Pre-holiday weekend news dump from DSS... the 2026 unsheltered homeless count in NYC, 4,991, is the highest since the count started in 2005. Just 3.5% of NYC's homeless are unsheltered. This year's survey was conducted in March, rather than January, because of the cold spell.

Court records confirm State Judiciary Chair Luis Sepúlveda complained about a judge on one of his housing court cases to Court Administration. Sepulveda is trying to resuscitate the case after the Judge ruled for the landlord when Sepúlveda failed to show. Now he recuses himself

After fighting two different mayoral administrations to stay open, Mainchance drop-in in Midtown East closed its doors yesterday after 30 years. Some Manhattan electeds worry it will leave a gap in the homeless network, but DHS is not backing down. Story @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/U8U6ziT

After an attempt to save it failed in court, Manhattan elected officials are urging the Mamdani administration to reconsider its decision to close Mainchance, "the only homeless drop-in center located in East Midtown." via @patrickspauster.com: citylimits.org/midtown-home...

Great, practical guide to the city's new rental voucher program, by @patrickspauster.com City Hall expects the new vouchers will serve ~ 5,600 households, or 14,000 people, while City Council estimates it could cover 9,600 households, or 30,000 individuals. citylimits.org/city-to-expa...

What to know about CityFHEPS deal: who will be newly eligible? It creates a new program for people at risk of eviction in rent stab housing + other shelter residents not eligible b/c of work requirements or income limits. The existing CFHEPS program remains the same. citylimits.org/city-to-expa...

BREAKING: A final budget deal will expand city-subsidized rental assistance, @patrickspauster.com reports. Thousands of new households will be eligible for vouchers under the expansion, but the scope is far smaller than lawmakers originally intended: citylimits.org/city-to-expa...

Still no deal this morning. Leaders had hoped to shake on the budget today.

Speaker Julie Menin cancelled a budget handshake with Mayor Zohran Mamdani Friday after the two sides couldn’t agree on funding an expansion of the city’s housing voucher program, CityFHEPS, @patrickspauster.com reports: citylimits.org/city-budget-...

The always excellent Adi Talwar captured the tension and joy at last night’s historic rent guidelines board meeting: citylimits.org/photos-scene...

Developers got a zoning exception in exchange for 35% of the units being affordable at two Atlantic Ave bldgs. But when the market went bad, the developer built just 25% affordable. Officials couldn't enforce the agreement. Good @AYreport story

Knicks Parade tomorrow, which apparently means no evictions -- a rarity. citylimits.org/nyc-temporar...

The city occasionally suspends evictions due to health and safety risks—like extreme weather events, such as this past winter's cold spell—but rarely for celebrations. citylimits.org/nyc-temporar...

There's always a housing angle: citylimits.org/nyc-temporar...

Frustrations are mounting over the long-delayed CityFHEPS expansion, which was missing from the Mayor and Council's budget proposals. Some progressive councilmembers are threatening a "no" if there is not significant funding for the voucher program. New @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/J8onUA8

Must-see scenes at Thursday's RGB hearing, where the usually raucus tenant crowd was met by zombies (actors in makeup paid by landlords) who warned that a rent freeze would mean more undead vacant apartments. The board votes 6/25 citylimits.org/tenants-land...

Check out this great first @citylimitsnews byline from Casey Wetherbee who is reporting on tenants and climate this summer! “Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Indigenous American and low-income people face the greatest risks from living near warehouses,” buff.ly/LHQ3Zmj

Backed by the Mamdani admin, Pinnacle tenants are fighting to hold their new owner to repair promises they made when they bought the buildings @ auction. They say the pressure & a one-of-a-kind relationship w City Hall secured forgiveness for rent debt. @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/UOyKybW

Backed by the Mamdani admin, Pinnacle tenants are fighting to hold their new owner to repair promises they made when they bought the buildings @ auction. They say the pressure & a one-of-a-kind relationship w City Hall secured forgiveness for rent debt. @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/UOyKybW

She got a text when City of Yes passed: “You now have your ADU!” She was elated. Now, she feels exploited by the broken promise: "It wouldn’t have bothered me so much if they didn’t personally leverage me in their communications and in their campaign." www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/06/01/a...

City Limits is excited to welcome journalist Sunny Nagpaul to our newsroom! Sunny will report exclusively on NYCHA, and on the more than 500,000 New Yorkers who call public housing home. Send story ideas and tips to: [email protected]. citylimits.org/city-limits-...

There’s no help coming from NY state for 5,200 federal emergency housing voucher holders who will lose their subsidies this fall. Other housing stuff made the budget: environmental review reform & expanded eligibility for rent freezes for senior and disabled tenants.

“When landlords see that the agency to enforce those things is underfunded, they’re going to roll the dice,” said Paul Keefe, the vice president of legal services at the Community Service Society. citylimits.org/mamdanis-bud...

The NYC agency that enforces housing & labor discrimination laws is taking a cut in Mamdani's budget. While he promised no cuts, the budget's vacancy reduction savings hits the already-slim agency particularly hard-just as they had hoped to staff up. Story @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/AesEvtG

Thousands of heat complaints went unanswered during winter's record cold, @patrickspauster.com's reporting found, due to a policy that tags multiple complaints in the same building as duplicates. The city will now investigate each individually, Mamdani says. citylimits.org/mamdanis-hou...

“Starting October 1st of this year inspectors will investigate every single heat complaint the city receives.” The city had overlooked tens of thousands of heat complaints during the winter cold spell, directly addressing an April @citylimitsnews.bsky.social investigation.

