NYCHA Opens Applications for Section 8 Affordable Housing Vouchers for the First Time in 15 Years

Activists Call On NYC Mayor And Housing Authority To Address To Jacob Riis Houses' Water And Gas Crisis — (Photo : Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) A maintenance worker cleans the grounds of the Jacob Riis Houses as residents and activists gather for a protest against the living conditions at the public housing unit on September 14, 2022 in New York City. Despite extensive city operated tests showing that the water does not contain arsenic, many residents still complain about cloudy and foul smelling water, a lack of repairs and other issues plaguing the 2,600 residents living there. Following the discovery of dangerous levels of arsenic in the tap water on the Friday evening of Labor Day weekend at the housing complex in the East Village, residents had been given bottled water and provided take away meals and were told not to drink the water. Tests now show that the initial water results were wrong, but many residents are still angry and plan to sue the New York City Housing Authority

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) on Monday reopened its Section 8 waitlist, marking the first time they are taking applications in nearly 15 years.

NYCHA is now taking applications for its Section 8 waiting list---a federally funded program that provides housing choice vouchers. The waiting list closed in December 2009 after applications ballooned to over 128,000 families.

That waiting list has since dropped to 3,700 households, prompting NYCHA to reopen the waiting list after nearly 15 years.

Who Is Eligible for the Section 8 Vouchers

Applicants are eligible to apply for NYCHA's Section 8 program if they meet these guidelines.

Income: Individuals must not earn more than $54,350 annually while the income for a family of four must not exceed $77,650.
Immigration Status: At least one household member must have an eligible immigration status
Social Security Number: All members of the household with a Social Security Number are required to provide them in the application.
Family: Applicants must be a member of a family, according to the definition from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Background: All household members aged 16 and older must pass a criminal background check and nationwide sex offender check.

How to Apply for NYCHA's Section 8 Waitlist

NYCHA opened its Section 8 application window at midnight on Monday, June 3. The application window will be open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 9.

The application process will take about 20 minutes on average. Applicants are required to finish their application in one session. Otherwise, the information would not be saved and the applicant would have to start from the beginning. Duplicate applications would also be rejected.

City officials encourage people to file their applications online. However, applicants can also go to Customer Contact Centers on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and East Fordham Road in the Bronx for paper applications.

NYCHA officials noted that submitting an application does not guarantee a place on the waitlist. They hope to have the waiting list finalized by Aug. 1 and begin giving out vouchers to about 1,000 households at a time, per the New York Times.

Hours after the application window opened, the portal received over 150,000 applications, according to Bloomberg.