NYCHA Vacant Unit Count Worse Than Realized

City lawmakers are asking tough questions of the public housing authority, which revealed that there were more empty units within its portfolio than previously believed.

The New York City Council’s public housing committee grilled NYCHA officials during a hearing on Monday, Gothamist reported. This comes at a time when New Yorkers are facing a housing crunch and affordability crisis.

There’s a large disconnect between the number of families waiting for a public housing unit and the number of units unoccupied. There are 240,000 on the waitlist for a NYCHA traditional apartment, yet 6,000 units are empty, according to the organization’s dashboard.

In actuality, that number is higher. When counting units being held for resident relocations within NYCHA, those that need substantial repairs and those being converted to community uses, the number is greater than 8,600 vacant units.

A big problem for NYCHA is the inability to quickly fill vacated units. In the first four months of the fiscal year, it took an average of 423 days to turn over apartments, according to council members. NYCHA puts the average turnaround time at 350 days — still nearly a year — citing extensive upgrades required when a unit frees up.

Another concern is the ability to get shelter residents and those at risk into NYCHA apartments. Last year, only 500 shelter residents made the move, according to a report from the Coalition for the Homeless. The administration expects to double that this year, but that’s still below the 1,500 residents who relocated in 2021.

Additionally, about 2,000 households within NYCHA that applied for a transfer because of domestic violence were stuck on a waitlist as of September, according to Legal Services NYC.

“The transfer situation is appalling,” said Councilmember Alexa Avilés. “It has taken our office well over a year to transfer people facing violence, and it is particularly appalling when you know that there are thousands of vacant units in NYCHA.”

The vacancy rate across the NYCHA portfolio is approximately 4.5 percent, which chief operating officer Eva Trimble posited was below the national public housing vacancy rate of 5.3 percent.

— Holden Walter-Warner