City Hall, NY – Ahead of the City Council’s Executive Budget hearing jointly held by the Committee on Public Housing and the Committee on Finance on Wednesday at 12 PM, the Council identified a funding gap within the Mayor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Executive Budget capital plan limiting the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) ability to address its maintenance and infrastructure challenges. In its 2023 Physical Needs Assessment, the Authority outlined wide-ranging immediate needs and deficiencies within its housing stock, heating and cooling systems, and other building infrastructure, such as windows and roofs. The Mayor’s FY 2026 Preliminary Budget included an increase of $175 million in capital funding for NYCHA to address these issues, equating to a total of more than $1.27 billion in capital funding. In the Executive Budget, capital funding for the Vacant Unit Readiness Program – that the Council has prioritized  – increased by $39 million to $134.2 million across the 2025-2029 plan period. However, the City’s overall capital commitment plan for NYCHA drops from more than $1.27 billion in FY 2026 to approximately $466 million in FY 2027, $180 million in FY 2028, and $215 million in FY 2029, respectively.

The recently passed state budget delivered on its commitment to the Council’s City for All plan to support NYCHA, providing $225 million in capital dollars to the City for improvement and infrastructure projects and the rehabilitation of vacant apartment units. This recent allocation has not yet been reflected in the city budget.

The following capital funding request was outlined in the Council’s Preliminary Budget Response and left out of the Mayor’s FY 2026 Executive Budget:

NYCHA Maintenance and Infrastructure

The Council recognizes that the current $80 billion of outstanding capital needs for NYCHA over two decades to improve conditions for public housing residents are immense. However, important investments and critical repairs can be made with the capital funds that the Council successfully advocated for and secured in the FY25 Adopted Budget and the City for All housing plan commitments. This funding should ensure that the over 5,000 vacant NYCHA units are rehabilitated as quickly as possible, and that occupied units have repairs and maintenance completed as quickly as possible. The Council also proposes the Administration add an additional $2 billion in capital funding, $500 million over each of the next four fiscal years through FY29, to address NYCHA’s critical infrastructure needs and to provide additional funding for the maintenance of occupied units.

“As the Chair of the New York City Council’s Committee on Public Housing and the Council Member for Brooklyn’s 42nd Council District, home to a dozen NYCHA developments, I have seen the adverse impact created by years of neglect and corner cutting to save NYCHA’s bottom line,” said Council Member Chris Banks, Chair of the Committee on Public Housing. “These shortcuts have come at the expense of the safety and quality of life for many who call our City’s public housing buildings home. Programs that dress up the exterior of many of these buildings, while neglecting essential plumbing, roofing, brick pointing, and other significant capital improvement needs, only makes the preservation of this vital component to New York City’s housing stock more challenging and costly with the passage of time. As a city, we must prioritize the funding that results in quality repairs, and the sustainability of the infrastructure of NYCHA’s buildings. Investing in these and other capital improvements now will mean lower capital costs in the years to come. This funding must be made a priority of this administration as we owe it to our city, and especially to our city’s NYCHA residents.”

###