Established in 1934, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the nation’s largest and oldest public housing authority. It is also the city's biggest landlord, with 178,407 apartments in 324 complexes located throughout the five boroughs (as of April 2010). More 8% of the city's population live in NYCHA housing. As of January 1, 2010, NYCHA tenants in conventional public housing have an average family income of $ 23,187 and pay an average rent of $408 per month. NYCHA also administers the country's largest Section 8 housing program, leasing over 100,000 units.

While many other major cities have abandoned or demolished their mid-century high rises, NYCHA continues to operate at full occupancy, and more than 135,000 families sit on the authority's waiting list for conventional public housing and over 125,000 on the waiting list for a Section 8 voucher (as of April 2010).

NYCHA has struggled as reductions in federal aid from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has led to a growing deficit. In 2008, due to insufficient Congressional appropriations, NYCHA received only 83 cents on each dollar of operating funds for which it was eligible under the official HUD formula. City and state funding has also declined. Though six of the authority's complexes were originally built by the city, and 15 were built by the state, NYCHA no longer receives consistent state or local operating subsidies for these developments. The combination of diminished government aid combined with growing energy, labor, and employee benefit costs has left the authority with ballooning annual deficits. The shortfall reached $166 million in 2008 and is expected to top $200 million by 2012.

In the face of budget cuts, NYCHA has adopted several strategies to balance its budget, ranging from a green initiative aimed at reducing energy expenditures by 15% to rent increases and significant staff and service cuts. Some of these changes, such as a plan to close several authority-run community centers, were vigorously opposed by tenant advocates. Equally controversial was a decision to use 8,400 vouchers to subsidize apartments within NYCHA projects rather than private rentals. Critics argued that the solution simply redistributed money from one underfunded program to another and would result in a net decline in the number of affordable housing options in the City. In 2010, New York City and state agencies worked together to create a $32 million plan to save Section 8 units that NYCHA could not cover due to funding shortfalls. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development, as well as state agencies, transferred reserve funds and money from other programs to save 4,000 Section 8 vouchers to cover the imbalance. HUD and the Legal Aid Society accused NYCHA of issuing more vouchers than it could fund, known as “overleasing.”

NYCHA has also struggled with funding capital improvements. The agency faced sharp criticism for failing to address maintenance issues following the August 2008 death of a 5 year-old-boy who fell 10 stories while trying to escape from an elevator that had become stuck between floors in Brooklyn’s Taylor-Wythe Houses. The 21 year old elevator was supposed to be replaced in 2004, but the project was rescheduled for 2009 due to budgetary concerns. In 2010, 21 NYCHA developments (containing 20,000 units) received $400 million in private and public funding—primarily intended for capital improvements. To qualify for federal subsidy, partially funded through one-time stimulus dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, NYCHA established an entity to buy and control the developments (though the properties will remain public and residents maintain the rights and protections of public housing residents). The NYCHA managed entity will also enable HUD to provide $65-$75 million of federal funding for annual maintenance costs. This transaction relies on tax credit bonds which will be used by the New York City Housing Development Corporation.

Some claim that NYCHA’s best chance at solvency is to sell off some of its own vacant land. An August 2008 report from Borough President Scott Stringer revealed that the authority has 30.5 million square feet (the equivalent of 11 Empire State Buildings) of unused development rights, a legacy of its tower-in-a-park architectural model that could be worth billions of dollars on the private market. In his report, Borough President Stringer called for a comprehensive, long-term plan to ensure that the sale or lease of the land amounts to more than a short-term budget fix. Stringer also expressed concern that such development projects should have immunity from the city’s ULURP and Environmental Impact Review procedures and stressed the need for community involvement in the process. No formal plans for the unused development rights have been released.

Further Reading

Annual Plan for Fiscal Year 2009. New York City Housing Authority, October 2008.

Land Rich, Pocket Poor: Making the Most of New York City Housing Authority’s Unused Development Rights. Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, August 2008.

Plan to Preserve Public Housing. New York City Housing Authority, June 2006.

Examining NYCHA’s Plan to Preserve Public Housing. The City of New York: Independent Budget Office, June 2006.

Public Housing and Public Schools: How Do Students Living in Public Housing Fare in School? Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, 2008.

Last Updated: July 7, 2010