Mayor Bill de Blasio says his plan to tackle “the worst financial crisis” in the history of New York City’s public housing agency would lease unused land in housing complexes for private residential development.

The mayor talked about the plan at a news conference Tuesday. He called it a “game-changer” for the city’s housing authority.

The plan calls for efforts to increase the rate of rent collection and to up resident parking fees. The city also would transfer about 1,000 Housing Authority employees to other agencies. Some employees would be offered incentives to retire.

The city’s public housing apartments are home to more than 400,000 New Yorkers.

The Housing Authority has an operating deficit of $98 million this year. Its building maintenance needs a total of $16 billion.

(AP)