On Monday, March 10, Policy Associate Juan Diaz submitted testimony to the New York City Council Preliminary Budget Hearing for the Subcommittee on Public Housing. On behalf of CCC, the testimony expresses CCC’s support of funding and policy reforms to address rental arrears and living conditions for families with children residing at NYC public housing.

Read the full testimony below.

Testimony of Juan Diaz, Policy Associate
Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York
Submitted to The New York City Council Subcommittee on Public Housing
Preliminary Budget Hearing – Public Housing
March 10, 2025

Thank you, Chair Banks, and members of the Committee on Public Housing for the opportunity to submit testimony at this hearing regarding FY26 Preliminary Budget Hearing on Public Housing.

Since 1944, Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York has served as an independent, multi-issue child advocacy organization. CCC does not accept or receive public resources, provide direct services, or represent a sector or workforce; our priority is improving outcomes for children and families through civic engagement, research, and advocacy. We document the facts, engage and mobilize New Yorkers, and advocate for solutions to ensure that every New York child is healthy, housed, educated, and safe.

CCC is a steering committee member of the Family Homeless Coalition (FHC), a coalition comprised of 20 organizations representing service and housing providers, children’s advocacy organizations, and people with lived experience with family homelessness. We are united by the goal of preventing family homelessness, improving the well-being of children and families in shelter, and supporting the long-term stability of families with children who leave shelter.

A recent NYC Comptroller’s office report found that limited Federal funding in recent decades has contributed to a deterioration of New York City’s public housing, with current capital needs estimated to be nearly $80 billion. Many NYCHA residents regularly live without heat and hot water, experience elevator outages, and are exposed to mold and lead.[i] The same report highlights that Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) developments have a much higher number of evictions compared to NYCHA and citywide numbers. The investigation found that PACT management offices did not follow adequate practices to prevent housing court evictions due to rental arrears.

Additionally, several advocacy organizations and NYCHA tenants have expressed concerns over lack of timely repairs and lack of rental arrears assistance, which further exacerbates both housing and economic burdens at low-income communities where public housing is concentrated.

Therefore, we urge the City Council to advocate for the following recommendations to ensure that public housing residents maintain their apartments and live in a safe environment:

• Restore $325 million in rental assistance that was cut in the FY25 Budget. With the mounting number of housing court evictions cases and the exclusion of NYCHA households in the first round of ERAP rental assistance, it is imperative to support emergency rental assistance funding to enhance housing stability for NYCHA households.
• Allocate an additional $900 million in funding for the FY26 budget for NYCHA to address major capital improvements. Federal divestment and disrepair of NYCHA buildings has led to thousands of vacant apartments being considered too uninhabitable to rent. According to a recent study by Community Service Society (CSS), it would cost $4.5 billion over the next 5 years (or $900 million annually) to preserve 15,000 NYCHA units and 25,000 units of public housing outside of NYC, as well as build 8,000 new units across the state.[ii]
• Increase the Budget for Homebase by $37.9 million to a total of $100 million. In recent years, Homebase providers have taken on tremendous increases in caseload as well as an ever-expanding set of responsibilities, including submitting rental assistance applications, legal assistance and transfer requests for NYCHA residents. Although several Homebase locations are closely located to NYCHA developments and continue to provide more services, this has not been accompanied by funding levels to match the new post-Covid reality.
• Ensure that repairs are completed in a timely manner. A cross-agency effort should support completion of much needed repairs at both occupied units and empty apartments to help low-income families relocate to affordable housing.
• Ensure that PACT developments align with regulations to support tenants housing stability and reduce the rental arrears cases and housing evictions, which are higher than NYCHA developments.
• Implement and fund the CityFHEPS expansion, which would significantly remove administrative and eligibility barriers and would expedite access to housing support for families in the community and in shelters, regardless of immigration status.

Finally, we urge the city administration to ensure that sufficient funding is allocated in the incoming FY26 Executive Budget to offset federal budget cuts to HUD and other critical federal housing programs.

We look forward to standing with our city leaders as you fight for New Yorkers residing in public housing. Thank you for your consideration.

[i] NYC Comptroller’s Office. “Audit Report on the New York City Housing Authority’s Eviction Processes”. December 18, 2024. https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/audit-report-on-the-new-york-city-housing-authoritys-eviction-processes/

[ii] Community Services Society. Preserving New York’s Public Housing: A sustainable future for government-built housing”. 2024. mhttp-ssl 58547.nexcesscdn.net/nycss/A_new_Homes_and_Community_Renewal_(HCR)public_housing_programi.Promoting_Resident_management_corporationsii.Requiring_a_resident_voteiii_.Promoting_increases_to_the_affordablehousing_supplyiv_.Requ_.pdf