Press Release

Wednesday, June 24, 2015 — NYCHA has a record low vacancy rate of only 1 percent—the lowest it’s been in nearly 10 years. With thousands of families on the waiting list for public housing and residents with critical pending transfer needs, managing and turning over our vacant apartments effectively and efficiently is vital to our operations.

Background –

• Through NextGen NYCHA, we are already addressing many of the issues raised in the audit, such as capital repairs, maximizing all of our assets, and even collecting rent.

• As a result of NYCHA’s extremely low vacancy rate, there has been no loss of subsidy.

• The issue of returning units to the rent roll efficiently is driven almost entirely by lack of sufficient resources.

• Increased capital work, like roof replacement to be funded by the recently announced $300 million commitment by the Mayor, will help reduce the amount of repair work at developments and free up staff for repairs required to rent units.

• As long as there is insufficient capital funding to address buildings’ needs, NYCHA will continue to balance the needs of in-place residents with the desire to bring more units on-line.