This winter I reported how the city's response to heat complaints left 10s of thousands of calls unanswered. In his housing plan this AM, Mamdani announced that they would stop duplicating heat complaints, as part of broader legislative code reform. In @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/Z3AI6yV

There's not more $ for the state Housing Access Voucher Program-or the 5K households with expiring federal EHVouchers-in the budget bill state reps are voting on. They are still pushing but the Gov's office said Feds are to blame. @citylimitsnews.bsky.social w/ more buff.ly/J4Msxmu

Lost in translation - spanish speaking immigrants are getting duped by "notarios" (in spanish: "lawyers") who are not actually legal service providers, taking advantage of people who are desperate for help with immigration cases. from @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/aul1FUx

Mayor Mamdani declined to include expanded eligibility for city’s housing voucher program in his executive budget—instead saying he wants to reform the existing CityFHEPS program to make it more efficient. @patrickspauster.com has the latest: citylimits.org/rental-vouch...

“In some cases, advocates say, home flippers use predatory practices, harass homeowners, and lowball vulnerable residents in order to maximize profits.” citylimits.org/one-block-fi... By @citylimitsnews.bsky.social’s @patrickspauster.com

“In nobody’s mind are hotels the best solution to this, but if the city does not have enough appropriate shelter capacity, it has a legal and moral obligation to make sure that people have a place to stay,” CFTH Exec. Dir. Dave Giffen said to @patrickspauster.com for @citylimitsnews.bsky.social.

250 shelter beds lost from Bellevue shelter’s closure will be replaced in Brooklyn hotels, I report in @citylimitsnews.bsky.social this morning. Hotel conversions are no ideal solution and local community boards quibble with the process-but the city says they need the capacity. l1nq.com/2rn503u

A new fight related to Good Cause is brewing: what does “demolish“ mean? The law lets a landlord evict a tenant by citing intent to demolish, but it’s an open question of whether an apartment renovation counts, or if the whole building must come down. www.thecity.nyc/2026/05/13/g...

Mayor says that the executive budget accounts for CityFHEPS program (and some expected savings) as it exists today and DOES NOT include a potential expansion tied up in court. "Conversations continue" with the council around expansion, he says.

Knocked on many doors and pored over at many documents to figure out who exactly is getting their homes flipped and who is flipping them? My @citylimitsnews.bsky.social story on the trend that is making homeownership feel even more out of reach & is prevalent in Black neighborhoods buff.ly/WNtxt93

Knocked on many doors and pored over at many documents to figure out who exactly is getting their homes flipped and who is flipping them? My @citylimitsnews.bsky.social story on the trend that is making homeownership feel even more out of reach & is prevalent in Black neighborhoods buff.ly/WNtxt93

What happened at last night's Rent Guidelines Board meeting? Will tenants in rent stabilized apartments get that rent freeze Mayor Mamdani promised? Housing reporter @patrickspauster.com spoke to @pix11.bsky.social's Politics Daily about the latest: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAV1...

The city will close another Midtown homeless facility, Mainchance Drop-in, in June. Mainchance fought off closure in court 2 years ago under Mayor Adams. This time, DHS alleges the drop-in breached their contract by turning people away. The center has vowed to fight again. buff.ly/vJPe48D

The future of NYCHA is complicated and contentious. You'll find many of those nuanced views represented in this thoughtful @citylimitsnews.bsky.social story from @tareqsaghie.bsky.social citylimits.org/while-many-n...

First in @citylimitsnews.bsky.social: The mayor will announce a $2.4 B commitment to add heat pumps to 20k NYCHA apartments, 10k gas stoves, and 45k with efficient lighting and plumbing. But there’s $1.2B of funding yet to be identified amid budget uncertainty->

In NYC, homeless families have to go through a screening process to confirm they are indeed homeless in order to be eligible for housing services. A new @council.nyc.gov bill looks to make that process faster and easier, @patrickspauster.com reports: citylimits.org/nyc-families...

Should families have to prove they are homeless in order to access services? A new Council bill would make DHS take them at their word. In @citylimitsnews.bsky.social I dive into why city "fraud investigators" assess a family's eligibility for shelter-and whether it's necessary. buff.ly/RiL7QJq

We are sooooo back

And here's what the admin themselves counts as their accomplishments on housing, from a press release today:

The Mamdani admin says it's 'both, and': they are standing w/ tenants against "bad landlords" and working with real estate to build more housing. I asked DM for housing and planning Bozorg about the first 100 days of housing policy @citylimitsnews.bsky.social buff.ly/q0BYwh8

"I didn't know about it,"-Sen. maj. leader in response to @citylimitsnews.bsky.social & @hellgatenyc.com reporting on Sepulveda's law practice no shows & judge spat. "I would hope that he takes everything seriously but I have no complaints as it relates to his role on the judiciary"

“I’d like to know why you are not here,” the judge said over the phone. “It is not appropriate to not appear on multiple occasions.” Sepúlveda replied that he was “not in New York State right now.” citylimits.org/ny-state-sen...

More good details about Sen. Sepúlvedas legal failings from @sammellins.bsky.social @nysfocus.com—which extend beyond the no-shows in housing court I covered—plus he made at least $345,000 on his (sometimes shoddy) legal services since 2017

“I reject the premise that us going after bad landlords is the same thing as not working with the real estate industry. They are two different things,” Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg told @patrickspauster.com, as the Mamdani administration marks its first 100 days. citylimits.org/100-days-in-...