Res. No. 545
Resolution calling on the New York City Housing Authority to change its priority preference for housing to automatically place families and individuals experiencing homelessness at the highest priority level.
By Council Members Ayala, Richardson Jordan, Farías, Restler and Hudson
Whereas, The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing authority in North America, providing decent, affordable housing for roughly over 339,900 low- and moderate-income New Yorkers; and
Whereas, In order to be considered for an apartment through NYCHA, an individual or family must submit a completed application, identifying their total household income, family composition, and current living situation; and
Whereas, After the application is submitted, applications are assigned a priority code based upon the information provided and then placed on NYCHA’s preliminary waiting list for an eligibility interview; and
Whereas, Priority codes for NYCHA housing are determined based on a number of factors, but are primarily based around a Need Based priority or a Working Family priority; and
Whereas, According to NYCHA’s Priority Codes for Public Housing, Need Based priorities are categorized, from highest priority: Code N0, Code N1, Code N4, Code N8, and Code N9, while Working Family priorities are categorized, from highest priority: Code W0, Code W1, Code W2, Code W3 and Code W9; and
Whereas, Code N0 Priority is the highest NYCHA applicant priority level, and includes: Homeless families with children referred by the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS); Those displaced by fire, vacate order or about to be displaced from a site to be used for a public housing development or other public improvement and referred by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) within 270 days from the date of displacement; Homeless applicants referred by the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA); Applicants who are about to be discharged from Henry J. Carter Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility and who will become homeless or will be at risk of becoming homeless upon discharge and referred by the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC); and Applicants referred by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) under the Independent Living or Family Unification programs; and
Whereas, Although homeless families and individuals are at the highest priority level, the referral requirement by a City agency, such as DHS, HPD, HASA, HHC or ACS, creates barriers for those who are in desperate need of housing; and
Whereas, According to DHS, on January 12, 2023, 70,525 people slept in a DHS shelter, of which included 22,419 children; and
Whereas, According to daily data tracked by City Limits, this number represents an all-time high, and is up more than 51% since Mayor Eric Adams took office at the start of 2022; and
Whereas, As the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in New York City increases, public housing is needed more than ever and barriers to entry, such as referrals by City agencies, only restrict those who need housing the most from getting it; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York City Housing Authority to change its priority preference for housing to automatically place families and individuals experiencing homelessness at the highest priority level.
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LS #12107
2/24/23