New York City’s budget is finally here — let’s dive into some of the details.
The battle over housing voucher expansion that once threatened to derail budget negotiations is just one controversial line item that made it into the adopted budget after Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin reached a deal on citywide spending last week.
A new voucher program, which will be administered by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, received a $175 million infusion in the budget document released before the holiday weekend. HPD’s overall appropriation of $1.8 billion for fiscal 2027 is nearly $198 million lower than the modified fiscal 2026 total of $2.04 billion.
Meanwhile, other HPD rental subsidy programs are slated to receive nearly $173 million less than they did in fiscal 2026, owing to a $174 million lower appropriation for non-staffing expenses combined with a $1.5 million boost in personal service expenses, according to the adopted budget.
The popular and pricey CityFHEPS voucher program will continue to operate under the Department of Social Services umbrella. That department’s overall public assistance allocation across operating costs and staffing is more than $5.7 billion for fiscal 2027, a $129 million increase over the modified budget total for fiscal 2026.
In addition to CityFHEPS, which provides ongoing rental support entitlements, DSS and the Human Resources Administration that sits within it also provide various one-time emergency payments, known as “one-shots,” aimed at preventing homelessness.
“The rise in one-shot deal applications over the last several years reflects the issue of housing affordability in New York City. At the same time, the City has expanded its use of ongoing rental vouchers,” Claire Salant, lead budget and policy analyst at the city’s Independent Budget Office, said in a statement. “Housing voucher funding in the Adopted Budget and the settlement of the CityFHEPS lawsuit help clarify the future of the City’s rental assistance programs and their costs. The new rental assistance program under the Department of Housing Preservation and Development helps address eligibility gaps in a fiscally responsible way.“
The Department of Buildings appropriation increased to $233 million for fiscal 2027, up $30 million from the fiscal 2026 modified budget figure. This includes a $16 million boost for staffing agencywide operations covering construction and alterations, as well as certain enforcement functions and sustainability programs.
Beyond personal services, DOB is receiving $14 million more than the modified figure for fiscal 2026 to fund supplies, materials, contracts and other services for operations and inspections across the board.
What we’re thinking about: Is city funding going to fall short when federal funding for emergency housing vouchers runs out this year? Send your predictions to ben.miller@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The biggest winners of the NBA Finals and World Cup are New York City bars and restaurants, according to a new survey of nearly 100 businesses from the NYC Hospitality Alliance. 87.5 percent of bars and restaurants showing the games reported higher sales during the NBA playoffs and Finals (which the Knicks won!), and more than 65 percent called those gains significant.
— Spencer Davis
Elsewhere…
— About 57,000 rent-stabilized apartments, or 5.6 percent of the total supply, were vacant in 2025, according to data obtained by The City Reporter. The vacancy rate has increased from around 3.7 percent in 2016, but spiked at about 7 percent in 2021 during the pandemic. The rising vacancy rate reflects a growing reality for landlords in which the cost of renovating an old apartment often exceeds the returns they expect to receive from a tenant’s monthly rent payments.
— The owner of three buildings in Queens and the Bronx has agreed to sell the properties after his lender, Community Stabilization Partners, gave him an ultimatum to avoid foreclosure on his entire 24-property portfolio, Gothamist reported. The owner, Ved Parkash, topped the Public Advocate’s Landlord Watch List in 2015 for racking up the most building violations and open complaints, but he has since fallen off the list of the 100 worst landlords entirely. One of the buildings, a 79-unit apartment complex located at 1420 Noble Avenue in the Bronx, has been empty since a fire in June 2023.
— Tenants’ rights groups hope that the wave of progressive victories in primaries for state Assembly will motivate the legislature to pass a bill making it easier for localities outside New York City to adopt rent stabilization, City & State reported. Current law allows localities outside New York City to adopt rent stabilization only if they declare a state of emergency or demonstrate a low housing vacancy rate through a vacancy study. The bill, known as the Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants Act, or REST Act, would allow localities to use public data like rates of homelessness or eviction rates to declare a state of emergency, rather than a costly vacancy study.
— Spencer Davis
Closing time
Residential: The most expensive residential sale recorded Monday was $24.5 million for 192 Columbia Heights. The Brooklyn Heights townhome is 6,600 square feet and last sold in 2018 for $11.8 million.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial transaction was $7.5 million for 41-31 Haight Street. The Flushing apartment is 23,700 square feet and last sold in 2020 for $9.5 million.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $8.5 million for 243 Kane Street. The Cobble Hill townhome is 4,500 square feet. Corcoran’s Constance Houghton has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building permit filed was for a proposed 41,297-square-foot, 12-story residential building with 42 units at 1663 East 18th Street in Sheepshead Bay. Yuriy Menzak of Menzak Architect is the applicant of record.
— Joseph Jungermann