Can NYC find $175M to replace expiring federal rental aid program?

The looming, earlier-than-expected end of a key federal rental assistance program could force New York City to come up with at least $175 million a year to help thousands of low-income families keep their apartments. Agency officials and local lawmakers tell Gothamist that it’s still unclear where they’ll find the funds before the money runs out at the end of the year.

In a letter last month, the Trump administration notified local housing agencies across the country that the next round of funds for the Emergency Housing Voucher program would be the “final allocation” of a Biden-era initiative to provide $5 billion in rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic that was originally planned to end in 2030. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the funds are drying up sooner than expected due to inflation and rising housing costs.

For New York City, which is already facing a severe affordable housing shortage and rising homelessness, the end of the program could put roughly 7,600 households at risk of eviction, according to city officials and housing experts.

“The city is in a tough spot,” said Sean Campion, director of housing and economic development studies at the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission. “For the most part, people aren’t going to be able to pay the full rent without [the assistance].”

Replacing the federal emergency program will be tough. The city runs its own separate housing voucher program, known as CityFHEPS, but the Citizens Budget Commission issued a report in February showing the rising costs of the city-funded housing voucher program has made it more expensive than policymakers initially expected when it was launched in 2018.

“New York City has created an entirely city-funded voucher program that already exceeds the total size of federally funded housing programs in all other major U.S. cities,” the report reads.

In the face of that price tag, and legislation that expanded the number of people who qualify for CityFHEPS vouchers, Mayor Eric Adams has underfunded the program by $500 million in his executive budget proposal this year.

Campion said the end of the Emergency Housing Voucher program would only further strain city finances.

“The city budget just in general is ill-prepared to deal with looming federal cuts,” he said. “It’s a hard decision because any funding they allocate to ‘backfill’ the emergency housing vouchers is going to have to come from somewhere.”

The New York City Housing Authority received nearly $125 million to administer the federal emergency vouchers for nearly 5,600 households last year, according to agency data. That equates to an average of about $1,850 per month for each household. Additionally, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development received about $50 million from the program on behalf of 2,050 households, Commissioner Ahmed Tigani told councilmembers at a hearing last week. Tenants participating in the program pay their landlord about 30% of the income toward rent. The voucher covers the remainder.

Tigani said his agency had originally planned to transition many emergency housing voucher recipients to the more common Housing Choice Voucher program, typically known as Section 8, by 2030, when officials expected the program to end.

“The acceleration puts us in a difficult place,” he told councilmembers. “We are doing a wholesale take of what the Section 8 program can do in order to preserve options for these families if and when this funding goes away.”

But Tigani warned of another complication: Section 8 funding is also subject to potential cuts under the Trump administration’s efforts to dramatically reduce the size of the federal government. He said the housing agency is working with national organizations to advocate for more rental assistance funding.

“There's bipartisan support for that, so we would look to activate that support,” Tigani said at the hearing.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, called the emergency program “an important tool in helping to combat the housing crisis across the city” and told Gothamist she hopes Congress will reallocate new funding to sustain it.

“I am working with my colleagues across the aisle to ensure that we continue funding for these vouchers,” Gillibrand said in an emailed statement.

She did not respond to a question about whether any Republican lawmakers have shown interest in resuscitating the program.

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the lone Republican in New York City’s congressional delegation, did not respond to questions about the program — nor did spokespeople for House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Brooklyn Democrat.

In response to questions about a possible reallocation from Congress, Housing and Urban Development spokesperson Kasey Lovett pointed to a written statement she previously sent to Gothamist.

“HUD is exploring additional options for [housing agencies] and families supported by the EHV program moving forward,” Lovett wrote.

Sonya Acosta, a senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for Budget Policy Priorities, said the program’s termination is a response to a depletion of the resources Congress had initially set aside in 2021 — as opposed to an ideological push by Republicans to shrink federal spending. And she said it’s therefore up to Congress to keep tens of thousands of households from losing their apartments and ensure landlords continue receiving rent payments.

“It’s Congress’ roll to step in and prevent this from happening,” Acosta said. “The idea that [local] housing agencies are going to take on these costs is unreasonable.”

Recipients of the emergency voucher program who spoke with Gothamist say they fear what will happen if they lose the rental assistance.

Stephanie Woodbine, 42, works for a nonprofit that provides housing for domestic violence survivors. She said she got an emergency housing voucher in January 2023 after she was evicted from her Brooklyn home and spent six months staying with friends, family or temporary accommodations.

“This really did save my life. I climbed out of a hole,” she said. " I feel like just when I get on some stable footing, I'm going to like fall off."

Karen Yi contributed reporting.