Block by Block Report

• New York City faces a severe housing shortage that threatens its character as a place of opportunity and creativity.
• The current crisis is framed as a result of deliberate policy decisions, such as restricted growth and neighborhood exclusion, which can be reversed.
• The proposed plan advocates for a multi-pronged approach that combines tenant protections with increased housing production to stabilize rental prices.
• Historical precedent shows that the city was more affordable when it empowered tenants and built housing at a higher volume than it does today.
• The strategy emphasizes a coalition-based model focused on public sector-led investment and the protection of the city's 70% renter population.
• Success requires treating homelessness as a holistic part of the housing plan while ensuring construction and maintenance jobs remain high-quality.

This crisis threatens New York’s very character as a place of opportunity and creativity, where all are welcome.

• The administration aims to put the public sector in the driver's seat by leveraging public-sector building and finance tools to address the housing shortage.
• A new initiative called 'Fix the City' will mobilize enforcement tools to target persistently negligent landlords and improve building conditions.
• The plan sets an ambitious goal to preserve and stabilize 200,000 existing homes over the next decade through historic investments and program expansions.
• Strategies include lowering operating costs for housing via a $100 million City-backed insurance provider and expanding water affordability benefits.
• A specific 'Spotlight on the Bronx' initiative will coordinate interagency action to address acute housing quality and health disparities in high-need neighborhoods.
• The administration is committing the most City capital in recent history to address the major capital needs of over 500,000 NYCHA residents.

Block by Block reflects our steadfast belief that solving the housing crisis means letting our agencies and partners innovate and putting the public sector in the driver’s seat.

• The administration plans to utilize the PACT program and Public Housing Preservation Trust to deliver comprehensive repairs and long-term stability to NYCHA residents.
• A historic goal has been set to build 200,000 new affordable homes over the next decade through capital budget commitments and land-use changes.
• New initiatives like the 'Our Home' program and support for community land trusts aim to expand homeownership and protect owners from deed theft.
• The strategy addresses homelessness by expanding the Right to Counsel program and accelerating transitions from shelters to permanent housing.
• Economic growth is integrated into housing plans through the Construction Justice Act and the exploration of modular construction techniques.

Together, these changes will allow new neighborhoods to grow and will allow existing neighborhoods to become stronger with more affordable housing and greater amenities.

• The administration aims to build 200,000 new affordable homes and preserve 200,000 existing units over the next decade.
• The SPEED Task Force reforms intend to cut development time by eight months for standard projects and up to two years for those requiring zoning changes.
• Production goals will scale incrementally, starting with 14,000 new homes in FY27 and reaching 21,000 annually by FY31.
• Success depends on creative cost-reduction, new capital resources for 100% affordable projects, and cross-subsidizing units through mixed-income tools.
• The plan seeks to reframe the public discourse around housing from one of anxiety to one of hope and stability for all New Yorkers.

This administration strives to build a new coalition of New Yorkers for whom these loaded words can inspire hope and possibility.

• Affordable housing eligibility is determined by Area Median Income (AMI), which is set at $152,700 for a three-person household in the NYC region for 2026.
• Housing programs categorize applicants into five income bands ranging from Extremely Low-Income (0-30% AMI) to Middle-Income (121-165% AMI).
• The majority of city-subsidized homes target households earning 80% of the AMI or less, covering professions like medical assistants and transit workers.
• Renters constitute nearly 70% of New York City's population, yet many face persistent landlord noncompliance and hazardous code violations.
• The city aims to modernize code enforcement to be more responsive, transparent, and aggressive against landlords who fail to maintain safe properties.

Rent in our city is too high – and too many people are not getting what they pay for.

• The City administration is overhauling the housing code enforcement system to address opacity and frustration among residents.
• New technology and increased staffing at the HPD aim to hold 'bad-actor' landlords accountable while improving transparency for tenants.
• Tenant organizing is identified as the most effective tool for enforcement, as residents serve as the primary 'eyes and ears' for identifying building neglect.
• The 2026 Rental Ripoff Hearings collected testimony from over 1,600 New Yorkers regarding abusive fees, retaliation, and hazardous living conditions.
• The Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) is using direct feedback from all five boroughs to bridge the gap between policy and the lived experience of renters.

No one is better suited to hold a negligent landlord accountable than the people who live with the problem every day.

• The City will launch 'Fix the City' in 2026 to target landlords who speculate on buildings and persistently disregard necessary repairs.
• The program utilizes the 7A Program to legally remove negligent owners and property managers from day-to-day operations.
• HPD's Anti-Harassment Unit will coordinate with criminal prosecutorial offices to pursue charges against the city's worst property owners.
• The initiative aims to transfer distressed housing portfolios from bad actors to responsible preservation purchasers supported by tenants.
• Coordinated 'enforcement days' will involve multi-agency inspections of buildings where systemic issues affect at least a third of the units.
• Tenant unions will play a critical role in identifying underlying conditions and facilitating roof-to-cellar inspections with city agencies.

The goal will be to ensure that these buildings are transferred out of these bad actors’ hands and conveyed to responsible preservation purchasers who are supported by both tenants and the administration.

• Tenant unions are organized groups of renters who advocate for collective interests, ranging from building repairs to state-level policy changes.
• Collective action mitigates the fear of individual retaliation and forces landlords or management to address issues they might otherwise ignore.
• Beyond housing advocacy, these unions foster civic engagement, leading to higher participation in local government and community voting.
• While some landlords resist organizing, the Mamdani administration has codified a 'Right to Organize' to protect tenants' ability to assemble and distribute information.
• The city is also addressing inefficiencies in the HPD inspection process, where missed appointments currently lead to closed complaints without resolution.

But there is power in numbers: tenants’ unions provide a way to advocate for collective interests – when tenants come together as a group, it is easier to address shared issues.

