NYC’S HOUSING CRISIS: Breaking down what the city is doing, and not doing, to make housing affordable

New York City’s affordable housing landscape remains one of the most complicated — and contentious — in the nation. Despite billions of dollars in annual investments, the crisis persists, leaving many New Yorkers struggling to secure a roof over their heads.

This is the second of amNewYork Metro’s series on affordable housing and how it impacts you, exploring the intricate mix of policies, programs and market dynamics that shape affordable housing in the city. In part one, we looked at the definition of affordable housing and the reasons why so many New Yorkers still can’t afford it.

Our latest series entry further explores the challenges faced by renters and developers alike, as well as the various policy shifts underway at local and federal levels.

Uneven production across the boroughs

Real estate is about “location, location, location.” For NYC, however, geography further complicates the picture.

The 2024 NYC Housing Tracker Report by the New York Housing Conference found significant disparities in where affordable housing is built across the city’s 51 council districts.

“There’s no question that it’s been highly concentrated in mostly lower-income neighborhoods,” said Alex Schwartz, professor of public and urban policy at The New School, in an interview with this publication. Among the top 10 council districts generating the most affordable housing between 2014 and 2023, four were located in the Bronx—primarily the South Bronx.

Rafael Salamanca Jr.’s district, which includes sections of the South Bronx, led the pack with 7,182 new affordable homes during that period — more than the combined output of the bottom 21 districts.

Conversely, some low-density districts in southern Brooklyn, central and northern Queens and Staten Island saw negligible production, with Council Member Susan Zhuang’s district in south Brooklyn adding a mere 27 units.

Experts worry that this type of concentration only exacerbates existing inequalities.

The top-producing districts are predominantly home to Black and Latino residents — with more than 70% of their populations comprised of these communities—compared to less than 30% in the least-producing districts.

Furthermore, roughly 25% of residents in the top-producing districts live in poverty, a rate more than double that of the bottom districts. The stark disproportionality underscores the urgent need for a more balanced approach to affordable housing development across New York City.

City initiatives: Zoning reforms and mandatory inclusion

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has taken steps to address these geographical imbalances and boost housing production.

The administration’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, a sweeping set of zoning changes passed by the City Council in December 2024, is designed to create “a little more housing in every neighborhood,” with a particular focus on transit zones.

The administration projects the plan will add 82,000 new homes over the next 15 years by lifting what it considers outdated and arbitrary zoning restrictions.

The reforms aim to address disparities in housing production, such as those highlighted in the NYC Housing Tracker Report, by encouraging more residential development in areas that have historically produced little affordable housing.

“City of Yes generally makes modest changes and does not upzone low-density districts,” said Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, in an interview. “But adding more housing around transit and town centers should help add to districts that haven’t produced much.”

The plan is expected to roll out gradually. “We’re not going to see the benefits immediately,” Fee said. “It will happen over time.”

Another key policy in the city’s affordable housing strategy is Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), which requires developers in rezoned areas to include permanently affordable housing in new residential projects.

MIH, enacted in 2016, requires large developers to include a certain percentage of permanently affordable units in exchange for the ability to build larger than what would normally be permitted under current zoning. The program outlines a series of options for building at different levels of affordability.

While MIH has helped increase affordability, critics argue it has been applied unevenly, contributing to the concentration of affordable housing in certain neighborhoods rather than spreading it more equitably.

Under City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, MIH will be revamped to allow for the deep affordability option (40% AMI) to be used on a standalone basis in certain areas (whereas currently, it must be combined with a higher AMI tier). This, among other initiatives, is expected to create more housing lower on the AMI scale.

The lottery conundrum

While the NYC Housing Connect lottery system works relatively well for new construction, the system falters when it comes to re-renting existing affordable units.

The New York Housing Conference recently reported inefficiencies that cause some available units to sit vacant for months or even a year.

With brand-new buildings, Housing Connect allows people to directly apply for the location, housing type, and price they want, said Fee.

However, the problem is that vacancies in existing units reserved for low-income tenants are not advertised on Housing Connect — and there is no other website for people to browse like there is for new units. As a result, some apartments that should have been quickly snapped up sit vacant for a long time.

For instance, a $ 1,250 per-month two-bedroom apartment in the Bronx reserved for households earning less than $101,000 per year has been unoccupied since September 2023.

Landlords re-renting these affordable units are required to go through Housing Connect and cannot use StreetEasy, Craigslist or another site, Fee explained. Instead, owners have to contact piles of entrants compiled by Housing Connect who never applied for the vacant unit and may not be at all interested but matched the income criteria and other guidelines.

So, in the time it takes owners to sift through hundreds of mismatched “applicants,” units sit empty — and they have no way of connecting with people who actually want that apartment.

The lottery system puts “a lot of needless paperwork” between New Yorkers and available affordable apartments, said Fee, who said NYCH is pushing for a policy change.

