New York City’s Affordable Housing Lottery: Inconsistent Screening Methods and Lack of Government Oversight

Author

Donna M. Airoldi, Cuny Graduate School of JournalismFollow

Graduation Date

Fall 12-16-2016

Grading Professor

Mary Pilon

Subject Concentration

Investigative

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Abstract

New York City offers substantial tax credits and subsidies to developers to entice them to include affordable housing units in their projects. The city oversees the random assigning of numbers for the affordable housing lottery through its online system, Housing Connect, but it cedes oversight of the process to developers and third-party managers — known as marketing agents — who use inconsistent and unclear screening measures when selecting applicants for buildings, sometimes rejecting those who actually qualify for these high-demand apartments. This article shows through examples of individual applicants how confusing the rules can be.

Recommended Citation

Airoldi, Donna M., "New York City’s Affordable Housing Lottery: Inconsistent Screening Methods and Lack of Government Oversight" (2016). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gj_etds/178