What New Yorkers Are Really Saying About Affordability

With New York City’s mayoral race heating up (With the infamous or famous depending on your political stance, Zohran Mamdani leading), a new survey from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) offers a closer look at what everyday families are struggling with — and the picture isn’t pretty.

The Communities Speak project collected data from neighborhoods across all five boroughs, and the findings show that the city’s affordability crisis isn’t just housing anymore — childcare and food security are front and center too. The survey pulls together responses from multiple years between 2021 and 2025, tracking how things have changed over time and highlighting patterns that matter for policy makers and voters alike.

What the Data Says

Childcare Costs Are Crushing Families

Nearly 30 percent of families with young kids in spring 2025 said they still can’t afford childcare — even after a slight dip from 2024. That’s striking considering how important childcare is to parents’ ability to work and plan for the future.

Friends and Family Are Filling the Gaps

Most families lean on personal networks for childcare help — over half rely on family or friends, compared with only about 20 percent using government assistance.

Neighborhood Differences Matter

Where you live really changes your experience. In parts of Queens like Ridgewood, nearly half of families said childcare is unaffordable. In contrast, wealthier areas like Greenwich Village had much lower rates of struggle.

Food and Housing Hardship Hits Some Groups Harder

The survey found big disparities by race and language. Hispanic and Black families with young children experience food insecurity at significantly higher rates than White families, and non-English-speaking households reported severe housing instability at about twice the rate of English-speaking ones

Why It Matters Now

This report lands right in the middle of the mayoral campaign, where affordability is a central issue. But the survey goes beyond talking points — it shows how deep and interconnected the problems are. It also underlines how federal pandemic relief helped for a time, and how its pullback revealed long-standing gaps in city support.

For voters and local leaders, that matters. When families are stretched by housing costs, childcare bills, and food insecurity all at once, it shapes decisions about jobs, neighborhoods, even whether to stay in the city at all. Understanding those realities can help shape practical policies rather than surface-level fixes.

Columbia SIPA

The Affordable Scoop: Your Monthly Look at Cheap NYC Rentals

Finding an affordable apartment in New York can feel impossible right now (When has it ever felt possible right?) Rents have climbed to record highs and competition is fierce, especially for folks who want to stay in the neighborhoods they love. That’s exactly why the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) puts out The Affordable Scoop every month. It highlights deeply affordable apartments that are currently open for applications through NYC Housing Connect — the city’s official affordable housing lottery platform.

Each edition gives you key details on where the units are, what the rents start at, who’s eligible based on income, and when applications are due. In 2025 alone, the city connected more than 10,000 households to affordable homes through these lotteries — a strong indicator of both the demand and the need.

What’s Available This Month

Here’s a quick snapshot of some listings featured in the October 2025 roundup:

Brooklyn Options

• 330 Melrose Street (Bushwick) – Studio apartments, rents from about $949, income eligibility up to around $129,600.

• The Carroll (Carroll Gardens) – Studios to two-bedrooms with some building amenities, starting around $978.

• 1601 DeKalb Ave – A mix of studio through three-beds starting near $788, with features like air conditioning and community rooms.

• 890 Erskine St – Senior-focused units with community spaces and free Wi-Fi; rent based on income, often around 30% of what you earn.

Note: All of these are in highly desirable areas right now (Bushwick if your young and "hip")

Bronx Opportunity

• 3118 Webster Ave – Studios to three-beds starting near $698, with easy transit and neighborhood access.

All listings are open on Housing Connect, and you have to apply by the posted deadlines to be entered into each building’s lottery.

Why This Matters

NYC’s housing market is famously tough. The Scoop doesn’t solve that overnight, but it does put real, income-targeted options in one place and makes it easier to see what’s out there without digging through a bunch of listings yourself. It’s especially helpful for people who are priced out of market rents but still want to live in the city — including seniors, families, and individuals with modest incomes.

If you’re looking for affordable housing in New York, check The Affordable Scoop monthly and set up alerts on Housing Connect so you never miss a deadline.

 New York City Government

NYC’s Big Affordable Housing Debate: Ballot Proposals, Power Shifts, and Community Pushback

In the 2025 New York City general election, voters weren’t just choosing a mayor — they were also deciding on three controversial ballot proposals that could reshape how the city approves housing, especially affordable housing. These measures generated a lot of heat, particularly in neighborhoods like West Harlem, where some residents and organizers pushed back hard. Columbia Daily Spectator

At their core, Propositions 2, 3, and 4 are about changing the land-use and approval process for housing projects. The idea behind them is to make it easier and faster to get affordable housing off the drawing board and into the ground. In practice, though, the proposals shift real power away from local City Council members — who are directly accountable to their neighborhoods — and toward appointed boards or citywide actors.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Proposition 2 would let certain publicly funded affordable housing projects, and those in districts that lag behind in building affordable units, move through approval faster.

• Proposition 3 simplifies review for modest housing and infrastructure changes on smaller lots.

• Proposition 4 would create an affordable housing appeals board that could overturn City Council decisions on these developments.

Supporters — including Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and some housing advocates — argue these changes are needed because the current approval system can take months or even years and often lets a handful of elected officials stall or block projects entirely. That’s something in a city with a severe housing shortage and rents that consistently outpace incomes.

But not everyone agrees. A number of City Council members, labor unions, and neighborhood groups warned that the ballot language was misleading and that the proposals would weaken local oversight. Their concern is that developers and political appointees could move projects forward without meaningful community input — reducing residents’ ability to negotiate for things like local jobs, parks, schools, or deeper affordability levels. In West Harlem and elsewhere, advocates organized to make sure voters understood what was at stake.

This debate tapped into a larger tension in NYC politics: how to balance the urgent need for more and faster housing with the desire to preserve community voices in decisions that shape neighborhoods. It’s a classic case of speed versus control. And however you come down on that tradeoff, it’s a reminder that the mechanics of housing policy — not just rent prices — matter deeply to New Yorkers every day.