“We shouldn’t be going through all these hoops if we have a vacant unit,” Fee added.

NYCHA and Mitchell-Lama need more funding

NYCHA , the largest public housing authority in North America, was created in 1935 and is home to 1 in 17 New Yorkers in 161,585 apartments — with nearly 275,000 families on the waiting list as of Jan. 31, 2023 (the most recent data available).

Eligibility for NYCHA, like Section 8, is based on income limits, set at $124,400 for a family of four. Though the application process for NYCHA is fairly simple, getting into an apartment can take years, and the rising costs of property maintenance beset the program.

Operating NYCHA’s aging buildings is a huge undertaking. One hundred eighty-two of the 274 NYCHA developments are over 50 years old, and the massive challenges of maintaining the properties have left some residents in hazardous conditions.

Similarly, the Mitchell-Lama housing program, created in the 1950s to provide privately owned and managed cooperative housing, has struggled with disinvestment and aging infrastructure.

Some residents, such as those at Jamie Towers in the Bronx, say they have seen steep increases in monthly carrying charges amid an overall decline in conditions and quality of life at the development. The state legislature is working on reforms to improve oversight and protect tenants at Mitchell-Lamas, and the city recently announced a tax abatement program to help repair aging buildings.

Jamie Towers Building 1 at 2050 Seward AvenuePhoto Emily Swanson

Protecting these kinds of properties is key to keeping people in their homes who often could not afford to go elsewhere.

“Good repair at NYCHA is just critical,” said Fee. “We really can’t afford to lose that housing stock.”

Tax incentives and zoning relief

Views of the Gowanus neighborhood, where dozens of large affordable housing construction projects along the Gowanus Canal on Dec. 24, 2024 in Brooklyn.Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Private developers play a crucial role in expanding affordable housing, and tax incentives are a key tool in this effort.

Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed a replacement for the controversial 421-a property tax relief program—a program many critics argue set the “affordable” bar too high for countless New Yorkers since eligibility is based on AMI.

Originally enacted in the 1970s and modified several times over the decades, 421-a provided tax breaks to developers who included affordable units in new projects.

As the program neared another expiration, Hochul extended the construction completion deadline, paving the way for 71,000 new apartments—including 21,000 affordable units—to be built by 2031.

The tax relief is a “huge incentive” for developers, and Schwartz observed that “they really can’t build it without it.”

But the last version of 421-a included tax breaks for developers of new units at 120% AMI, which was not helpful for lower-income New Yorkers, said Fee.

“In many, especially outer-borough neighborhoods, 120% of AMI is market rent,” she said. “I don’t think anybody thinks that’s the gap in the market we should be serving.”

In contrast, the new program, known as 485-x, provides developers options lower on the AMI scale. Fee expressed optimism that “much more affordable rents” will result from 485-x, which is expected to better serve the gap in the market.

The federal factor: Uncertain funding and political shifts

For all the local policy innovations, the future of affordable housing in New York City also hinges on federal decisions. Schwartz expressed serious concern over President Donald Trump’s promises to drastically cut federal spending—including at HUD.

If Section 8 vouchers are reduced, “You’re gonna have disaster” and likely an increase in homelessness, he warned.

The future of vouchers remains uncertain amid widespread federal staffing cuts. HUD Secretary Scott Turner, along with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), reportedly plans to cut HUD staffing by 50%— about 4,300 employees.

HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, which administers rental subsidies for over 3.5 million households, is expected to reduce staff by half. These cuts could delay Section 8 payments, prompting some landlords to stop accepting the vouchers.

Some federal lawmakers are taking action against the likely cuts. Five Democratic U.S. senators—Patty Murray (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY)—warned in a Feb. 16 letter that “without sufficient staff to run these programs, community and economic development projects, disaster recovery efforts, and housing development across the country will be delayed and could come to a grinding halt.”

At the local level, uncertainty is compounded by political instability. Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer—integral to the City of Yes initiative and other housing efforts—recently resigned along with three other deputy mayors amid fallout from Mayor Eric Adams’ legal issues. Although most senior housing officials remain in place, Torres-Springer’s departure has reportedly raised concerns among advocates about the continuity of New York City’s housing programs.

Looking ahead

New York City’s affordable housing crisis is a multifaceted problem without easy answers. The current mix of high rents, an inflated notion of affordability, uneven production across boroughs, and bureaucratic hurdles in both public and private sectors means that meaningful progress will require coordinated, sustained action at every level of government.

While local initiatives like the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity and revamped MIH policies offer hope for a more balanced distribution of affordable units in the future, federal budget cuts and shifting political priorities could derail these efforts.

The coming years will test the city’s ability to leverage market incentives, reform outdated systems and, perhaps most importantly, secure the necessary funding—both local and federal—to keep pace with the ever-growing demand for affordable housing.

For many New Yorkers, the question remains not only about how to find a home but how to ensure that a home remains affordable over time.

Read More: https://www.amny.com/housing/