• HPD is replacing an ineffective physical card system with automated text messaging and online scheduling to reduce wasted inspection visits.
• Starting in 2026, HPD will treat every heat complaint as an individual case rather than closing all building complaints based on a single unit's status.
• The shift to individual heat complaint tracking addresses the technical reality of unit-by-unit electric heating systems and aims to rebuild tenant trust.
• A new task force involving city agencies and stakeholders will convene in 2026 to overhaul the outdated Housing Maintenance Code.
• Reform priorities include modernizing property registration, improving proactive enforcement programs, and removing costly, unnecessary safety requirements.
• The initiative seeks to balance efficient violation clearance for 'high-road' landlords with more responsive service for frustrated tenants.

Calling 311 only to have your complaint disappear minutes later with no explanation builds resentment and frustration.

• The administration is implementing upstream interventions to prevent needless eviction filings caused by administrative delays and rent arrears.
• Funding for the 'Right to Counsel' program will be increased starting in Fiscal Year 2028 to provide more households with legal representation.
• The city plans to expand the list of 'rent-impairing violations' that allow tenants to legally withhold rent for hazardous living conditions.
• The Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) has been re-established and empowered to coordinate tenant protection across all housing types.
• New initiatives like 'Rental Ripoff Hearings' and 'Organize NYC' aim to gather direct feedback from renters to shape future housing policy.

The list of rent-impairing violations has not been updated in decades, and many serious violations that threaten New Yorkers’ health and safety are not considered 'rent impairing.'

• The Mayor's Office of Public Trust (MOPT) will centralize tenant protection efforts by coordinating communication, outreach, and training strategies across multiple city agencies.
• The administration aims to help thousands of tenants form associations to negotiate repairs and potentially facilitate the transfer of distressed buildings to responsible owners.
• A major educational campaign will focus on 'Good Cause Eviction' protections, informing 1.5 million market-rate tenants of their new legal rights established in 2024.
• The city seeks to revitalize NYCHA Resident Associations, which currently suffer from low engagement with voter turnout typically ranging between only 3% and 5%.
• The 'NYCHA in Your Neighborhood' initiative, launched in 2026, provides local forums for residents to receive one-on-one assistance with repairs, safety, and social services.

These tenant associations will play a critical role in strengthening the City’s ability to proactively address unsafe living conditions and even facilitate transfer of distressed buildings to more responsible owners.

• The city is launching a Critical Repairs Initiative (CRI) modeled after the successful Mold and Leaks Ombudsperson Call Center.
• The CRI will address long-standing habitability issues such as structural damage, unusable fixtures, and severe floor or ceiling deficiencies.
• NYCHA is expanding the PACT program, which uses Section 8 funding to stabilize properties while maintaining city ownership and oversight.
• New 'Post-Conversion Resident Partnership Meetings' will be established to improve communication between tenants and private-sector management partners.
• A dedicated outreach strategy will be implemented to help immigrant communities navigate housing rights and access city services regardless of status.
• Interagency collaboration involving the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants aims to confront harassment and provide trusted housing resources.

CRI will serve public housing residents who are experiencing critical, long-standing conditions in their homes that impact habitability, including major structural damage, missing or unusable fixtures or cabinetry, significant floor or ceiling damage, or other serious deficiencies identified through inspection.

• The HPD is launching targeted outreach in high-density immigrant neighborhoods like Sunset Park and Corona to educate tenants on housing rights and resources.
• New initiatives aim to protect tenants in small, unregulated buildings where legal protections are often weaker and landlord harassment is a risk.
• The City is threatening swift legal action against landlords who use immigration status as a tool for retaliation or discrimination.
• A new 'Expanded Energy Affordability Program' (EEAP) requires manual enrollment to help low-income residents offset rising electric heating costs.
• New York City has lost over 600,000 units with rents under $1,500 since 1993, making the preservation of remaining low-cost housing critical.
• Many rent-stabilized buildings are currently struggling with operating expenses that exceed revenue due to aggressive, highly leveraged acquisitions in previous decades.

Where owners threaten to call ICE or otherwise retaliate against New Yorkers who report housing code violations based on their immigration status, the City will take swift action to hold those landlords accountable.

• NYCHA faces a staggering $78 billion backlog in capital repairs due to decades of federal disinvestment.
• The city administration plans to preserve or stabilize 200,000 existing homes through historic reinvestment and financial restructuring.
• A primary strategy involves lowering the four major operating costs for landlords: insurance, utilities, maintenance, and property taxes.
• Insurance premiums for city-financed rental units have tripled since 2018, rising from $600 to $1,800 per unit.
• The City is investing $100 million to launch a new insurance program by 2027 to stabilize building finances and redirect subsidies toward deeper affordability.
• Expansion of the Multifamily Water Assistance Program aims to provide relief for 75,000 low-income households facing rising utility costs.

Currently, for every $100 increase in annual insurance costs, the City must invest $1,200 in additional City capital subsidy when completing a new affordable housing project.

• The Department of Buildings is streamlining facade repair requirements by extending inspection cycles and focusing sidewalk shed placement on truly hazardous conditions.
• A new pilot program will explore the use of human-monitored drones to conduct safer and more cost-efficient building inspections.
• The J-51 tax abatement program has been extended through 2036 to help owners fund major capital improvements and energy efficiency upgrades required by Local Law 97.
• The NYC Accelerator program provides end-to-end technical and financial support for building owners navigating decarbonization and tax filing processes.
• Data from the NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey indicates that low-cost, low-quality vacant units represent less than 1% of the total housing stock.
• The Unlocking Doors pilot program, which offers up to $50,000 for in-unit upgrades, has seen almost no engagement from owners of vacant rent-stabilized homes.

To date, there has been little to no engagement with the program and there are still no eligible, completed applications.

