News — Affordable Housing

Testimony: Pathways to Social Housing

Bills under consideration in New York City could act as pathways to social housing – by preserving public land for the public good, by offering communities the opportunity to purchase multi-family housing, by creating a public entity to hold property and facilitate social housing conversions, by strengthening tenants’ rights, and by expanding funding sources for low-income housing.

Good Cause Eviction: Resources and Information

Since 2018, CSS has worked with Housing Justice for All on enacting Good Cause Eviction protection in New York State. We have advocated strongly for Good Cause because it would provide tenants with a baseline right to remain in their homes by prohibiting non-renewals and no-fault evictions unless a landlord proves good cause.

Testimony: Improving and Expanding CityFHEPS

Today, a record number of people are experiencing homelessness. While CityFHEPS can be a powerful tool against homelessness, the program is plagued with issues that must be addressed.

Good Cause for Alarm: Rents Are Rising for Low-Income Tenants in Unregulated Apartments

2022 was a brutal year for rents in New York. Rents went up nearly universally. While rent stabilized tenants had limits on how much their rents could rise, market-rate tenants had none — in large part because the state legislature failed to pass Good Cause, a bill that would allow tenants to challenge unconscionably large rent increases in court.

Testimony: Building Code Enforcement

The 2021 Housing and Vacancy Survey (HVS) showed a disturbing trend: the city’s housing stock is becoming both more expensive and more rundown. We spoke about 5 recommendations before the NYC Council Committee on Housing and Buildings.

Testimony: Rent Stabilization in Kingston

Kingston’s rental housing emergency is particularly severe. The state defines a housing emergency as a vacancy rate below 5 percent, and Kingston’s vacancy rate as of June 2022 was a staggeringly low 1.57 percent. This vacancy rate appears to be worsening since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: in 2020, the vacancy rate was an already shockingly low 1.81 percent.

Testimony: Housing People Who Seek Asylum

New York City’s plan to house people seeking asylum in an area that is flood-prone, lacking in basic resources, and disconnected from the rest of the city is unconscionable. While this is a crisis manufactured by a broken immigration system that the city has no control over, we do have control over local housing policy, which can help mitigate some of its externalities.

Testimony: Making CityFHEPS More Accessible

We know that well-funded rental assistance programs can act as a key mechanism for helping homeless New Yorkers leave the shelter system and find permanent homes. CityFHEPS is the city’s rental assistance program. And, while the city has made strides to improve the functionality of this program, there are a number of administrative, enforcement, and funding issues that continue to hinder it from being as effective as it could be.

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