New York City residents have benefited from federally subsidized housing since the 1950's. Programs such as Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 have provided housing opportunities for low and moderate income residents and protected them from sky-rocketing rents.  About 200,000 tenant households live in privately owned, subsidized housing in New York City.  Another 200,000 live in public housing (owned by the New York City Housing Authority and subsidized by the federal government).  The waiting lists for Section 8 and most Mitchell-Lama developments are closed; the waiting list for public housing is almost as long as the number of families living in NYCHA apartments. People already on the waiting lists can expect to wait almost 10 years.  Some of these programs are under imminent threats.  Here=s the crisis at-a-glance:                           

Begun in 1955, the Mitchell Lama program provided state and city subsidies to developers for building rentals and coops affordable to moderate and middle income New Yorkers.  Many developments built later received additional federal subsidies making the newer buildings affordable to low income residents. Developers received subsidized mortgages and tax breaks.  The rents and maintenance fees charged to residents depends on the level of subsidy and the operating expenses of the buildings.  There are currently about 120,000 apartments in the Mitchell-Lama program.  About half of the units are subsidized and supervised by the state; the other half by the city.  The program stopped developing new housing in the late 1970's.  To find out where your development sits, check the NYS Division of Housing & Community Renewal website and the NYC Housing Preservation & Development website.  Note:  many developments have overlapping subsidies, and can be in the Mitchell-Lama program and received additional federal subsidies.

The threats  The Mitchell-Lama enabling legislation was changed to allow the developers/owners to "opt out" of their subsidized mortgages and the income limitations after 20 years in the program.  When that happens, the owner pays off the mortgage, and any other loans, refinances the building with a market-rate mortgage and starts paying full tax bills.  The owner no longer has to rent to people of limited incomes.  Close to 10,000 units of Mitchell-Lama have been lost from the program in the last 15 years through buyouts.   In buildings built before January 1, 1974, the tenants are covered by rent stabilization; tenants living in buildings constructed after are not protected by any rent or eviction regulations. Residents in buildings receiving federal funds who qualify can receive Section 8 >sticky vouchers= to preserve their ability to pay rent.  See back issues of Tenant/Inquilino for stories about deals worked out for post-74 Mitchell-Lamas such as Independence Plaza and Ruppert/Yorkville. While the pre-74 buildings are covered by rent stabilization, the tenants in these bought out buildings face the threat of precipitous rent increases thanks to the "unique and peculiar" section of the rent stabilization law that allows market rate rent increases.  This issue is currently in litigation.  Look at Save Mitchell-Lama website for up to date information.  Check out the Buyout Handbook written by Sue Susman for tenants in buildings facing the "opt out" process. You can also get involved in lobbying for the continuation of the Mitchell-Lama program by joining the Mitchell-Lama Residents Coalition.

Since the 1970's the federal Section 8 program has provided subsidies to help low income families pay rent. The federal funds are provided through two programs:  project-based and vouchers.  Under the project-based program, developers received subsidies to build apartment houses from the mid-1970's through the 1980's.  Generally, the programs allow low income tenants to pay up to 30% of their income for rent. The voucher (formerly called certificates) program gives assistance directly to the tenant who can use the program to rent an apartment in any building where the landlord will accept the voucher (provided the apartment passes a maintenance inspection).  Vouchers are distributed in New York City to tenants through the NYC Housing Authority and NYC Housing, Preservation  & Development.  There are currently no available vouchers for tenants in the general population -- see the above websites for regulations related to current participants and restrictions for new applicants.

The threats  Like Mitchell-Lama tenants, residents living in project-based Section 8 buildings are threatened by provisions that allow landlords to "opt out" of the program after 20 years.  Since almost all of the new construction Section 8 buildings were built after 1974, tenants in these buildings do not have rent stabilization protections. Tenants in project-based Section 8 buildings have lower incomes than other tenants, and are seriously threatened when an owner chooses to opt out.  Some of these tenants are eligible for "sticky" or enhanced vouchers (see the links above to HPD and NYCHA).  Tenants in these buildings should contact their local legislators, their local free legal service provider and neighborhood community groups for assistance in saving the affordable apartments in their developments.

Other subsidy programs, such as the federal Section 202 (which subsidizes development for the elderly and disabled), section 236 and 221d3 programs work similarly to the programs above -- they provided special subsidies to private developers to build apartments for people with low or moderate incomes.  Once the subsidies expire, the owner is no longer bound by the rules restricting renting to people of limited incomes.