Fighting for Affordable Housing

About

New Yorkers are increasingly unable to afford to live in their own city. As rents and housing prices rise, our neighborhoods are becoming more segregated, homelessness continues to rise, and people are being pushed out of their communities. There is a significant lack of deep and permanently affordable housing opportunities developed for lower income new Yorkers, and particularly for the nearly 30% of households considered extremely low income. We are all in danger of losing the diverse city we love. 

Why This Matters

While the government acknowledges the affordable housing crisis, local policies and programs too often continue to serve the needs of private developers and the private market over the actual needs of New Yorkers, especially, our lowest income families. Additionally, as we have learned from the current expiring use crisis—we cannot afford to keep losing the affordable housing we develop and preserve; public investment in affordable housing should permanently serve the public interest.

What We're Doing

ANHD is fighting to create fair and affordable housing throughout New York City that prioritizes those most in need and least served by the private market.

We believe New York’s affordable housing policies and investments must be driven by the needs of our people, and not by the real estate industry or private developers. Our work attempts to shift housing resources and policies to focus on the lowest income New Yorkers. 

ANHD’s goal is for all affordable housing developed with public resources to be permanently affordable, avoiding the current time-limited affordability requirements that have left the city scrambling to preserve subsidized housing created in earlier eras with public dollars. We also want deep affordability, which ensures those at the lowest end of the income spectrum have housing opportunities in our city.

Check out the associated projects below for more information on how we are fighting for affordable housing.  

Related Resources

Thank you to Committee Chair Pierina Sanchez and members of the Housing and Buildings Committee for the opportunity to testify on the housing-related proposals in the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Budget.
A report showing that New York’s severe rent debt and eviction risk require immediate and long-term solutions.
Not only are communities of color getting infected with and dying from COVID-19 at a much higher rate than their white counterparts, but they are simultaneously facing eviction from their homes.
A Model for Equitable Development in New York City
ERAP's technical and accessibility issues were predictable and preventable and are unacceptable at a time when rent relief is a matter of life or death.
A Report on the Relationship Between Rezonings, Affordable Housing, & Racial Equity in New York City
ANHD’s 2021 Housing Risk Chart Shows BIPOC Neighborhoods in NYC Continue to Experience the Worst COVID Impacts and Greatest Housing Risks
Now more than ever, rent stabilization protections and maintaining the most affordable rents possible are paramount.

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