{"id":2100,"date":"2023-01-19T18:20:38","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T18:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/data\/?page_id=2100"},"modified":"2023-01-30T22:55:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T22:55:20","slug":"nycha-vacancy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/data\/nycha-vacancy\/","title":{"rendered":"Vacancies in NYCHA Properties"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Examining the Causes<\/h2>\n

On January 31, 2023, the Committee on Public Housing, chaired by Council Member Alexa Avil\u00e9s, holds an oversight hearing entitled \u201cOversight \u2013 Examining Causes of Vacancies In New York City Housing Authority Properties\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Committee will hear testimony from officials of the New York City Housing Authority (\u201cNYCHA\u201d) regarding the increase in vacancies across NYCHA properties, the underlying reasons for why more apartments are empty for longer and what NYCHA is currently doing to bring down vacancies.<\/p>\n

The Committee has also invited NYCHA tenants, resident associations, and advocacy groups to testify on the impact of vacancies on the tenants of NYCHA living in buildings with vacant apartments, current tenants waiting for transfers, and finally on persons on the waitlist.<\/p>\n

Background on NYCHA and Public Housing<\/h3>\n

Former New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia created NYCHA in 1934 to replace dilapidated tenements using funds from The New Deal<\/a>, three years before the Housing Act of 1937 established public housing nationwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NYCHA originally served two purposes: (1) to provide low-cost housing for middle-class, working families temporarily unemployed because of the Great Depression and (2) to bolster the lagging economy by creating jobs for the building trades. Later, NYCHA\u2019s purpose evolved into providing safe, decent housing for families with the lowest incomes.<\/p>\n

Today, NYCHA has 335 developments, and 177,569 units home to 525,686 authorized residents, through the conventional public housing program, the Housing Choice Voucher program created by the United States Housing and Community Development Act of 1978 (\u201cSection 8\u201d), and through the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together Program (\u201cPACT\u201d), which is NYCHA\u2019s implementation of the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration (\u201cRAD\u201d) program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Vacant Apartments<\/h3>\n
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\n Dec 2021<\/small>
\n490<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n Dec 2022<\/small>
\n3,300<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Turnaround Days<\/h3>\n
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\n Dec 2021<\/small>
\n120 Days<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n Dec 2022<\/small>
\n260 Days<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Average days to turnover vacant apartments<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Download the Data <\/i><\/a>
\nData Team Home <\/i><\/a>
\nLearn More About the Hearing <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Historical Vacancies in NYCHA<\/h3>\n
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\n The need for housing in New York City is ever present. The intense and unending demand for a NYCHA apartment makes it imperative that NYCHA quickly and efficiently place prospective tenants into vacant apartments. This has the dual result of housing a family in need and returning the apartment to the rent rolls. As NYCHA deals with an ongoing funding crisis, the need to keep vacancies as low as possible is vital.<\/p>\n

In the past NYCHA has had few vacancies as shown by an over 99% occupancy rate for most of the last two decades, but in recent years the rate has dipped below 99% and in 2022 was at 97.53%. While that percentage seems low, by NYCHA\u2019s own accounting the number of actual vacant apartments went from less than 500 in November 2021 to more than 3,000 in December 2022. As more apartments are empty, fewer New Yorkers are being placed in NYCHA developments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NYCHA Vacancies<\/strong>
\nDecember 2021 – December 2022<\/small><\/p>\n