Public housing in Yonkers and beyond in NY: Even the unicorns are drowning | Opinion

The Yonkers Housing Authority) stands out as a unicorn among 1,600-plus housing authorities, and even we are drowning. YHA is a large housing authority; we own or manage more than 2,500 affordable housing units and administer more than 5,000 Section 8 vouchers in the third largest city in New York State.

We are a unicorn because we have excellent rent collection numbers, and we can’t get enough vouchers out the door. We are a unicorn because we have completed the Rental Assistance Demonstration conversion from public housing to Low-Income Housing Tax Credits housing bringing in private investment to fund improvements. And we are a unicorn because we are incorporating climate resiliency into our housing through additions to the tree canopy, bioswales and rain gardens.

Despite all of this overachievement, we are still drowning.

We average about 90% rent collections. My staff and I have attended several national housing conferences, and everywhere we are met with surprise. A recent report from The New York Times noted that the New York City Housing Authority “collected just 65% of the rent it charged … .” That represented a 100-year low for NYCHA. Alarmingly, NYCHA’s numbers are more typical nationally than ours.

YHA never has trouble getting vouchers out the door. In a city of more than 200,000 people, the minute we get vouchers, they go back out the door through a rolling request for proposals. This is unlike most places in America that have trouble utilizing their vouchers.

A recent Time article explains the headwinds most Housing Authorities face.

“By the time the voucher recipient gets through all their hurdles, and we get through all our inspection hurdles, I could have already had the place rented,” said Steve Vogel, a 63-year-old landlord in Jackson County, Missouri who spoke with Time and owns more than 20 rental properties, and has never successfully rented to a voucher holder despite multiple attempts over his 12 years in the industry.

Yonkers doesn’t have that problem. In fact, we can’t get enough vouchers from HUD.

YHA has 26 properties over 17 sites, all of which have gone through tax credit-funded redevelopment. That means we brought in $750 million dollars in LIHTC (private investor monies) to renovate the kitchens, baths, elevators and some central building systems. In exchange for renovating our buildings, the private investors get tax breaks for between 12 and 15 years. And then, when one of our newly renovated buildings was flooded during an extreme rain event, we started embracing climate resiliency to mitigate future damage.

In so many ways, we are far ahead of other housing authorities, yet we are still drowning. Why? Because now that we have LIHTCs in our properties, we are no longer “public housing,” although our tenants have not changed. And because we are no longer “public housing,” we no longer qualify for FEMA grants after a natural disaster like a flood.

FEMA can only give our properties loans. No, thank you. Now that we are no longer “public housing,” we no longer qualify for social workers through ROSS grants. Again, our tenants’ issues and anxieties didn’t change. They still need help. And we still want Resident Coordinators to help us with our tenants. We learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that social workers are critical.

We just spent $750 million to update our buildings, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface of the cost to bring our portfolio up to date. The pipes are old and leaking. We fight mildew every day. The stoves are gas, and New York State wants us to convert them to electric. Our Consolidated Edison bills are going through the roof (utility costs went up 20% last January, 20% last June, then another 20% this January), and our employee costs (including health care which went up over 14% this year) are off the charts. Insurance costs due to climate change are rapidly increasing. We are drowning.

The only people who can throw us a lifeline are in Washington. Washington needs to invest in municipal housing in all its forms — public housing, Section 8, LIHTC etc.  Our leaders need to recognize that the legal fictions of RAD and other programs don’t change who are tenants are, they just change who is paying for the renovations. 

And Washington needs to get on the stick because when even the unicorns are drowning we should all be very alarmed.

Wilson Kimball is president and CEO of the Yonkers Housing Authority.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Yonkers public housing struggles