Source: NYU Furman Center

Date Published: 09/17/2025

Link: NYU Furman Center

The NYU Furman Center’s testimony highlights the critical role federal funding plays in New York City’s housing and homelessness programs, totaling $7.2 billion annually, including $833 million via LIHTC. Three-quarters of NYCHA’s $3.7 billion operating budget, over half of HPD’s budget, and 12% of DHS’s budget depend on federal funds, supporting over 350,000 households citywide. The FY 2026 House and Senate THUD bills propose significant cuts to public housing operating and capital funds, as well as to HOME, tenant-based rental assistance, CDBG, HOPWA, and ESG programs. These reductions could eliminate or scale back rental vouchers, code enforcement, lead abatement, emergency shelter funding, and supportive housing. The neighborhoods most impacted would be those with high concentrations of voucher holders (e.g., Fordham/University Heights, Highbridge, East New York) and areas receiving major CDBG-funded repair. Without state and local backfilling, the Furman Center warns, these cuts risk widening the affordability gap, destabilizing vulnerable households, and straining the city’s social safety net.