May. 13, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
New York City’s housing crisis is no secret and the city’s low-cost housing landscape remains extremely difficult to navigate, including a housing lottery system theoretically devised to provide a solution for the dire need for accommodation.
A problem that has been brewing for decades, the housing crisis continues to get worse, with vacancy rates dropping to 1.4% citywide and under 1% for units priced $2,400 or lower, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).
Meanwhile, rents continue to climb, with a 2024 report from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander finding that the median asking rent for available apartments across NYC was $3,500 a month. A household would have to earn $140,000 per year in order to afford such a unit based on the nationwide standard, suggesting that households should spend no more than one-third of their income on housing.