Ending NYC Public Housing's Dependence Trap

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) operates 174,000 total units, making it, by far, the largest public housing authority in the United States. But living conditions in NYCHA units are abysmal. After decades of deferred maintenance, necessary repairs and renovation needs are estimated to cost as much as $30 billion. In 2018, the federal government filed a complaint against the authority for failure to uphold federal health and safety regulations. Federal district judge William Pauley, in a decision that led to the appointment of a federal monitor, found that “NYCHA's size is paralleled by its organizational disarray in providing any semblance of adequate housing for some of [society's] most vulnerable members and its systemic cover-up of a host of fundamental health and safety issues.”