New York City Financed a Record Number of New Affordable Homes in 2023

NEW YORK—New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Jan. 18 that the city had once again broken records for producing affordable housing amid a severe housing shortage in the five boroughs in 2023.

As private construction activity slows following the expiration of a critical affordable housing creation tool, Mayor Adams reiterated an urgent call for state lawmakers in Albany to partner with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and provide the city with critical tools—including a new affordable housing tax incentive to replace the expired 421a incentive, a pathway to make basement and cellar apartments safe and legal, a tax incentive to turn empty office buildings into affordable homes, and the lifting of a cap on density for new construction.

"When we came into office two years ago, we had a mission: protect public safety, revitalize the economy, and make this city more livable for hardworking New Yorkers, and making our city more livable means building more affordable housing for more people," said Mayor Adams. "We are proud of our administration's progress building a record number of affordable homes last year, but New York City cannot solve this affordable housing crisis alone. We are grateful to Governor Hochul for her leadership on this issue and are optimistic that with the support of labor, industry, and lawmakers across the state, we can help ease the pain New Yorkers are feeling every day as we continue to make real progress against this crisis."

New data released on Jan. 18 by the Adams administration showed that, in calendar year 2023, the New York City Housing Preservation and Development and New York City Housing Development Corp. closed on the financing for the creation of an all-time record-breaking 14,227 new affordable homes—51% of which benefited from the now-expired 421-a affordable housing tax incentive program.

HPD also directly connected more New Yorkers to homes than ever before, bringing nearly 13,000 households into affordable units this calendar year. Nearly 10,000 of those connections were through Housing Connect lotteries and 3,000 households left shelter to move into HPD homeless set-aside units, an increase of more than 30% from 2022 to 2023, city officials stated. Late last year, the administration announced that permanent housing placements from shelter using CityFHEPS vouchers increased 10% during the first three months of Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) compared to the first three months of FY23.

Overall, HPD and HDC financed a total of 27,911 units in calendar year 2023 through new construction and preservation deals, an increase of 80% from 2022, fueled by a 47% increase in the financing of new affordable homes. The Adams administration additionally continued to prioritize new homes for the most vulnerable New Yorkers—setting records by creating 3,926 new homes for New Yorkers who formerly experienced homelessness and 1,670 new supportive homes with restricted rents and social services.

To accelerate housing production and deliver relief to New Yorkers, the Adams administration has advanced a number of creative solutions, including an office conversation accelerator, new proposed rules to streamline approvals for sustainable housing, a "Housing-at-Risk Task Force," and several pilot programs to help fund the creation of accessory dwelling units, help move New Yorkers out of shelters and into renovated apartments, and fuel mixed-income development in neighborhoods across the city, among other innovative efforts.

Lifting the city's 2023 numbers are major development projects closed by the Adams administration over the last year, including new housing projects at Willets Point, the JFK Hilton Hotel Conversion, The Peninsula in Hunts Point, and more. The administration also advanced several significant neighborhood planning efforts to deliver more housing and economic opportunities and investments to Central Brooklyn, Midtown South, South Richmond, Long Island City, Jamaica, and the Metro North station area in the Bronx, among others.

The city's accelerated new housing production in 2023 stands in contrast to the private housing market where construction slowed, driven in part by the loss of the 421-a incentive program and the absence of action in Albany to replace it. According to the New York City Department of City Planning Housing Database, new unit permits dropped by approximately 84% between the first six months of 2023 and the first six months of 2022.