New York City may be facing a critical shortage of affordable housing, but with nearly 6,000 affordable units currently vacant, city lawmakers are left scratching their heads.
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is responsible for providing low-income residents with housing that they can comfortably afford. Since low-income residents can afford less than 1% of the city’s available apartments, according to Gothamist, affordable housing in NYC is a major concern.
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The authority claims that so many units are vacant because significant repairs are usually needed once a tenant vacates a unit. NYCHA’s COO Eva Trimble shared with city council at a hearing in June that all of its units must be vacant for at least 30 days after a tenant has moved out, as these units often require work once they’re vacant.
“On average, it takes four to six months to complete the lead and asbestos testing process, and abatement if necessary, during turnover,” said Trimble.
However, council member Alexa Avilés has sponsored a bill that would require NYCHA to report annually on public housing units that have been left empty for more than 30 days. The city is hoping this bill will push NYCHA to complete their repairs and re-rent the vacant units quicker than it’s shown in the past.
The impact on the community
“The transfer situation is appalling,” said Avilés, a representative for south Brooklyn. “It has taken our office well over a year to transfer people facing violence, and it is particularly appalling when you know that there are thousands of vacant units in NYCHA.”
As Fox 5 New York reports, approximately 240,000 families are currently on the wait list for a NYCHA apartment. And while the public dashboard shows that nearly 6,000 units are empty, during the hearing in June, officials testified that the real number is more like 8,600. This number reportedly includes units being held for resident relocations, occupied units that are undergoing substantial repairs, or units being converted for community uses.
While this number of vacant units may seem troubling, NYCHA vacancies have actually been going up since 2024. The city council stressed that the large number of people waiting for housing is putting a major strain on the city’s shelter system, which in turn creates safety risks.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration claims it’s on track to double the number of people moving from shelters into public housing this year, but the Coalition for the Homeless found that only 500 shelter residents were relocated into vacant NYCHA units in 2024. This represents a substantial decrease from the 1,500 shelter residents that were reportedly moved into NYCHA housing in 2021.
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How NYCHA serves low-income families
NYCHA reports that one in 17 New Yorkers use its services, and the program currently provides affordable housing for 528,105 residents. This includes both traditional public housing and the Section 8 program for low-income residents.
In addition to maintaining 177,569 apartments across all five boroughs of the city, the authority also provides economic opportunity and social services programs for low-income New Yorkers. The New York city council claims that, for all of NYCHA’s good work, it took an average of 423 days to prepare apartments for new tenants in 2024. NYCHA data shows that the current average timeline is 350 days.
How vacant housing affects the community
These empty NYCHA units put more stress on an already tight housing market, where 1 in 3 New Yorkers are spending half their income on rent. As many of the city’s affordable units sit vacant, competition for housing at the lower end of the rental market remains fierce — and may result in residents living in unsafe or unsuitable housing conditions due to a lack of options.
This situation is also projected to get worse, as the federal budget is reportedly preparing to cut more than $33 billion from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development program. The proposed budget will also target the Section 8 voucher program while also limitimg rental assistance.
The Center for New York City Affairs reports that the federal government provides almost 70 percent of NYCHA’s funds, which may be cut substantially under the new budget.
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