New York City’s housing and affordability crisis prompted Mayor Eric Adams to open the waitlist for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, which had been closed to general applications for nearly 15 years. During the open period this month, applicants across the city applied in droves, desperate to secure a spot.
“Addressing our city’s housing crisis means using every tool our city has, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” Adams said in a statement.
Section 8 is a federally funded housing program run by NYCHA that provides rental subsidies for eligible low-income families to rent housing in the private market, or from landlords directly. It was created in 1978 under the Housing and Community Development Act, allowing families to pay no more than 40% of their adjusted monthly income toward their rent while NYCHA pays the rest.
The application period for the waitlist, now closed indefinitely, was open from June 3–9. During that time, NYCHA received a total of 633,808 online applications, demonstrating a vast and immediate demand for housing solutions.
NYCHA currently provides housing vouchers to 241,117 residents in the city. The program does not have residency requirements or mandate that applicants be previously unhoused. Heads of household must generally be at least 18 years old to qualify. Income limits range from $54,350 for a single person to $102,500 for a family of eight.
The city’s online portal streamlined the process for those newly applying. For people struggling with accessing the portal or filling out the application, electeds across the boroughs quickly organized free workshops to assist them all last week. Mostly Black women and the elderly, two groups more likely to experience housing insecurity in the city, showed up, said organizers.
“I hope [my application] goes through. I’m just praying,” said S.A., 65, a Brooklyn resident who wished to be identified only by her initials. She attended a Section 8 application workshop in Flatbush, Brooklyn, organized by Councilmember Farah Louis. She has lived with her 92-year-old aunt as a caretaker for years up until the aunt’s recent death, and now is in housing court with their landlord, who wants to evict her. Her case comes up for review next month.
Tenant organizers said they’ve heard anecdotal evidence that people can spend months, or even years, on the waitlists for a Section 8 voucher. Part of the organizers’ job at the workshop is to set realistic expectations for applicants. “I had to explain to a couple that this is not a guarantee,” said Lindsey Sutton, Resident Engagement Specialist for Impacct Brooklyn. “People with disabilities, [the] elderly will be given priority, but there’s just so many people looking for places and rent is so high.”
In Flatbush, for example, where there is a large Haitian community and many residents speak the island’s Creole, many applicants had issues with understanding the application because of the language barrier. The portal didn’t have a Creole translation available, so Louis provided a translator on the premises to help attendees communicate with tenant organizers.
One of the other issues encountered in filling out the application online was a gap in digital literacy for elderly people. One woman showed up to the Flatbush workshop with stacks of folders and documents, and ultimately was shown how to go through the necessary forms online on her phone within 30 minutes.
According to NYCHA, 3,700 applicants were on the waitlist before the lottery application period opened. The applicants selected for placement on the waitlist through the lottery process will not have an effect on those already on the existing waitlist, which will be updated with the new applicants by August 1. The city said 200,000 new applicants in total will be randomly selected to join the waitlist.
The plan is to give out at least 1,000 vouchers a month beginning in August, NYCHA said, but the actual rate of issuance is “dependent on funding and our authorized voucher turnover capacity.” All lottery applicants will receive written notification of selection or rejection, said NYCHA.
The hardest part for many people in dire situations, besides waiting to be put on the waiting list, is navigating land mines in the city’s housing market to find a landlord who will accept the housing voucher, said tenant organizers. Many continue to illegally discriminate against voucher holders.
“I was in the shelter for three years before I even received a housing voucher,” said Althea Matthews, 65, a homeless advocate. “The Section 8—I’m blessed to have it; everyone doesn’t get that opportunity. The process takes forever.”
Matthews was fully employed and housed before living in the shelter. On her way to work one day in 2011, her apartment building caught on fire. She was placed in temporary housing in a hotel when her father died. She had to give up her unit to attend his funeral and reapply for placement with proof of an obituary. In addition to struggling with the insurance to cover her damaged property, the storage facility that held recovered goods from the fire was hit by Hurricane Irene, further destroying her belongings, she said.
“I was distraught and trying to keep my mentality, because in the shelter, sometimes you can fall into depression which I was falling into,” Matthews said. “But I said, ‘I’m not going there.’”
Her advocacy work for the homeless kept Matthews grounded. She currently lives in a deregulated apartment in Williamsbridge, the Bronx. Her landlord was renting the apartment for $2,100. Matthews was looking for a landlord who would accept her voucher for about six months. She said she found an open house on Zillow on her own and pleaded her case with the owner. Her advice to others is to just be patient.
Housing advocates agree that the state passing and funding the Housing Access Voucher Program (HVAP) would help alleviate the need for Section 8 vouchers.
“This tremendous demand for vouchers should be a wake-up call for lawmakers,” said Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), in a statement. He added that a mechanism is needed for vacant apartments to be renovated and put back on the market.“Regulating rents provides poor housing quality, but subsidizing rents could give tenants the high-quality apartments they deserve. It’s what tenants need and it’s what our members want.”
Milton Perez, a leader with VOCAL-NY’s Homelessness Union, said in a statement, “Homelessness is not limited to the five boroughs—cities across the state, like Rochester and New Rochelle, are commencing their application processes. Our leaders in Albany must recognize this mad rush to join this waiting list as a wake-up call. New York needs a meaningful contribution toward solving its homelessness crisis by passing and funding the [voucher program] and building statewide permanent affordable housing for the more than 100,000 Homeless New Yorkers across the state.”
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member who writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.