Affordable housing in the Bronx may be a crucial tool in fighting the housing crisis in New York City, according to new data from the New York State Comptroller’s office.
In a housing report released on Jan. 12, the comptroller’s office emphasized that affordable housing development in the Bronx “may be particularly valuable to ease affordability issues” in New York City’s housing market — pointing to the low rental vacancy rate and amount of affordable housing stock built in the borough since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the report, in 2021 the Bronx had the lowest net rental vacancy rate citywide — at 0.8% — compared with the highest in Manhattan at more than 10%. This was likely due to the difference in housing costs in the Bronx compared to other boroughs.
The Bronx also had the highest number of newly added affordable housing units by neighborhood in 2022, according to the state comptroller.
There has been progress on multiple large-scale affordable housing projects in the Bronx in recent months — including the completion of a 96-unit affordable building in Fordham Heights, a $13 million development in Crotona Park for people with mental health issues who were previously accused of felonies, a 100% affordable housing complex in Hunts Point and an affordable building in Mount Hope since November 2023 alone. And as of Jan. 18, there were eight open affordable housing lotteries in the Bronx via NYC Housing Connect.
But even if the new information suggests the Bronx is a valuable player in terms of combating the New York City housing crisis, many of the borough’s residents are still struggling to afford housing.
The comptroller’s report notes that income growth from 2011 to 2021 was not distributed evenly throughout New York City. The largest increase in median household income was concentrated in Brooklyn, the report states, primarily in the Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods — which saw an 82.9% jump to $101,400.
But in the Bronx, median household income dropped in more neighborhoods than in others across the city over the same 10-year period — most drastically a 9.2% decline to $57,007 in Co-op City, Pelham Bay and Schuylerville, according to the report.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said after the report was released that housing costs across New York City have skyrocketed over the last decade compared to other major U.S. cities including Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.
“More than half of tenants in the city spend 30% of their income on rent, forcing them to make tough choices,” DiNapoli said. “City and state leaders recognize New York’s housing affordability problem but need to implement cost-effective solutions more quickly.”
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