• The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 has shifted the economics of rent-stabilized buildings, leading the Department of Finance to lower property tax calculations for 15,000 buildings.
• New York City is increasing capital funding for preservation programs by over 35%, totaling more than $2 billion for fiscal years 2027 and 2028.
• The administration aims to clear a massive backlog in the HPD preservation pipeline caused by staff shortages and surging demand from building owners.
• The Mitchell-Lama program, a cornerstone of middle-class affordable housing since 1955, currently oversees 44,000 city-supervised homes.
• Mitchell-Lama developments have reached a critical inflection point, requiring massive capital investments for aging infrastructure and sustainability upgrades required by Local Law 97.

The program is at an inflection point. Most developments are over 50 years old and are reaching their first major capital investment cycle, at a time when they need more than a typical moderate rehabilitation.

• The City is committing hundreds of millions of dollars in FY27 and FY28 to address physical distress in the Mitchell-Lama housing portfolio.
• A major rehabilitation of the Second Atlantic Terminal Housing co-op will modernize 300 homes using $38 million in public investment for energy and solar upgrades.
• The new TOOLS initiative will allow property owners to pool financial reserves to address immediate capital needs and rising operating costs.
• HPD is streamlining property tax exemptions and connecting tenants to financial aid earlier to prevent eviction proceedings and stabilize building finances.
• The administration is developing acquisition tools to transition distressed rent-stabilized portfolios to responsible landlords, community land trusts, or tenant cooperatives.

The portfolio’s capital needs are significant and risk accelerating without action.

• The City is establishing a pre-development fund to help non-profits and HDFC cooperatives cover emergency repairs and due diligence required for long-term financing.
• A new Supportive Housing Preservation Program will be launched to provide additional investment for service-enriched housing facing increased operational costs.
• The Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) will allow for greater density on affordable housing campuses to generate revenue for preservation without public subsidies.
• The SAFER Homes Act aims to reinvent the Third-Party Transfer program to move distressed properties from negligent landlords to mission-driven owners.
• New legislative efforts focus on holding the city's worst landlords accountable while protecting homeowner equity and improving living conditions for tenants.

Ultimately, the proposed legislation will stabilize some of the most distressed buildings in the city and hold many of the worst landlords accountable.

• The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) aims to give qualified affordable housing organizations first-refusal rights to prevent speculative displacement.
• The Bronx faces the city's most severe housing crises, with 10% of households facing annual eviction filings and 26% reporting major maintenance deficiencies.
• Historical disinvestment, redlining, and environmental racism have created compounding health and safety risks for Black and Brown residents in the Bronx.
• While over 42,000 affordable homes have been financed since 2014, new development alone is insufficient to reverse decades of systemic neglect.
• A new 'Bronx Plan' launching in 2026 will coordinate an all-of-government approach to improve housing quality and reduce health disparities in high-need neighborhoods.

10% of households in the borough are subject to an eviction filing every year, and 26% of households reported three or more key maintenance deficiencies in their home.

• The city is launching a pilot tenant-based equity program to allow long-term renters to build wealth from the value they contribute to their buildings.
• New initiatives focus on the intersection of health and housing through expanded tenant engagement workshops and community improvement plans.
• Vacant retail and community spaces in affordable housing and NYCHA campuses are being evaluated for conversion into childcare centers and essential services.
• NYCHA remains the nation's largest public housing agency, housing 1 in 17 New Yorkers with an average monthly rent of $621.
• The administration is addressing a critical inflection point for NYCHA following decades of federal funding constraints and a shift toward voucher-based models.
• Efforts are being made to empower tenants through collective organizing and self-determination to reduce disparities in access to opportunity.

With a housing stock that spans all five boroughs, NYCHA is a city within a city.

• Federal funding for public housing shifted in the 1990s from performance-based grants to per-unit subsidies, triggering a long-term decline in support for NYCHA.
• The agency was forced to absorb 20,000 state and city-built units without additional operating or capital funding, further straining its financial stability.
• A 2019 federal agreement appointed a Monitor to oversee critical compliance areas including heat, lead abatement, mold, and elevator maintenance.
• The City has committed record capital funding, including $3.6 billion through 2035, to help the agency meet the rigorous terms of the HUD Agreement.
• NYCHA’s 20-year capital needs peaked at $78.3 billion in 2023, though recent modernization efforts have finally begun to slow the growth of this deficit.
• Despite systemic disinvestment, the agency is attempting to transition back to its original role as a public developer through creative redevelopment tools.

Despite significant improvements in service delivery since the initiation of the HUD Agreement, no amount of reform can wholly counterbalance the systemic disinvestment in public housing by the federal government that NYCHA has experienced over the course of the last six decades.

• NYCHA is utilizing three primary initiatives—PACT, the Trust, and Comp Mod—to address long-term preservation and capital needs.
• The PACT program converts public housing to Section 8 funding, bringing in private management while NYCHA retains ownership and oversight.
• The Public Housing Preservation Trust allows for comprehensive repairs while keeping management under NYCHA, requiring a resident opt-in vote.
• Comprehensive Modernization (Comp Mod) allows for holistic renovations but lacks the scalability of other programs due to a lack of private capital access.
• Approximately 25% of NYCHA's 177,000 units have already been renovated or have an identified path to improvement through these programs.
• The administration is shifting toward a dual focus on improving existing resident conditions and helping solve the city's broader housing affordability crisis.

A development’s residents must opt-in to the Trust through a certified voting procedure.

• NYCHA is implementing a systemic Waste Plumbing Initiative to replace deteriorated lines and renovate kitchens and bathrooms to eliminate the root causes of mold.
• The Mold & Leaks Restore & Renew (MLRR) program coordinates multiple trades to provide immediate relief for residents with long-standing maintenance issues.
• A targeted initiative will modernize aging elevator infrastructure, which averages over 25 years in age, to ensure accessibility for older adults and those with mobility challenges.
• The 'Clean Heat for All' program aims to provide 20,000 families with sustainable, resident-controlled heating and cooling via specialized window heat pump units.
• These infrastructure investments are designed to reduce long-term operating costs while significantly improving the daily quality of life for public housing residents.

