NYC's Affordable Housing Crisis Hits a Dead End: Restore Section 610
New York City is at a breaking point when it comes to affordable housing. Vacancy rates are alarmingly high, with families struggling to make ends meet as rents soar out of control. The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has recently announced that it will stop processing most new applications for Section 610 of the Private Housing Finance Law, a move that could have far-reaching consequences for low-income New Yorkers and the city's already-strained affordable housing stock.
Section 610, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in December 2022, was a rare moment of policy innovation that benefited everyone involved. The law allows owners of rent-stabilized affordable housing to collect the full amount of federal and local housing vouchers, even when that amount exceeds the building's registered legal rent, without increasing what tenants pay. This means that tenants continue paying only 30 percent of their income toward rent, while building owners receive additional income to cover rising operating costs and building repairs.
The program was designed with safeguards in place, including regulatory assessments to prioritize buildings with the greatest need, rent stabilization protections, and provisions ensuring that rents drop back to the legal amount if a tenant loses their voucher. However, HPD claims that federal funding uncertainty is behind its decision to shut down the program for new applicants.
However, housing providers argue that this move is nothing short of an existential threat. Insurance costs have skyrocketed, property taxes continue climbing, and labor and material costs for maintenance have surged. Developers who built affordable housing under regulatory agreements years ago are now collecting only 93 percent of rents compared to the 95 percent they underwrote, a figure that was considered conservative before 2020.
Without Section 610, these buildings face a slow death spiral. Insufficient cash flow means deferred maintenance, which leads to building deterioration. Deterioration results in tenant displacement and the loss of affordable units from the city's housing stock. This is a story that has played out countless times across the five boroughs.
HPD's justification for shutting down Section 610 applications rings hollow. The federal voucher programs that the law leverages are not new appropriations, but existing commitments. If HPD is concerned about budget constraints, the solution is to prioritize which buildings receive Section 610 authorization based on demonstrated need, rather than abandoning the program entirely.
The timing couldn't be worse. New York is in the midst of implementing its most ambitious housing agenda in decades, including a 485-x tax incentive designed to stimulate affordable housing construction. Yet what good are new affordable units if we're simultaneously allowing our existing affordable stock to deteriorate through bureaucratic paralysis?
The city should reverse course and immediately reopen Section 610 applications with prioritization criteria based on demonstrated financial need. If federal budget constraints genuinely require limiting the program's scope, then create a transparent waitlist and approval process rather than an arbitrary shutdown.
Most importantly, recognizing that preserving existing affordable housing is just as critical as building new units, often more cost-effective. Every dollar spent propping up struggling affordable buildings through Section 610 saves the much larger investment required to replace those units once they're lost.
New York cannot afford to let bureaucratic caution and budgetary pessimism undermine smart housing policy. Section 610 works, and it should be expanded, not abandoned. The affordable housing crisis demands bold action, not timid retreat. HPD must open the doors to both Section 610 applications and the affordable housing future New York desperately needs.
New York City is at a breaking point when it comes to affordable housing. Vacancy rates are alarmingly high, with families struggling to make ends meet as rents soar out of control. The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has recently announced that it will stop processing most new applications for Section 610 of the Private Housing Finance Law, a move that could have far-reaching consequences for low-income New Yorkers and the city's already-strained affordable housing stock.
Section 610, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in December 2022, was a rare moment of policy innovation that benefited everyone involved. The law allows owners of rent-stabilized affordable housing to collect the full amount of federal and local housing vouchers, even when that amount exceeds the building's registered legal rent, without increasing what tenants pay. This means that tenants continue paying only 30 percent of their income toward rent, while building owners receive additional income to cover rising operating costs and building repairs.
The program was designed with safeguards in place, including regulatory assessments to prioritize buildings with the greatest need, rent stabilization protections, and provisions ensuring that rents drop back to the legal amount if a tenant loses their voucher. However, HPD claims that federal funding uncertainty is behind its decision to shut down the program for new applicants.
However, housing providers argue that this move is nothing short of an existential threat. Insurance costs have skyrocketed, property taxes continue climbing, and labor and material costs for maintenance have surged. Developers who built affordable housing under regulatory agreements years ago are now collecting only 93 percent of rents compared to the 95 percent they underwrote, a figure that was considered conservative before 2020.
Without Section 610, these buildings face a slow death spiral. Insufficient cash flow means deferred maintenance, which leads to building deterioration. Deterioration results in tenant displacement and the loss of affordable units from the city's housing stock. This is a story that has played out countless times across the five boroughs.
