the beleaguered authority and de Blasio agreed to look for “national talent,” his staffer confirmed.
Patton liked Chicago Housing Authority’s Eugene Jones Jr. for the job, sources said.
However, her bosses at HUD headquarters in Washington, DC, put Russ at the top of their list early on and repeatedly reached out to him through back channels to convince him to change his mind and consider the job.
To help, the Feds told Hizzoner to bump up the new chairman’s pay, and talks with Russ restarted in May.
De Blasio jumped at the idea — despite the fact that the 69-year-old candidate would be commuting home to his family on weekends and holidays.
“We needed to get top-level talent so we were not going to let optical challenges get in the way,” the official said.
Patton claimed Friday that Russ made a “demand” for $390,000 and got $403,000 — a statement City Hall disputed.
She says her pick, Jones, made no dollar ask and that she warned the city the soaring salary would not sit well with New Yorkers.
“Optics are everything,” she said, adding that she told Russ “to his face that he’s going to get ripped apart” for heading back to his family in Minneapolis on weekends.
And following the announcement of Russ’ appointment Tuesday, other officials wasted no time in blasting Russ for not committing to live in the city full-time.
“It seems like his approach has about as much energy as the mayor’s presidential campaign,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who is expected to run for mayor in 2021.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, a longtime NYCHA watchdog, said Russ “has the reputation as a public housing professional” but she’s concerned about him missing weekend NYHCA events like the annual Family Days festivals over the summer.
“You can’t be in Minneapolis using your cellphone and be at a Johnson Houses event,” Brewer said referring to an East Harlem NYCHA development.