Obama chooses New York official as housing secretary

Chicago: US President-elect Barack Obama has named New York City housing official Shaun Donovan as his secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Obama made the announcement in his weekly radio address on Saturday.

He praised Donovan's role in helping create the largest municipal housing plan in the country.

As commissioner of New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Donovan managed a $7.5 billion plan that put a half-million New Yorkers in affordable housing.

Obama says the mortgage crisis has threatened cities, but also provides a chance to rethink how the Cabinet agency helps residents.