A recent affordable housing lottery in Hudson Yards required applicants to have a minimum household income nearly three times greater than what a quarter of New Yorkers make in a year. The 114 available apartments, located at 550 Tenth Ave. in New York’s most expensive neighborhood, have a qualifying income threshold between $59,280 and $209,625, although 1.5 million New Yorkers live below the poverty threshold of $20,240 for a single adult.

“The question is, ‘Affordable to whom?’” said Edward Josephson, supervising attorney in the Civil Law Reform Unit of the Legal Aid Society. “The most urgent need for affordability is at the lower end of the spectrum.”

Olivia Johnson, 30, had been applying for affordable housing via NYC Housing Connect since she was 18. A native New Yorker from the South Bronx, she experienced homelessness for 9 months after losing the apartment she lived in with her aunt.

Johnson calls the affordable housing process “tedious” and “time consuming.” From initial application to acceptance by HPD, approval depends on a detailed account of bank statements, public assistance records, and miscellaneous transactions, as well as a review of identification documents such as a birth certificate and Social Security card. This process can take 2 to 12 months, according to Housing Connect.

After 12 years of applying, Johnson was awarded a studio apartment in December 2023, the rent for which accounts for half her monthly salary.

Now a law graduate at advocacy organization Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), Johnson conducts intake for residents in need of legal assistance because of an eviction or a financial crisis.

“Affordable Housing in NYC has never, is not, and unfortunately will likely never be affordable,” said Johnson in an email. She calls the affordable housing crisis a “running joke” among native New Yorkers. 

“I am witnessing the housing crisis firsthand,” said Johnson. “Working for MFJ, I know all too well what our clients are going through, and it is indeed mentally taxing and devastating to watch.” 

Affordable housing is determined by a ratio. If yearly rent is one-third or less of a household’s income, that housing unit is considered affordable. Most New York affordable housing is designed for those who earn 60% or more of the area median income (AMI) for that year. The residential building at 550 Tenth Ave., however, required households to earn between 70% and 125% AMI.

According to Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), city housing inventory is the lowest it has been since 1968, with a vacancy rate of just 1.4%. Both price and housing demand are increasing, leaving supply scarce and expensive. A recent report by StreetEasy.com revealed that New York has the greatest gap between wage growth and rent growth in the United States and the biggest hike in asking rents in the country. 

The housing crisis is also a result of a changing rental market. While the total number of New York residents fell slightly between 2019 and 2023, the number of households increased by 5%, and the median household income decreased 5.3% as of 2024.

The goal of affordable housing in Manhattan Community District 4 is “to use the MCB4’s Affordable Housing plan as a framework” toward “the goal of 14,000+ units,” according to District Manager Jesse Bodine. Created in 2015, the plan includes a summary of affordable housing units in the district. Only 1,790 of those units have been completed, and less than one percent of the total units are available to those who make between 0% and 39% AMI.