The MLRR program brings together all necessary trades – plumbers, plasterers, bricklayers, carpenters, and painters – to fully resolve leaks and restore apartments in a coordinated effort.

• NYCHA maintains a structured governance system through approximately 200 Resident Associations and a City-wide Council of Presidents.
• Despite these structures, resident engagement is low, with voter turnout for association elections typically ranging between only 3% and 5%.
• The Mamdani administration launched 'NYCHA in Your Neighborhood' in 2026 to provide in-person support and direct access to various City agencies.
• A new Critical Repairs Initiative (CRI) will be established to address long-standing habitability issues like structural damage and unusable fixtures.
• The CRI model expands upon the existing Mold and Leaks Ombudsperson Call Center, which has assisted nearly 30,000 households since 2019.

However, elections for Resident Association members typically see only 3-5% voter turnout, and only a small number of residents regularly attend Resident Association meetings.

• NYCHA has significantly improved vacant unit turnaround, increasing move-ins by 50 percent and reducing turnaround time by 73 days.
• The average cost to make a vacant apartment move-in ready is $59,000, covering critical asbestos abatement, lead removal, and general repairs.
• The City is making its largest-ever capital commitment of $256 million to restore vacant units, specifically targeting families experiencing homelessness.
• The Public Housing Preservation Trust and PACT programs are the primary vehicles for gut-renovating 25,000 and 62,000 homes respectively.
• Modernization efforts include infrastructure upgrades like elevators and heating, while ensuring rents remain capped at 30% of household income.
• Resident engagement is being prioritized, allowing tenants to select kitchen finishes and provide input on community facility upgrades.

The lead and asbestos work is time-consuming and costly: the average cost to make each apartment move-in ready is about $59,000.

• The PACT program has facilitated over $10 billion in capital repairs across 32,000 homes, with nearly 14,000 more in the planning pipeline.
• Residents in PACT developments retain the same basic rights as traditional public housing tenants, with protections that exceed federal standards.
• Resident Associations now drive project priorities, including the selection of partner teams and the creation of community vision plans.
• New initiatives like 'Post-Conversion Resident Partnership Meetings' aim to ensure long-term accountability and transparency after renovations are complete.
• NYCHA is launching a 'Pathway to Authorization Program' to help unauthorized occupants gain legal status during the conversion process.
• Technical Roundtables will be established to dispel misinformation and clarify the differences between Section 8 and Section 9 programs.

Resident Associations play a key role in developing community plans that memorialize a vision for design, property management, social services, and more.

• NYCHA is shifting from a period of federal disinvestment toward creative redevelopment of its 2,400 acres of land to generate revenue and housing.
• The 'Build First' model aims to minimize displacement by constructing new apartments for existing residents before they are required to move out of older units.
• A 'Transfer of Assistance' pilot uses Section 8 subsidies to allow residents to move into newly built HPD affordable housing while maintaining their rights and protections.
• Vacated units under the transfer program allow NYCHA to access new funding sources to rehabilitate and lease the older apartments to new families.
• NYCHA is collaborating with City Hall and the Housing Development Corporation to create a package of new financing tools to address the massive backlog of capital repairs.

This 'Build First' model applies lessons learned from failed past programs, like HOPE VI, by minimizing displacement, while replacing existing NYCHA apartments one-for-one and adding new housing.

• The City is introducing the Subordinate Market Rate Revolving Term Loan (SMRRT) to provide flexible gap financing for housing projects.
• Unlike one-time subsidies, the SMRRT loan functions as a revolving investment tool where repayments are recycled into future affordable housing.
• The Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses will be the first to use SMRRT loans to build new apartments without relying on high-cost private equity.
• A new policy shift aims to proactively include NYCHA residents in neighborhood and citywide planning initiatives led by other agencies.
• The administration plans to scale economic mobility programs through the REES office to build generational wealth for residents.

This means that the SMRRT loan will enable value created by new mixed-income housing development to flow back to the public sector – supporting future affordable housing project financing and preserving the long-term public benefit of new housing.

• The Childcare Business Pathways Program provides a 10-week training course to help NYCHA residents launch licensed home-based childcare businesses.
• The City is seeking philanthropic partnerships to scale proven models that address the regulatory and logistical hurdles faced by low-income entrepreneurs.
• The Save for College Program automatically provides NYC public school students with scholarship accounts, already benefiting over 20,000 NYCHA children.
• Small financial assets have a disproportionate impact on educational outcomes, with modest savings accounts significantly increasing college graduation rates.
• The administration aims to leverage billions in housing investments to create an equitable pipeline of middle-class jobs for residents earning an average of $26,000.
• Future initiatives focus on expanding resident training programs like Housing Career Pathways to ensure sustained access to high-quality employment.

Research shows that a child in a low-income household with a college savings account of just $1,500 is three times more likely to go to college and over four times more likely to graduate than a child without an account.

• New York City is facing a historic housing shortage with a rental vacancy rate of 1.4%, the lowest in half a century.
• The crisis disproportionately affects low-income households, with 86% of those earning under $50,000 being rent-burdened.
• Middle-class public servants, including teachers and nurses, are increasingly being priced out of the city they serve.
• The administration aims to create 200,000 new affordable homes over the next decade, the most ambitious target in modern city history.
• Proposed initiatives include historic investments in deeply affordable housing and land-use changes to increase density near public transit.
• Workforce development programs like the NYCHA Resident Training Academy are being integrated to provide career growth in the construction trades.

The vacancy rate was less than one percent for apartments renting for all but the highest-quartile of rents; a mere 0.4% of the lowest-rent apartments was available.

