CM Restler questions on expiring emergency housing vouchers and NYCHA response gap

Chair, could I get one more question?

Thank you.

I really appreciate it.

I am deeply concerned about the expiring emergency housing vouchers, 5,200 of them.

And I apologize if this has come up already today, but 5,200 vouchers expiring at the end of this year, thanks to the incompetence, ineptitude, and perhaps pure evil of the Trump administration.

My understanding is that 2,500 of these vouchers under HPD's purview have a path forward with the home tenant-based rental vouchers.

Could you confirm the accuracy there and that NYCHA has no solution for the similar 2,500 vouchers under their control?

Why not move all of those vouchers under HPD?

Can we do the home tenant-based rental vouchers for all 5,000-odd families that are otherwise in an incredibly difficult position and potentially

Essentially at risk of homelessness.

What's the path here?

So I should correct the numbers and the record.

So the first 2,000 families that HPD had under our own EHV program are all being converted or offered conversion to TBRA, tenant-based rental assistance, which is paid for under home.

There's an additional 1,700 families that were on NYCHA or individuals, households that were on NYCHA EHV

that we have moved over to HPD because we had additional home resources through Home ARP, which was a special allocation granted during COVID.

That is pretty much the capacity that we have for conversion from EHV to TBRA.

That said, NYCHA is now...

How many are left over?

So the 3,400 that remain within NYCHA's universe that are not being converted to TBRA are all being offered to fill out applications for NYCHA.

Packed Section 8 units, regular Section 9 NYCHA units, and their own project-based vouchers.

I realize that NYCHA is not your responsibility, but that's not a particularly serious answer, is it?

Yes, it is a serious answer, and they've had an 81% response rate from reaching out to that 3,400.

And you think that we're going to move people into Section 9 housing and into NYCHA apartments off those waiting lists in time before their vouchers expire in three months?

I think that is the goal and that both agencies.

Do you think anyone will move off of that?

I don't want to speak for NYCHA, but I think both agencies are working really diligently to make sure that we get the transition plans in place before the EHE subsidy expires.

I mean,

In December.

You can model the waiting lists and look at the need.

Do you think any families will move off of that waiting list into housing?

I do.

You do?

And you think a substantial number of them will?

I mean, I can't guess at what number will, but I think they've had a very high response rate, and I think those folks who really do need additional subsidy.

But a high response rate to completing an application is a different thing than actually accessing the housing support that they need.

Filling out an application is very nice.

It's not all that helpful, right?

Yeah, people are being placed.

Okay, so do you have an expectation of the 3,400 delta of how many will get help?

I don't, but it's my understanding that NYCHA has been reporting regularly to the council on what the percentages are of both response and uptake, so I think we should...

We're not particularly responsive to our request for information, but we'll look for more.

So thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Ressler.

I'm going to call on Councilmember Brewer to read a statement on her legislation, followed by Councilmember Nurse for round two.