New York’s Housing Crisis: Self-Inflicted and Solvable

New York City is living through its worst housing affordability crisis in a century. While the City and State distribute billions of dollars in housing subsidies each year, maintain the most robust rent-stabilization program in the nation and sustain a public housing system that is home to a population larger than many cities, almost all of the personal outcomes associated with housing here are terrible. Around 86,000 New Yorkers stayed in a City-run shelter on a typical night in October 2025. The median New York renter spent 31% of their income on rent last year. Only 1.4% of rental apartments are available for rent — including an infinitesimal 0.4% of apartments that cost less than $1,100 per month. In 2023, only 53% of NYCHA Housing Choice (Section 8) voucher holders — already a small subset of those eligible by income — were able to secure an apartment before their voucher expired.