• The Mayor’s Executive Budget allocates $5 billion in capital funds for FY27 and FY28 to maximize federal subsidies and accelerate affordable housing construction.
• The Construction Justice Act (CJA) will mandate a $40 per hour minimum wage and benefit standard for workers on targeted City-assisted housing projects.
• HPD plans to increase subsidized housing production by 35%, aiming for 8,000 new homes annually with half reserved for extremely and very low-income households.
• A new policy will reduce the rent burden for the lowest-income residents from the national 30% standard to 25% of their monthly income to ensure long-term stability.
• The city is expanding housing specifically for New Yorkers in the shelter system, with a projected 40% increase in reserved units compared to previous years.

For these households, HPD will size their monthly rent at 25% of their monthly income.

• The City is increasing its supportive housing commitment to $1 billion for FY27 and FY28, a 60% increase aimed at addressing homelessness and chronic illness.
• Senior housing production will rise to 1,000 new homes annually, featuring an inter-generational pilot to reduce social isolation by mixing age groups.
• New 'Community Resiliency Hubs' will be integrated into senior buildings to provide refuge and emergency support during climate-related disasters.
• The historic Stewart Hotel in Midtown South is being converted into permanent housing for over 550 formerly homeless and low-income households.
• The administration is prioritizing housing for justice-impacted individuals, recognizing that stable shelter is a prerequisite for successful reentry and public safety.

These new projects will include an inter-generational pilot initiative to build senior-restricted apartments alongside non-age restricted apartments – intentionally creating multi-generational communities within a single housing development.

• The city is launching a new Brooklyn transitional housing site to provide vocational and therapeutic services for 81 justice-involved individuals.
• The 'Just Home' project in the Bronx is moving forward to provide specialized medical care for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with complex health needs.
• A $4.8 million investment in Justice-Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) aims to create over 350 homes for those with behavioral health histories.
• The administration is exploring a revolving loan fund to catalyze private market investment and finance shovel-ready projects on difficult or unique sites.
• New strategies aim to bypass high-cost private equity by offering repayable construction financing as a flexible alternative for mixed-income developments.
• The city is partnering with philanthropic organizations to provide pre-development funding for M/WBE and faith-based developers who have been systemically excluded.

This first-of-its-kind project to serve formerly incarcerated New Yorkers with complex medical needs had been long delayed before Mayor Mamdani took office in January 2026.

• The Faith-Based Development Initiative provides technical assistance and financial tools to help mission-based organizations build affordable housing on their land.
• A new small buildings development program will offer low-interest loans to facilitate construction on underutilized sites that lack economies of scale.
• The city is prioritizing support for emerging developers to diversify the housing market and bring affordable units to a wider variety of neighborhoods.
• Federal funding from HUD is identified as a critical lifeline for NYCHA operations, senior housing, and tenant protection programs.
• The administration is actively advocating against federal funding cuts and policy changes that threaten the housing stability of vulnerable New Yorkers.

This program will aim to facilitate development of smaller building types for which developers often struggle to secure sources of financing or reach economies of scale.

• The City is leveraging federal tax credit reforms and advocating for increased equity to support housing for extremely low-income families.
• The SPEED Task Force has identified seven key initiatives to eliminate bureaucratic red tape and reduce the timeline for housing production.
• HPD is implementing a public-facing prioritization framework to ensure transparency and cost-efficiency in how limited capital is allocated.
• New construction models, such as modular housing, are being explored to lower development costs while maintaining safety and job standards.
• Historical zoning and regulatory changes since 1961 have reduced citywide housing capacity by 80 percent, often serving exclusionary ends.

The comprehensive 1961 rezoning reduced citywide housing capacity by 80 percent and marked the start of decades of regulatory change — historic districting in the mid-1960s, environmental review in the mid-1970s, modern-day Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) in the late-1980s — that made housing far harder to build.

• Decades of underbuilding have created a severe housing shortage, pushing new market rents to nearly double the citywide average.
• The city is shifting toward ambitious rezonings to allow private and public actors to build more housing without relying solely on public subsidies.
• A new 'Fair Housing Growth Strategy' will set specific production targets for every neighborhood to ensure equitable development.
• Wealthy, resource-rich neighborhoods often add virtually no new housing, while some are actually losing units as apartments are combined.
• The strategy aims to dismantle the legacy of segregation and discriminatory practices that lock working families out of high-opportunity areas.

Some high-cost, resource-rich neighborhoods, like parts of the Upper East Side, the West Village, and Park Slope, are even losing housing as wealthy New Yorkers combine existing apartments faster than new apartments are built.

• New York City voters approved charter amendments to fast-track affordable housing reviews from seven months to just 90 days in specific districts.
• Twelve community districts with the lowest historical rates of development will be targeted for proactive, City-sponsored land use actions.
• The Mamdani administration is prioritizing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) to increase density in areas with high access to mass transit.
• Proposed zoning reforms include density bumps near transit hubs and repurposing underutilized surface parking lots for residential use.
• The repeal of a 60-year-old state law allows the City to finally exceed previous density caps in central areas with high job and transit access.

Citywide TOD will also look at the housing potential locked up in required but underutilized surface parking lots in areas well-served by mass transit.

• The administration aims to update outdated land use regulations that have frozen neighborhoods in place and exacerbated housing shortages.
• A new emphasis on equity and fairness seeks to open wealthy, high-opportunity areas that have historically used zoning for exclusionary ends.
• The 395 Flatbush project serves as a model, transforming a vacant commercial building into 1,200 apartments without requiring City capital subsidies.
• Comprehensive Neighborhood Plans will be launched in the Bronx and Brooklyn to align local zoning with transit access and citywide housing needs.
• The introduction of 'Micro Plans' will target smaller geographies to drive housing production where full-scale neighborhood rezonings are not feasible.
• The City intends to maximize the potential of its 15,000 owned properties to deliver permanently affordable housing at speed and scale.

In other, wealthier and high-opportunity areas, outdated zoning has often served exclusionary ends, closing off neighborhoods to growth and limiting their racial and economic diversity.

