The town’s housing company plans to overtake its housing lottery system after making numerous tweaks geared toward getting tenants into residences sooner.
Dina Levy, commissioner of the Division of Housing Preservation and Improvement, mentioned on Tuesday that the company is taking an in depth have a look at Housing Join, the portal utilized by potential tenants to use for publicly sponsored inexpensive housing within the metropolis. Although the company has made adjustments through the years, Levy mentioned “incremental fixes” aren’t sufficient and indicated that the whole system could possibly be changed.
“We plan to revamp each our housing lottery and our homeless placement methods,” she mentioned throughout a Metropolis Council preliminary finances listening to. “We’re taking a tough have a look at each a part of the method, and if vital, we will migrate to a extra environment friendly and nimble system.”
She didn’t share what options the company is exploring, however mentioned suggestions could also be launched as a part of a report by the Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Improvement, or SPEED, job power. Levy mentioned the company is near releasing a brand new system for monitoring leases involving housing voucher holders dwelling in metropolis homeless shelters.
The town launched Housing Join in 2013, and a brand new model of the system in 2020. The potential alternative of the lottery system comes after the company made changes to the applying and itemizing course of, together with permitting homeowners to relist obtainable inexpensive housing items on websites like StreetEasy and Craigslist. Beforehand, such items had been completely listed on Housing Join.
That change is meant to final by way of April 30, and it wasn’t instantly clear if the company would prolong that rule change because it contemplates broader overhaul of Housing Join. Final 12 months the company additionally eased paperwork necessities for potential tenants in hopes of rushing up the applying and approval course of.
Levy famous that HPD positioned greater than 10,000 households by way of Housing Join and greater than 4,600 households out of metropolis shelters by way of HPD’s homeless put aside necessities final 12 months. That’s a 15 % improve from the 12 months prior.
Nonetheless, the median time for approving a tenant who has utilized for an inexpensive residence by way of the lottery was 142 days in fiscal 12 months 2025. For placement by way of the homeless put aside program, the median was 235 days.
Final month Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a $127 billion preliminary budget. The mayor has threatened to lift property taxes and faucet into town’s reserves to make up for a $5 billion finances hole if the state doesn’t hike taxes on the state’s wealthiest. Gov. Kathy Hochul hasn’t warmed as much as the thought, however state lawmakers have pitched their very own will increase.
Below the preliminary finances, HPD’s expense finances for fiscal 12 months 2027 is a bit more than $1.4 billion, and its capital finances is $2.9 billion. The company has 2,400 staffers and 431 open positions, understanding to a 15 % emptiness price, Levy mentioned.
She famous that three-quarters of the company’s funding comes from the federal authorities, by way of packages resembling Part 8 and varied grant packages, sources which have repeatedly come below risk.
Throughout her ready testimony, the commissioner acknowledged that “working bills are strangling property homeowners” and {that a} “majority of property homeowners and managers on this metropolis are working in good religion.” Levy mentioned town is engaged on proposals to handle rising insurance coverage prices. However she additionally mentioned the company will aggressively go after dangerous actors within the business.
“For that small group of landlords who’ve willfully ignored the legislation for many years, functioning in essence as skilled slumlords, I want to make certain that our message right here at present is obvious,” she mentioned. “Their time is up.”
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