New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has just announced he’s grabbing one of the Washington’s own, Michael Kelly, to head up public housing in New York City.

In mid September, Kelly announced he was leaving his post as executive director of the D.C. Housing Authority, a job which he’d held since 2000.

In Washington, he oversaw 8,000 publicly owned units and 10,500 housing vouchers. In New York, he’ll manage 178,000 apartments and 640,000 New York City residents served by Section 8 housing vouchers, as the Washington Business Journal pointed out.

In other words: Yikes!

“[New York] is bigger than something like the next eight housing authorities put together,” says DCHA spokesperson Dena Michaelson.

According to the New York Times, Bloomberg swooped in to hire Kelly amid talk that D.C. mayorAdrian Fenty had been dissatisfied with his performance:

Mr. Kelly resigned under some pressure from the Washington position three weeks ago. The Washington Post reported that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, along with some members of the housing authority board there, were concerned about the long waiting list — more than 25,000 families, or one in 10 residents — for public housing.

In Washington, The Post reported, Mr. Kelly cited accomplishments that included more financing for housing; improved security; and the creation of a call center for residents. Mr. Kelly also oversaw the replacement of several large public housing complexes with less dense homes using $160 million from the federal HOPE VI program.

Image from DC Housing Authority