• The LIFT Task Force was established to identify public sites capable of producing 25,000 housing units over the next decade.
• The Neighborhood Builders Fast Track program aims to reduce pre-development timelines by 2.5 years for non-profit and minority-owned developers.
• The City plans to create entirely new 'micro-neighborhoods' by redeveloping large publicly controlled facilities and infrastructure.
• Major redevelopment projects at Roosevelt Island, Brooklyn Marine Terminal, and Sunnyside Yards are expected to deliver over 20,000 housing units.
• Strategic partnerships with State and Federal agencies will focus on master planning for massive sites like the 100-acre Aqueduct Racetrack.
• To expedite 'mega-projects,' the City will separate infrastructure and remediation financing from housing construction to simplify execution.

The Neighborhood Builders Fast Track, in addition to other streamlined processes such as the Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP), will reduce the overall pre-development process by approximately 2.5 years.

• The Sunnyside Yard project represents a massive 180-acre opportunity to build a new, sustainable neighborhood over existing rail infrastructure.
• A proposed 115-acre deck would connect Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, and Woodside while providing housing, schools, and greenways.
• The Mamdani administration plans to prioritize 100% affordable housing on city-owned land across all five boroughs.
• To maximize limited resources, the city will utilize mixed-income projects where market-rate units cross-subsidize affordable ones.
• Development partners will be required to reinvest land-purchase savings into additional affordable units or public service infrastructure.
• The strategy includes co-locating new housing with existing public assets like libraries and schools during necessary capital upgrades.

Building the deck creates new public “land” that will support a new complete neighborhood to be built in phases over the yard.

• The City is adopting a 'double duty' capital planning strategy by co-locating new housing with essential community facilities like schools and libraries.
• The redevelopment of 100 Gold Street demonstrates how aging, high-maintenance office buildings can be converted into thousands of residential units.
• Proceeds from the disposition of underutilized public real estate are being used to fund agency relocations into higher-quality, modern spaces.
• The City plans to sell unused development rights from landmarked sites and 'right-sized' facilities to generate revenue for affordable housing elsewhere.
• New accelerated land-use review processes (ELURP) will be used to offload unbuildable land fragments, reducing maintenance liabilities for taxpayers.
• Strategic asset management is being integrated with climate adaptation efforts to protect residents in disproportionately burdened Environmental Justice areas.

100 Gold illustrates how smart structuring of asset disposition and housing policy can turn a fiscal liability into a multiplier—delivering housing, modern civic infrastructure, and long-term fiscal value for New York taxpayers.

• Climate change disproportionately impacts low-income communities of color, necessitating a place-based approach to infrastructure and housing.
• The Climate Strong Communities program aims to integrate resilient infrastructure with community services through neighborhood-level planning.
• The Jewel Streets resilience plan addresses severe flooding through drainage upgrades, rezoning for 5,200 homes, and a $20 million homeowner pilot.
• The city is balancing historic preservation with growth by identifying opportunities for new housing and adaptive reuse within landmarked districts.
• The Landmarks Preservation Commission is launching a study to increase housing production and map where accessory dwelling units can be built.

The close relationship between housing quality, climate risk, and unequal outcomes underscores the need for a coordinated, place-based approach to climate adaptation.

• The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is streamlining the transfer of development rights (TDRs) to help smaller property owners monetize unused space.
• NYCHA is successfully utilizing TDR sales to fund critical infrastructure repairs, as seen in the $19.5 million generated for Campos Plaza II renovations.
• TDR transfers are being leveraged as a 'win-win' strategy to finance public housing rehabilitation while creating new mixed-income and affordable private housing.
• New York City faces extreme racial disparities in homeownership, with Black and Hispanic residents each accounting for only 10% of recent home purchases.
• The city aims to increase homeownership opportunities by 85% through programs like Open Door and the Affordable Neighborhood Cooperative Program (ANCP).

The sale of NYCHA’s development rights was a win-win: NYCHA received approximately $19.5 million from the sale of its development rights in 2024, providing approximately 20% of the upfront financing needed to comprehensively rehabilitate Campos Plaza II.

• The administration plans to double the production of new homeownership units through the Open Door program by FY27 and FY28.
• A new program called 'Our Home' will launch in 2026 to facilitate the conversion of rental buildings into resident-controlled cooperatives.
• The city is increasing support for Community Land Trusts (CLTs) to ensure long-term affordability and community control of land.
• The 'ADU for You' initiative provides financial and technical tools for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units for extra income and housing capacity.
• Efforts include protecting existing homeowners from scams, rising costs, and outdated regulations through centralized resources.

As tenants of Our Home buildings become homeowners, they will gain control over the future of their homes.

• The City has launched the 'ADU for You' website, offering pre-approved plans, cost estimators, and technical assistance to simplify the permitting process for homeowners.
• Financial barriers are addressed through the Plus One ADU program, providing up to $395,000 in support for eligible homeowners in partnership with New York State.
• Specific guidelines are being established for historic districts, allowing conversions of cellars, attics, and garages while prohibiting new backyard structures.
• The city is leveraging federal 'HUD Code' manufactured homes to bypass varied local construction codes, significantly reducing costs and installation time.
• A new basement legalization pilot program aims to bring over 100,000 illegal apartments up to code to prevent future tragedies related to fire and flooding.
• The Department of Buildings will streamline permitting for manufactured units, enabling homeowners to install new housing in as little as one month.

The savings are so large, in fact, that some manufactured homes are an order of magnitude cheaper than similarly sized homes built with traditional methods.

