How New York Lives: An Analysis of the City’s Housing Maintenance Conditions

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Nearly 125 years after Jacob Riis published How the Other Half Lives, exposing conditions in New York City’s crowded tenement buildings, the state of the city’s housing stock has dramatically improved. City and State regulation, tax incentive programs, the construction of State-supported affordable housing, and private investment in the city’s real estate have all fueled an improvement in housing quality for New Yorkers throughout the five boroughs.

Despite these tremendous gains, in some neighborhoods a substantial number of housing units have unsound conditions that may imperil the health and safety of its inhabitants. This is particularly concerning, since public health experts have long identified poor housing conditions as an important determinant of health and safety.

This report, from New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, details the state of New York City’s housing conditions using data drawn from the most recent triennial Housing and Vacancy Survey (HVS) published by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the U.S. Census Bureau.

In mapping the state of the City’s housing stock, this report finds that conditions in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) properties have deteriorated significantly in recent years, with a number of long-term and emerging trends apparent in the data that was examined. The report presents several key findings:

• In 2002, 60 percent of public housing apartments had at least one deficiency. By 2011, 79 percent of public housing apartments had at least one deficiency.
• Water leaks, a key element of a recent tenant-filed federal lawsuit, also rose substantially. In 2002, water leaks were observed in approximately one-fifth of NYCHA apartments. By 2011 that percentage was nearly one-third.
• The number of units with broken or missing windows increased 945 percent from 2005 to 2011.
• From 2005 to 2011, rodent observations increased 12 percentage points, with over 36 percent of NYCHA apartments experiencing this condition in 2011.
• From 2008 to 2011, heating equipment breakdowns increased by 72.8 percent and units with broken plaster and peeling paint increased by 111 percent.

The report also identified several key differences in conditions between stabilized and market-rate units:

• In 2011, 20 percent of rent-stabilized units suffered heating equipment breakdowns and broken plaster and peeling paint was observed in 24 percent of rent-stabilized units – both nearly double the percentage of market-rate units.
• Rodent observations were also higher in 2011. One-third of rent-stabilized units had mice or rats compared to just under one-fifth of market-rate units. However, when controlling for factors like structure type and age, the differences between market-rate and rentstabilized housing maintenance conditions are not as pronounced as they first appear.

The report also identifies meaningful differences in housing conditions based on income, race, building size, building age, and borough:

• Over 34 percent of rent-regulated black households have three or more HVS deficiencies, compared with 28 percent of Hispanic households, 18 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander households and 16 percent of white households.
• Low-income tenants often endure worse conditions than affluent tenants in rental apartments. More than a quarter of rent-regulated units occupied by households earning less than $51,540 (60% of the area median income) report three or more deficiencies compared to one-fifth of units occupied by households earning over $150,000.

The disparities identified between stabilized and market-rate housing conditions are concerning, especially since New York remains home to nearly one million rent-stabilized units. While HPD is engaged in a long-term effort to boost inspections, the continued existence of these disparities may require additional housing and code enforcement investment by the City, State, and Federal governments.

Taken together, these findings reinforce the daunting challenge facing the City in preserving our existing affordable housing stock and working with our State and Federal partners to ensure that NYCHA remains a bastion of affordable housing in New York for the next 80 years of its existence. Sustained attention from all levels of government is required to bring these vital affordable housing units back to a state of good repair.

The prospect of safe, high-quality housing is undermined when dwelling units have sporadic heat, broken windows, peeling paint, and rodents. This report shows how far we’ve come in making New York a better place to live. But it also shows how much more we have to do to ensure that every family—regardless of race, income, or neighborhood—has a safe, properly maintained place to call home.