New York City’s “Affordable” Housing

Originally seen in the NY Times

Three men assaulted her. Her boyfriend abused her. She overdosed on heroin laced with animal tranquilizer. Her name is Jessica, and she was homeless. 

In February, after being discharged from the hospital, Jessica “move[d] not a moment too soon” into her new affordable housing apartment overlooking the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. A heartwarming but rare story: Affordable housing saved Jessica’s life. 

1 in 83 New Yorkers are homeless – an all-time high (that is quickly rising!) for the city. And this statistic doesn’t include the many migrants fleeing violence in their home countries who recently settled in NYC; an influx of asylum-seekers that has overwhelmed the shelters. But whether there are enough shelter beds doesn’t solve the primary cause of homelessness: a lack of affordable housing. 

NYC housing is deemed “affordable” when dwellers pay less than one third of their income on rent. Growing up in Brooklyn District 33, one block from Gowanus Houses (one of Brooklyn’s largest housing projects – affordable housing managed by the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA), and surrounded by affordable housing developments popping up all over, I thought NYC had it all worked out. I thought our government understood the demand and was working consistently to supply affordable housing. 

I was wrong. 

On average, it takes 5-7 years to plan, fund, and construct affordable housing developments in vacant lots. In NYC, it takes even longer, 8-10 years, given the bureaucratic hurdles such as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) and tax credit approvals. On top of this, most affordable housing units in NYC are part of private developments, meaning these developers have to navigate both the bureaucratic hurdles and the corporate ones. Pre-2022, tax break 421-a incentivized private developers to include affordable housing units in their projects by promising real estate tax cuts. Now, most private developers build affordable housing units under option 2 of the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, which requires that 30% of floorspace in new developments are affordable housing units. While these policies seem perfect, they don’t address the primary need of homeless people seeking housing. They don’t create affordable housing units in the extremely low-income bracket. 

Once there is finally an affordable housing unit available, prospective residents apply for it. Then it takes 2-10 months to hear back. And then, finally, one lucky resident can move in. But getting to the moving-in part is harder than you think; the application process is extremely competitive. For the most affordable units, those designated for extremely low-income residents (who earn under $47,000 annually), an average of 700 people apply. Ultimately, less than 1% of NYC units with rents in this cheapest bracket are available to prospective residents. So, just build more affordable housing for the lowest-income bracket, right? Seems easy!

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple.  

The primary objective of private developers is profit. And building affordable housing units for the lowest-income bracket isn’t a company money-maker. But in a housing crisis as dire as this one, profit shouldn’t matter. And while Mayor Eric Adams is proposing some radical ideas to incentivize developers and affordable housing units, they aren’t long-term solutions. Paying families to build backyard granny flats for homeless people isn’t sustainable in the long-term nor has it been successful. Planning to strike down building regulations that have been in place for decades isn’t safe nor efficient. Offering developers the opportunity to build taller and larger affordable housing complexes under the City of Yes program doesn’t incentivize construction because it doesn’t maximize developers’ profit. 

Mayor Adams is treating deep cuts with bandaids.

In the 1970s and 90s, NYC was leading the nation in affordable housing. Now, we are one of the stragglers, leading the nation in another category: size of homeless population. But the situation isn’t hopeless – we did it once, and we can do it again. Why does it have to take 8-10 years to transform vacant lots into affordable housing developments? It doesn’t. Get rid of unnecessary bureaucratic barriers and accelerate the affordable housing pipeline. 

Since profit drives private developers, Mayor Adams should institute more effective tax breaks similar to 421-a or subsidies to incentivize private developers to create extremely low-income affordable housing units. Not only will these decrease affordable housing vacancies, they will move thousands in need off the streets. And speaking of vacancies, why do we let market-rate apartments sit empty in underfilled complexes? Instead of leaving them empty or to be merged together (an expensive process costing NYC 100,000 apartments since 1950…), make them available for affordable housing. 

If doing the right thing isn’t enough to convince you, taxpayers (YOU!) save money by increasing accessible affordable housing and getting New Yorkers off the streets. Even if you aren’t a homeowner (or a taxpayer…yet), you can raise awareness about and help end NYC’s housing crisis. Participate in letter writing campaigns to Mayor Adams’ office; attend the Department of Housing’s monthly public hearings; donate to affordable housing services across the city. 

And if you happen to be one of those homeowners thinking of merging apartments, ask yourself this: What’s more important: that you have two living rooms, or that someone like Jessica gets a place to live? 

Willa Mack is a junior at the Packer Collegiate Institute. In addition to the blog, Willa is a Senior Lead Fellow and a freelance reporter for her school’s newspaper, The Packer Prism. When she has free time home in Brooklyn, Willa enjoys thrifting, hiking, and reading.