• The city is launching a pilot program to bring illegal basement apartments into code compliance, providing homeowners with financial support for safety upgrades.
• A shift in policy moves away from punitive measures toward basement units, aiming to keep residents housed rather than forcing evictions.
• The HomeFirst program is expanding its capacity to assist up to 300 first-time homebuyers annually with down payment assistance for those earning up to 120% AMI.
• The newly created Mayor’s Office of Deed Theft Prevention will combat scammers who target vulnerable homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods.
• Strategic enforcement and data-sharing will be used to protect Black and Brown homeowners who have been disproportionately affected by property theft crimes.

However, if our only tool is punishment – generally leading to eviction for residents – then those units will simply stay in the shadows and will be less safe for residents and neighbors.

• The city is establishing a new Office of Deed Theft Prevention to proactively investigate property fraud and protect homeowner equity.
• A comprehensive Homeowner Handbook will be released by 2027 in eight languages to centralize resources on regulations and legal aid.
• The Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) will offer no-interest loans to help low-income residents resolve arrears and avoid foreclosure.
• HPD is increasing HomeFix loan maximums from $60,000 to $100,000 to help owners address critical repairs and maintain housing quality.
• Technological upgrades to the SCHE and DHE filing systems aim to simplify property tax exemptions for senior and disabled homeowners.

Those who are unable to get back on track risk foreclosure and losing the stable housing and equity they worked hard to build.

• The administration aims to reform New York City's property tax system, which currently forces homeowners in lower-income neighborhoods to pay double the effective tax rate of those in wealthier areas.
• New York City faces a critical housing shortage with a rental vacancy rate of only 1.4%, leading to over 100,000 people sleeping in city shelters nightly as of 2026.
• A commitment has been made to build 200,000 affordable homes over the next decade, with a 40% increase in units specifically set aside for those experiencing homelessness.
• The city is expanding the 'Right to Counsel' program with an additional $55.6 million in annual funding to provide legal representation for tenants facing eviction.
• Prevention efforts are being prioritized through the Homebase program, which connects at-risk households to benefits and services to avoid shelter entry.

In neighborhoods like Canarsie, East New York, and Cambria Heights, homeowners pay double the effective tax rate of homeowners in much wealthier communities, including Park Slope and the East Village.

• The City is investing $3.2 million in Peer and Housing Navigator services to provide mentorship from young adults with lived experience of homelessness.
• A new 'MATCH' pilot program will launch in 2026 to directly connect shelter households with available affordable housing units to reduce administrative delays.
• The CityFHEPS rental assistance process will be streamlined through expedited inspections and technology upgrades to speed up the transition from voucher to lease.
• The 'Street to Home' pilot will be expanded, utilizing a 'housing first' approach that prioritizes immediate placement for unsheltered individuals before administrative tasks.
• The Affordable Housing Services (AHS) program will be refined to help non-profits secure long-term leases and create deeply affordable housing with integrated social services.

Programs such as the Street to Home pilot prioritize immediate placement into housing, allowing individuals the time they need to stabilize before completing administrative processes.

• The administration aims to transform the shelter system from emergency relief into a functional bridge toward permanent housing for over 100,000 New Yorkers.
• Key initiatives include closing emergency asylum seeker shelters and phasing out the use of hotels for families with children in favor of purpose-built facilities.
• New shelter designs will prioritize improved living conditions and the potential for future conversion into permanent housing units.
• The City is expanding low-barrier stabilization options to better engage unsheltered individuals with healthcare and social services.
• A coordinated clinical initiative across multiple agencies will target individuals with complex needs, such as serious mental illness and substance use disorders.
• The 'Bridge to Home' model will be expanded to provide specialized transitional housing for homeless patients being discharged from municipal hospitals.

The shelter system must function not only as emergency relief, but as a bridge to permanent housing.

• The Housing for Health program provides clinical support and medical respite to ensure vulnerable patients transition from hospitals to permanent housing.
• A new Housing and Homelessness Task Force integrates feedback from advocates and individuals with lived experience to improve shelter operations and supportive housing.
• Specialized working groups are developing tailored strategies for high-need populations, including those with serious mental illness or recent justice involvement.
• The administration's commitment to building 200,000 affordable homes is projected to support 30,000 annual construction jobs and 12,700 permanent operations roles.
• The Construction Justice Act (Local Law 21 of 2026) mandates just wages, benefits, and robust oversight for workers on City-financed construction sites.

To date, the program has stably housed over 1,800 households to help end a cycle between shelter, hospital, and the street.

• The Construction Justice Act (CJA) mandates a minimum wage and benefit standard of $40 per hour for workers on targeted City-assisted housing projects.
• Developers must submit Community Hiring Plans to the NYC Comptroller, who serves as the primary enforcement authority for wage compliance and local hiring goals.
• The HPD will integrate CJA requirements into project financing and closing processes to ensure developer obligations are defined upfront.
• The City is forming an interagency working group to evaluate model Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) specifically for affordable housing projects.
• NYCHA is expanding union apprenticeship and training programs for residents, focusing on green technology installations like heat pumps and electric compactors.

By embedding accountability mechanisms throughout the project lifecycle, the CJA advances a more equitable and transparent construction environment while ensuring that public investment in housing projects delivers meaningful economic benefits to New Yorkers.

• The EDC plans to invest in workforce development for modular and industrialized construction methods to improve job quality and worker safety.
• New training programs will focus on hybrid construction, mass timber installation, and digital fabrication in partnership with labor unions.
• The City aims to utilize City-owned assets to establish local modular manufacturing and staging facilities to reduce logistical costs and emissions.
• Industrial Development Agency (IDA) incentives will be used to catalyze private investment in local supply chains and ensure stable housing production.
• While construction-related injuries have reached a 10-year low, a recent rise in site fatalities has prompted the creation of a new safety committee.

Even one death on a construction site is one too many, and reversing this increase in work site fatalities continues to be DOB’s top priority.

