NYC Mayor's Office/Caroline Willis
A jobs fair for city agencies in March.
While New Yorkers are on the rebound from job loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment rates in NYCHA continue to plague residents, particularly among Black and Latino men, a new report finds.
While the total won’t be clear until remaining applications for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) are processed, a majority of the $391 in aid will likely go to the housing authority and other public housing tenants, with $35 million specifically earmarked for NYCHA. Still, thousands of New Yorkers living in public or subsidized housing did not apply for ERAP but continue to struggle with mounting debt.
The board so far includes three city housing officials, two tenants association presidents and the head of a nonprofit. NYCHA aims to initially transfer up to 25,000 units to the Trust, what supporters say will unlock federal housing subsidies to fund billions in renovations.
A través de políticas actualizadas, HUD requerirá que los propietarios, incluidas las autoridades de vivienda pública como NYCHA y los propietarios que aceptan vales de vivienda afiliados a HUD, adopten un enfoque más holístico cuando investiguen a los posibles inquilinos.
Through updated policies, HUD will require landlords—including public housing authorities like NYCHA, and property owners who accept HUD-affiliated housing vouchers—to take a more holistic approach when vetting potential renters.
That funding will go towards the New York City Continuum of Care (CoC) to address street homelessness, including the creation of a centralized “unit” to connect people with outreach teams and resources for finding shelter, healthcare and stable housing.
Niani Taylor, who lives in Brooklyn’s Van Dyke Houses, is among the small but growing number of NYCHA residents who report income from self-employment. Advocates say the Housing Authority could foster more entrepreneurs by expanding initiatives like its Business Pathways program, which helped Taylor grow her catering company. “I put my all into it.”
More than 36,000 NYCHA apartments have either undergone conversion or are in the process of being converted to the RAD-PACT program, which officials say has helped drive billions in needed repairs. But tenants—some of whom will get a chance to vote this year on whether they want their developments to join the initiative—remain distrustful of the change.
The rally comes after state lawmakers released budget proposals that include up to $389 million for public housing and Section 8 residents who were left out from the state’s pandemic-era Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). But tenants are pushing for more, pointing to estimates that public housing tenants across New York owe nearly $590 million in rent.
In a budget resolution unveiled last week, the State Senate earmarked $389 million for public housing and Section 8 tenants statewide who applied for, but were left out from, New York’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The Assembly proposed $385 million for the same purpose.
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