How New York’s Next Mayor Can Shape Land Use and Planning: NYCHA's Public Land

The New York City Housing Authority’s public housing portfolio serves as a bulwark of housing stability and affordability for over 400,000 low-income residents. It is also an anchor of racial and economic diversity in some of New York’s most expensive neighborhoods. Yet, physical conditions in many NYCHA buildings have deteriorated, affecting residents’ health and wellbeing. Fixing these conditions will cost tens of billions of dollars. As part of raising funds for those repairs, NYHCA planned to use its developable land and air rights to generate $3 billion prior to the pandemic. Previous efforts to unlock this revenue for capital repairs generated strong local opposition. Given the twin crises of NYCHA’s ongoing physical deterioration and the broader housing affordability challenges facing the city, whether and how to unlock the financial value of this public asset is a critical policy choice facing the next Mayor.