• A new committee led by city officials and labor voices will investigate root causes of construction fatalities to reform local laws and enforcement.
• The city plans to integrate advanced technologies like robotics and wearable sensors to protect workers from extreme weather and hazardous tasks.
• The Buildings Tech Lab will utilize data analytics to identify and penalize 'bad actors' who manage unsafe sites or poorly maintained buildings.
• New procurement strategies will allow the city to pilot and scale construction innovations in real-world scenarios before full implementation.
• The city emphasizes that technology must complement, not replace, core safety standards, worker training, and the right to refuse unsafe work.
• The Affordable & Efficient Code Reform Task Force will launch in 2026 to modernize building codes and reduce the costs of housing production.

Innovations such as robotics, sensor-enabled wearable equipment, and digital construction management tools can reduce hazardous tasks on construction sites, reduce time spent in extreme heat or cold, and enable safer, more predictable workflows.

• The AECR will conduct a time-limited review of building codes to identify cost-saving measures that do not compromise safety.
• The city plans to explore smaller elevator requirements to increase accessibility in low-cost, mid-rise buildings, aligning with international standards.
• A 2026 pilot program will test the feasibility of adding smaller elevators to existing walk-up buildings to assist aging populations.
• Plumbing code revisions will evaluate the use of cost-effective plastic piping and material-saving innovations used in other national codes.
• The administration aims to reintroduce shared housing options, such as rooming houses, to meet the needs of a growing number of single-adult households.

But smaller elevators are common in new buildings throughout Europe and Asia, and AECR will explore how to incorporate international practices in New York City.

• New York City aims to utilize industrialized construction, including prefabricated and offsite methods, to build affordable housing faster and at lower costs.
• Standardizing technical specifications and components is essential to move away from bespoke project designs and achieve economies of scale.
• The strategy requires deep inter-agency coordination to streamline codes, permitting, and inspections for manufactured housing.
• The NYC Mass Timber Studio has demonstrated that sustainable materials can meet building codes while lowering carbon emissions and accelerating timelines.
• Future initiatives include partnering with manufacturers to develop pre-approved modules and launching new cohorts to train design teams in modular delivery.

Establishing standardized technical specifications will allow builders to achieve efficiencies by reusing technologies, designs, and delivery models across projects rather than reinventing them each time.

• The administration aims to restore public trust by demanding the same level of excellence from government services as is expected from the private and creative sectors.
• A significant breakdown in trust has occurred due to visible failures, such as vacant lots and empty regulated apartments existing alongside a massive shelter population.
• The housing crisis is exacerbated by extreme bureaucratic delays, where it can take over eight years from a building's proposal to tenant move-in.
• The SPEED Task Force was established to identify and eliminate the 'red tape' and duplicative processes that currently slow down housing production.
• A whole-of-government approach involving over 100 agency experts and 100 external groups was used to generate recommendations for shortening development timelines.
• The reform strategy targets four specific stages of development: environmental review, pre-development, permitting, and marketing.

In particularly egregious cases, over eight years can pass between the day a new affordable housing building is proposed to the day tenants are able to move in.

• The City aims to slash zoning pre-certification timelines from an average of two years down to just six months for most housing projects.
• A new dedicated review team will be established within the Department of City Planning to prioritize and fast-track housing proposals into public review.
• Interagency task forces and project management teams will be expanded to shepherd 100% affordable housing projects through complex financial and permitting hurdles.
• The City is investing in additional staff across multiple agencies, including DOT and DEP, to expedite environmental reviews and prevent development bottlenecks.
• Reforms to the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) review process are being implemented to protect infrastructure while maintaining construction speed.

Pre-certification has historically taken an average of two years, even for modest housing projects like a proposal to build a four-story building with just six apartments.

• The City is streamlining stormwater management reviews by clarifying project definitions and adding staff to maintain a 45-day response window.
• Office-to-residential conversions are being expedited through increased staffing in the Asbestos Technical Review Unit, aiming to cut permit approval times by two months.
• The Bureau of Fire Prevention is receiving additional capacity to prevent fire alarm inspections from delaying final Certificates of Occupancy for new developments.
• A major overhaul of the Housing Connect lottery is planned to reduce the median applicant approval time from 210 days to fewer than 100 days.
• Technical reforms to the lottery include shortening application periods, streamlining income verification, and digitizing paper application reviews.
• New initiatives are being launched to more efficiently transition homeless New Yorkers from shelters into permanent supportive housing.

The median time to complete applicant approvals for lottery projects in FY25 was 210 days – delays that deny housing opportunities to New Yorkers who need them most and make projects more expensive.

• The City is launching the MATCH pilot program in 2026 to bypass bureaucratic hurdles by allowing direct coordination between landlords and shelter providers.
• Technological upgrades and the elimination of duplicative inspections aim to automate the manual and burdensome homeless placement process.
• NYCHA has significantly reduced apartment turnaround times but still faces a backlog of over 6,000 vacant units requiring extensive environmental remediation.
• A historic investment of $374 million is being allocated to renovate vacant public housing units, which cost an average of $59,000 each to make move-in ready.
• An internal working group aims to reduce the supportive housing vacancy rate to 5% by 2026 by identifying and removing systemic placement bottlenecks.

The lead and asbestos work is time-consuming and costly: the average cost to make each apartment move-in ready is about $59,000.

• The city has launched the Back Home Unit to provide a centralized hub for residents displaced by fires and natural disasters.
• New guidance has been issued to supportive housing providers to help tenants avoid eviction and streamline administrative processes.
• The Department of Social Services is investing in technology like Access HRA and CurRent to provide real-time tracking of housing applications.
• Targeted support is being expanded for vulnerable populations, including veterans and people with disabilities, to reduce housing placement delays.
• The administration is implementing a multi-phase housing plan that includes deed theft prevention and stricter enforcement against negligent landlords.
• Future progress will be tracked through updates to the Mayor’s Management report to ensure transparency and accountability in housing goals.

For far too long, affected tenants lacked coordinated City services and were forced to navigate a web of agencies and the American Red Cross without dedicated assistance.