City publishes ‘Where We Live’ strategy to navigate fair housing for New Yorkers

The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) released the final version of the “Where We Live” plan on October 2 to comply with federal fair housing standards, as well as state and local anti-discrimination laws.

“We’ve built on the first plan from 2020 by engaging New Yorkers across the Five Boroughs and turning their feedback into concrete strategies for change,” said acting HPD commissioner Ahmed Tigani in a statement. “The 2025 plan, guided by the Fair Housing Framework, builds on that progress and responds to today’s extraordinary housing pressures with new strategies and commitments. Together, these efforts form a roadmap we are already putting into action to ensure that every New Yorker, regardless of race, income, age, or disability, has the opportunity to live in a home and neighborhood of their choice.”

On October 6, HPD held a press briefing about the 114-page publication. The department’s officials pointed to progress made since 2020 and highlighted the City Council’s passing of Local Law 167 of 2023, which mandates these five-year plans regardless of the federal government.

Through the Fair Housing Act of 1968, municipal governments like New York City’s must further fair housing to qualify for federal dollars. The law’s anti-segregationist roots addressed Civil Rights Movement-era discrimination against Black homebuyers and renters. Today, the legislation tackles everything from religion and gender to national origin and disability status.

However, the definition of fair housing was initially vague, prompting the need for cities to design their own roadmaps for combating housing discrimination. The Obama administration later mandated documentation of racial bias patterns and comprehensive plans from cities taking federal dollars. Despite the first Trump administration’s later reversal, Local Law 167 of 2023 maintains the practice on a local level.

“Our ‘Where We Live’ work stems back to that idea of, what does it mean to affirmatively further fair housing [and] what is that obligation?” said Lucy Joffe, HPD’s deputy commissioner for policy & strategy. “Over time, the federal government took different approaches to trying to actually define that term and how it’s been thought of since about 2015 is that cities like New York City have to do a couple different things: place-based strategies, plus mobility strategies.

“But in essence, basically what it’s saying is that New Yorkers should have the ability to choose to move to any part of the city that they want to live in.”

Research from the report relied heavily on community outreach in the five boroughs, including campaigns in the city’s three public library systems in summer 2024 and in-person workshops in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx earlier this year. The city also met with four New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) heads and advisory boards. Through the public engagement, HPD reports on persisting, widespread housing discrimination among protected classes and further demand for affordable housing and rental assistance.

In certain neighborhoods, the city learned about barriers immigrant renters faced when asserting housing rights in today’s climate. To be clear, threatening to call ICE on a tenant is a crime under New York City law.

The report identified strategies to bolster the city’s fair housing protections, including public education during non-transparent processes like co-op applications where discrimination can happen behind closed doors. There was a specific emphasis on ensuring that formerly incarcerated people knew their rights after the Fair Chance for Housing Act went into effect this year, preventing property owners in large part from refusing to rent or sell to someone due to a criminal record.

HPD’s findings also pointed to building more housing and addressed the “geographically uneven” development for affordable units across the city: New builds were often clustered around outer-borough waterfronts and along Manhattan’s west side. The report also noted that the neighborhoods with the fewest new projects boasted a significantly higher median income than those with the most new projects.

Alongside the report is a more accessible online tool for the public to explore housing, demographical, and vacancy data across the city that was previously only found in PDF reports and more complicated datasets. The HPD also enlisted youth filmmakers to create an 11-minute video about housing discrimination.

“This crucial report has already helped spark change over the last five years and I know will once again help build a more affordable New York City for the decades to come,” said Mayor Eric Adams.

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