About the Report

As New York City faces growing pressure on its affordable housing system, ANHD’s new report, Preserving the Foundation: The Crisis Facing New York City’s Affordable Housing, presents clear evidence of a system in distress and a roadmap for action.

The report finds that thousands of affordable homes are already in financial trouble. Rising insurance premiums, utilities, and maintenance costs have far outpaced the revenues that nonprofit housing providers can collect under regulated rents. Community development corporations (CDCs) operate with much smaller margins than for-profit developers, and are less able to absorb losses. For these community-based developers who rebuilt neighborhoods after decades of disinvestment, this moment marks a breaking point. Without intervention, decades of public and community investment—and the stability of hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers—are at risk.

Why This Matters

For decades, progress in housing has been measured by how much we build. But today’s crisis is equally about what we stand to lose. Preservation is not maintenance; it is prevention. We cannot build fast enough to replace what is slipping away. The only path forward is to protect the homes we already have, and the community institutions that sustain them.

Preservation efforts safeguard decades of public investment, prevents displacement, and ensures that low-income and BIPOC New Yorkers—those most affected by inequitable housing policies—can remain rooted in the neighborhoods they helped build.

What We’re Doing

ANHD and our members are advancing bold policy solutions and direct support for nonprofit housing providers. The report recommends immediate stabilization measures such as launching the Housing Access Preservation Initiative (HAPI) and strengthening operating subsidies like Section 8, CityFHEPS, and HAVP, along with long-term reforms to ensure lasting financial stability across the sector.

Preservation is both fiscally sound and morally urgent. Through research, advocacy, and grassroots organizing, ANHD is mobilizing communities and pushing for systemic reforms to protect the affordable housing that anchors New York City’s future.

Click the “Download” button at the top of this page to read the full report.