NYCHA Leaders, Residents, and Others Rally in Albany for ERAP Funds

Despite Being Eligible, Public Housing, Section 8, and Other Subsidized Housing Tenants Have Been Entirely Excluded from Receiving ERAP Benefits to Date

NYCHA resident leaders – including Citywide Council of Presidents (CCOP) members Daniel Barber, Reginald Bowman, Barbara McFadden, and Aixa Torres – joined lawmakers such as Senator Brian Kavanagh and Assemblymember Grace Lee; NYCHA leaders; and affordable housing advocates in Albany on March 9 to call for the State budget to include $389 million in funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The funding would cover the estimated cost of providing rental assistance for all eligible tenants throughout the state who have applied for assistance but have been denied assistance to date solely because they reside in public housing or subsidized housing.

The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has estimated that a total of $732 million in rental assistance remains to be paid out to eligible applicants who had submitted applications before the program portal closed on January 20. Of this amount, an estimated $343 million would be for eligible applications submitted by residents in private housing, and $389 million would be for eligible residents in public and federal- and state-subsidized housing. The program currently has $284 million available, and the U.S. Department of Treasury recently awarded New York State $63 million. With a total of $347 million, OTDA expects to have sufficient funds to cover the full portion of eligible private-housing applicants.

“It is long past time for the State to meet the emergency needs of residents of public and subsidized housing who have been relegated to last-in-line status for ERAP funding due to an unjust provision deprioritizing these New Yorkers’ applications,” stated Senator Kavanagh, Chair of the Committee on Housing in the New York State Senate. “We know that many public and subsidized housing tenants accrued rent arrears because they were unable to pay due to the hardships imposed on them by the COVID-19 pandemic. They shouldn’t be forced to bear the burden of this debt because they weren’t placed on equal footing with their fellow New Yorkers.”

“The goal of the emergency rental assistance program was to provide relief to New Yorkers who needed it, but by making it inaccessible to renters in public and subsidized housing, New York has not fully met that goal,” stated Assemblymember Grace Lee, Member of the Committee on Housing in the New York State Assembly. “At present, thousands of families living in public and subsidized housing across the state still face the threat of eviction, despite successfully applying for ERAP. This new funding will enable the program to offer these families the housing security they so desperately need and as the representative of a district with over 1,000 families from NYCHA and Section 8 housing who have applied for ERAP, I am personally committed to fight to fully fund the program for $389 million in this year’s budget.”

“NYCHA is our most critical affordable housing portfolio, but without new ERAP funding from the state, we are risking the future of these homes for tens of thousands of New Yorkers,” said Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz. “Senator Kavanagh and Assemblymember Lee are at the forefront of this fight, and we are grateful for their leadership in ensuring that public housing residents have stable, quality homes.”

“I would like to give my sincerest thanks to our state legislative partners for organizing this press conference,” said NYCHA Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “We have an opportunity to provide relief to tens of thousands of tenants who were left behind during the pandemic. An investment in public housing will ensure residents are secure in their homes, allow for the continuation of vital services, and help housing authorities across the state balance their budgets.”

“I applied for the ERAP program in 2021 and was approved but still have not received any support,” said NYCHA resident and Community Voices Heard member, Maria Arnold. “I’ve suffered a lot. I lost my husband right before the pandemic, and I struggled to pay rent and deal with extra medical expenses because of the mold in my apartment. Public housing residents should never have been put at the back of line for rent relief. The State needs to make things right by helping public residents get back on their feet.”

The Daily News published an op-ed calling on the State to fund ERAP for public housing residents – read the op-ed here.

Photo credits: Barbara McFadden, 1st Vice Chair of NYCHA’s Citywide Council of Presidents (CCOP)