NYC is adding more affordable apartments than ever. But who are they meant for?

If you earn just over $80,000 a year in New York City and are looking to apply for the city’s affordable housing lottery, your options are slim.

Since the start of 2022, new affordable housing development is targeting divergent ends of the income spectrum, according to a Gothamist analysis of city housing data. The number of apartments reserved for the poorest residents is about on par with the number built for people earning six-figure salaries — up to $130,000 a year for a single person or $165,000 a year for a family of three, the data shows.

But apartments for people earning what the city considers “moderate income” make up just 5% of the 24,000 newly added subsidized apartments, and account for the smallest slice of the newly built affordable housing stock. Some data suggests that middle-income New Yorkers are fleeing the five boroughs in droves because housing is too expensive and hard to find — just one manifestation of a growing affordability crisis.

Gothamist’s analysis of affordable housing development comes as state lawmakers in Albany are negotiating a new tax break meant to fuel development, including some units with rents capped based on household income. A previous version of the tax break faced criticism for creating too many purportedly “affordable” apartments that priced out the vast majority of low- and middle-income New Yorkers and expired without renewal.

The city’s affordable housing lottery lists newly added apartments that receive local subsidies or state tax breaks. To qualify, prospective tenants have to prove they meet certain income thresholds.