New York City Housing Authority

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation that provides public housing in New York City. It is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934, it was the first agency of its kind in the United States. NYCHA works to offer decent and affordable homes for people with low and moderate incomes across the five boroughs of New York City.

NYCHA helps more than 360,000 people live in its 335 housing areas. It also runs a program called Section 8, which helps another 235,000 people pay for rent in private homes. The authority’s goal is to give these New Yorkers better chances by offering affordable housing and connecting them to important public service and community services. The buildings and houses managed by NYCHA are often known in popular culture as “projects.”

History

NYCHA was created in 1934 to help solve housing problems during the Great Depression under Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia's leadership. It was the first agency in the United States to offer publicly funded housing. In 1935, NYCHA finished its first housing project, the First Houses, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. These houses were built by updating old apartment buildings, but this was too expensive.

After World War II, NYCHA grew quickly, working with Robert Moses to build new homes and improve the city. Most of NYCHA's housing was built between 1945 and 1965, with many buildings designed in a modern style called "tower-in-the-park." In the 1950s and 1960s, some people criticized NYCHA, so they changed their building plans to include smaller housing projects with different designs. In 1995, the housing police and transit police were combined into the New York City Police Department under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Governance and operations

NYCHA is a public group led by the Mayor of New York City and follows special housing rules set by the state. It has a board with seven members, including one chair chosen by the mayor. Three board members live in public housing, and the chair also leads NYCHA.

In 2022, Mayor Eric Adams changed NYCHA's leadership, splitting the chair and CEO roles so one person handles daily work and the other watches over the board.

NYCHA is the biggest public housing group in North America and is still seen as one of the best, even with challenges. Unlike many other big cities that tore down their tall housing buildings, New York’s remain full.

NYCHA also helps people find apartments through a special program, but it has not taken new applications since 2009. There is a long wait for these apartments, so NYCHA now picks more families with jobs to live there. As of 2018, NYCHA had over 175,000 apartments in 325 buildings across the city.

NYCHA employs about 13,000 people who help around 174,000 families and about 392,000 residents. NYCHA homes make up about 8% of all rental apartments in New York City and are home to about 5% of the city’s people. Together with another housing program, they fill about 12% of the city’s rental apartments.

Capital needs

In 2004, NYCHA worked with a company to check all its buildings and find out what repairs were needed. They found that $6.9 billion was needed to fix everything. By 2011/12, the needed amount grew to $16.5 billion, about $93,000 for each apartment.

In 2015, NYCHA started a fund to raise money for improvements. That same year, the mayor announced a plan to bring in more money by building mixed-income housing and changing some apartments to a different funding program.

By 2018, NYCHA needed $31.8 billion over five years just to fix broken elevators, heating systems, kitchens, and bathrooms. Later plans included working with private companies to help with repairs and raising money by selling air rights above NYCHA property. In 2020, a new plan was announced to move many apartments to a new public trust for better care.

Hurricane Sandy and its impact on NYCHA

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused major damage to the New York City Housing Authority. About 10% of their housing areas were affected, leaving 400 buildings without electricity and 386 without heat and hot water.

To help fix the damage, NYCHA created a Recovery and Resilience Department in February 2014. By March 2015, they had agreements for over $3 billion to repair more than 33 developments. Construction started on one project in August 2015, and by December 2015, NYCHA received $3 billion for disaster recovery. By December 2016, $201 million worth of construction was happening. In December 2017, $1.85 billion in contracts were awarded for 27 developments. All repairs from the hurricane were planned to be finished by the end of 2021.

Lawsuits

In February 2018, a lawyer named Jim Walden helped 400,000 tenants file a lawsuit because they were living in very bad conditions. The tenants needed heat, hot water, and safety from dangerous materials like lead, but were not getting these things. The lawsuit asked for someone outside the agency to watch over NYCHA to make sure things improved. Because of this lawsuit, the leader of NYCHA, Shola Olatoye, left her job in April 2018.

Later, in June 2018, government lawyers said NYCHA broke rules that keep people safe and healthy. They said children were exposed to lead paint and that workers were being told to trick inspectors to hide problems. That same day, NYCHA agreed to spend more money to fix these issues and let a federal monitor watch over them. In 2019, the city agreed to spend even more money over ten years to fix the buildings and avoid government taking over.

List of properties

This is a list of buildings managed by the New York City Housing Authority, a public group that helps provide affordable homes in New York City. The buildings are grouped by the city's five areas: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

Manhattan

NYCHA Developments in Manhattan

• Isaacs Houses, Yorkville / East Harlem

• Amsterdam Houses, Upper West Side

• Drew-Hamilton Houses, Harlem

• East River Houses, Spanish Harlem

• Harborview Terrace, Hell's Kitchen

• Metro North Plaza, Spanish Harlem

• Rangel Houses, Harlem

• Fort Washington Ave Rehab, Washington Heights

Bronx

NYCHA Developments in the Bronx

• Dr. Ramon E. Betances Houses, Mott Haven

• Morrisania Air Rights, Melrose

• Mill Brook Houses, Mott Haven

• Morris Houses, Morrisania

• Pelham Pkwy Houses, Pelham Parkway

• Bronx River Houses, Soundview, Bronx

• Sedgwick Houses, Morris Heights

Brooklyn

NYCHA Developments in Brooklyn

• Coney Island Houses, Coney Island

• Cooper Park Houses, East Williamsburg

• Ingersoll Houses, Fort Greene

• Lafayette Houses, Clinton Hill

• Marlboro Houses, Gravesend

• Sheepshead Houses, Sheepshead Bay

• Unity Tower, Coney Island

• Wyckoff Gardens, Boerum Hill

Vanderveer Estates Apartments also known as Flatbush Gardens, Tiffany Towers also known as Tivoli Towers, Ebbets Field Apartments and Towers of Bay Ridge and Rutland Rd Houses are in Brooklyn. Even though they all use Section 8, they are not owned by NYCHA because the rent includes gas and electricity.

Queens

NYCHA Developments in Queens

• Astoria Houses, Astoria

• Queensbridge Houses, Long Island City

• Hammel Houses, Hammels

Staten Island

Federal Housing Administration Reprocessed Developments

The list of all housing groups that are owned by the FHA.

City Part IV Co-op Disposed Developments

Buildings were built by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) but are no longer operated by them and have been sold or disposed of.

Statistics

The New York City Housing Authority manages many homes for families across the city. There are 335 housing areas in total, spread out over all five parts of New York City.

Staten Island has 9 housing areas with 4,499 homes. Queens has 22 areas with 17,126 homes. The Bronx has 100 areas with 44,500 homes. Brooklyn has 98 areas with 58,669 homes. Manhattan has 102 areas with 53,890 homes. Some of these housing areas are special for older adults, and some have homes designed to help people who have trouble moving around.