City Planning Releases 2023 Housing Production Update, Interactive Map Tools

 

Without 421-a Tax Program, NYC Permitted Just 16,359 New Homes in 2023, Fewest Since 2016 

Uneven Geographic Distribution Continued, with 10 Community Districts Producing as much Housing as Other 49  

Report Highlights Urgency of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity Proposal to Spur Housing Growth Across the City 

Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Dan Garodnick today announced the update of the DCP Housing Database through 2023, and the release of two interactive online tools that visualize where new housing is being

built and permitted within New York City. 27,980 new homes were constructed in New York City in 2023, which was a slight uptick from 2022. However, only 16,359 new homes were permitted, the lowest figure since 2016, and a clear indication that the lack of

the 421-a tax incentive program has depressed new housing development. An interactive tool showing total production over time and by borough is available

here,

and an interactive tool showing 2023 figures by community district is available

here. 

The distribution of new housing continued to be extremely uneven in 2023: 10 of New York’s 59 community districts – Bronx 1, 4, 5, 7, Brooklyn 1, 2, 5, 8, and Queens 1 and 2 – saw as much new housing built as the other 49, a pattern that locks New Yorkers out of housing opportunity in large swaths of the city while concentrating new development in select areas. Additionally, 39 of the city’s 195 Neighborhood Tabulation Areas (NTAs) saw fewer than 10 new homes built in 2023, with 10 NTAs, including East Midtown-Turtle Bay, Windsor Terrace-South Slope, Maspeth, and Brighton Beach, actually losing housing last year.  

“New York City is producing far less housing than needed, and the housing that is being built is concentrated in just a few neighborhoods. This imbalance is at the root of much of our housing crisis, and is driving up the cost of rent, exacerbating the imbalance of power between landlords and tenants, and forcing working New Yorkers out of our city,” said DCP Director Dan Garodnick. “It’s long past time that we tear down the invisible walls that hold back housing production in some parts of the city and build a little more housing in every neighborhood with City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.”  

The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal would alleviate the geographic disparity in housing production by enabling a little more housing in every neighborhood across the city, facilitating new growth in many of the areas that saw little or no new housing in 2023 due to overly restrictive zoning regulations. DCP recently released the draft annotated zoning text of the proposal, which will enter public review later this spring. It is anticipated to come to the City Planning Commission and City Council for hearings and votes before the end of the year.  

This update to the DCP Housing Database, which newly includes the second half of 2023, sheds further light on the drop-off in New York City’s housing production following the expiration of the 421-a tax benefit program in June 2022. The last time this few new homes were permitted in New York City, in 2016, a prior version of 421-a had also just expired. A successor tax benefit program, known as 485-x, was created as a part of the state budget approved on April 20, 2024, after successful advocacy by the Adams administration.   

The DCP Housing Database is the most reliable aggregated database of housing production in New York City, drawing on NYC Department of Buildings-approved housing construction and demolition jobs. It includes the three primary construction job types that add or remove residential units: new buildings, major alterations, and demolitions, and can be used to determine the change in legal housing units across time and space. Records in the Database are geocoded to the greatest level of precision possible, subject to numerous quality assurance and control checks, recoded for usability, and joined to other housing data sources relevant to city planners and analysts. The Database is updated biannually and tracks both permits, when a building is permitted to begin construction, and completions, when a building receives a certificate of occupancy. 

Department of City Planning 

The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the strategic growth and development of the City through ground-up planning with communities, the development of land use policies and zoning regulations applicable citywide, and its contribution to the preparation of the City’s 10-year Capital Strategy. DCP promotes housing production and affordability, fosters economic development and coordinated investments in infrastructure and services, and supports resilient, sustainable communities across the five boroughs for a more equitable New York City. 

In addition, DCP supports the City Planning Commission in its annual review of approximately 450 land use applications for a variety of discretionary approvals. The Department also assists both government agencies and the public by advising on strategic and capital planning and providing policy analysis, technical assistance and data relating to housing, transportation, community facilities, demography, zoning, urban design, waterfront areas and public open space.