Red Hook Houses

Wait Times for NYCHA Apartments Doubled Last Year, As Number of Vacant Units Climb

The length of time it takes NYCHA to rent out available apartments has climbed in recent years, one of many factors exacerbating the city’s affordable housing crisis, lawmakers say. “They just say it’s not ready,” said one resident currently living in a homeless shelter who has been waiting more than 10 months to move into the NYCHA unit she was approved for.

Bronx tenant and her two children in her apartment kitchen

City Limits’ Most-Read Housing Stories in 2022

It’s been an eventful year in New York City housing. Mayor Eric Adams launched a new plan for housing production and a controversial approach to street homelessness. At the same time, the city’s homeless shelter population reached historic highs this year, fueled in part by an increase in migrants from the southern border and by soaring rent costs, including the biggest price hike for rent-stabilized apartments in nearly a decade.

More NYC Students Were Homeless Last Year, Even as Enrollment Declined

Though total enrollment in city schools fell by 3.2 percent, the number of homeless-identifying students increased by 3.3 percent. Those 104,000 students include 29,000 who spent time in shelters, 69,000 temporarily sharing housing with others, and approximately 5,500 who were unsheltered—living in cars, parks, or abandoned buildings.