HPD's justification for shutting down Section 610 applications rings hollow. The federal voucher programs that the law leverages are not new appropriations, but existing commitments. If HPD is concerned about budget constraints, the solution is to prioritize which buildings receive Section 610 authorization based on demonstrated need, rather than abandoning the program entirely.
The timing couldn't be worse. New York is in the midst of implementing its most ambitious housing agenda in decades, including a 485-x tax incentive designed to stimulate affordable housing construction. Yet what good are new affordable units if we're simultaneously allowing our existing affordable stock to deteriorate through bureaucratic paralysis?
The city should reverse course and immediately reopen Section 610 applications with prioritization criteria based on demonstrated financial need. If federal budget constraints genuinely require limiting the program's scope, then create a transparent waitlist and approval process rather than an arbitrary shutdown.
Most importantly, recognizing that preserving existing affordable housing is just as critical as building new units, often more cost-effective. Every dollar spent propping up struggling affordable buildings through Section 610 saves the much larger investment required to replace those units once they're lost.
New York cannot afford to let bureaucratic caution and budgetary pessimism undermine smart housing policy. Section 610 works, and it should be expanded, not abandoned. The affordable housing crisis demands bold action, not timid retreat. HPD must open the doors to both Section 610 applications and the affordable housing future New York desperately needs.
- NYC's affordable housing situation is literally a disaster, and now they're stopping new applications for section 610? it's like they're setting their own buildings up for failure. i mean, come on, insurance costs are through the roof, labor costs too... how can anyone expect them to keep up with maintenance without some sort of financial assistance? 
and what about all those people already living in these subsidized units - don't they deserve to stay there at least for a little while longer? it's just so frustrating when you think about the bigger picture... we need more affordable housing, not less. the city's got some serious 'splainin' to do 
I am literally SHAKING WITH RAGE right now thinking about this 
It's like they're playing a game of Russian roulette with our most vulnerable citizens' housing rights 
. The fact that developers are being strangled by rising costs and insurance hikes is bad enough, but for HPD to shut down the program entirely? 
That's just heartless. We need more affordable units NOW, not less 
... it sounds like HPD just doesn't wanna deal with some bureaucratic headache. The fact is, these landlords are already collecting way too much money from Section 610 and it's only gonna get worse if we don't do something about it 
! Every dollar spent propping up those struggling affordable buildings is worth it if it means preserving more units for low-income New Yorkers. Let's open the doors to both Section 610 applications and a future of affordable housing in NYC 
. section 610 was a game-changer for building owners too - it's not just about tenants, but also about keeping rent-stabilized buildings from becoming uninhabitable. hpd's decision to stop processing new applications is gonna have far-reaching consequences and i think they should reconsider 
. let's prioritize the most struggling buildings first and keep section 610 alive 
and it's all cuz of budget constraints? that's just an excuse for inaction! 
the city needs to prioritize affordable housing over bureaucratic red tape. we can't afford to lose our existing affordable units, it'd be like letting a valuable asset go to waste 
and the timing is super bad, just when new york is implementing its ambitious housing agenda 
because of this new decision from HPD. It's like they're taking away the only help that low-income families have to make ends meet. Section 610 was a game-changer for affordable housing, and now it's being shut down? That's just not fair 
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. The city should be working to find solutions, not just sitting on their hands. We can't afford to lose all our affordable housing units – it's like cutting off a leg while we're trying to run a marathon 
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. Section 610 is that lifeline for struggling families. It's time for HPD to rethink their decision and find a way to make it work again 
They can't just abandon ship when we need them most. We need bold action, not bureaucratic caution 
. I mean, families are struggling so much already, and now this new development means they won't be able to get help. The government should reconsider their decision to shut down Section 610 applications - it's not like we're printing money here 
. It feels like they're just giving up on the program, and that's not gonna fix anything 
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. I think it's time for HPD to rethink their strategy and open up Section 610 applications again with some safeguards in place 
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. New York needs a solution that'll get its affordable housing stock back on track ASAP 
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. It's like they're playing a game of whack-a-mole - they fix one problem, but then another pops up somewhere else.
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it makes total sense for owners to collect more income from tenants, and this program was basically designed to help them out. 
its not like theyre just gonna leave these buildings to rot 
just make sure they get the funding they need or at least create a transparent waitlist so ppl know when their building might get approved 
