Proceeds of Social Bonds Will Help Finance Nearly 2,200 Affordable Housing Units, Part of Adams Administration’s Efforts That Have Already Created, Preserved, or Planned Approximately 426,800 Homes
Social Bonds Exclusively Supporting Affordable Housing Have Only Been Issued During Adams Administration
Moody's, S&P, Fitch, and Kroll Show Strong Confidence in City's Stability, Resilience, and Fiscal Outlook
New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that New York City will sell $460 million of taxable, fixed-rate General Obligation Social Bonds in October 2025, helping to support the creation of thousands of units of affordable housing. Additionally, Mayor Adams announced that — for the 18th consecutive time in this administration — the independent, internationally-recognized credit rating agencies Moody's Ratings, S&P Global Ratings, Fitch Ratings, and Kroll Bond Rating Agency have all affirmed the city's strong bond ratings and stable outlook. Selling bonds to investors generates resources that the city uses to build and maintain its world-class infrastructure, and, in this case, will be used to support the construction and development of nearly 2,200 units of affordable housing in New York City. Social Bonds exclusively supporting affordable housing in New York City have only been issued during the Adams administration, and this is the city’s fourth issuance of Social Bonds since 2022.
“When it’s come to tackling our generational housing crisis, our administration has gotten creative as we’ve used every tool possible to tackle our generational housing crisis,” said Mayor Adams. “From our historic ‘City of Yes’ plan to our neighborhood rezonings, we have never been afraid to take the bold and necessary steps to build more housing for working-class New Yorkers. Issuing Social Bonds exclusively for housing is yet another example of how we are thinking outside the box to finance and spur more affordable housing. With this latest sale of $460 million of General Obligation Social Bonds, we will support the construction of nearly 2,200 additional units of affordable housing. And because of our work and more, the leading credit rating agencies have, once again, affirmed our administration’s strong fiscal management. Our administration has consistently stepped up to the plate, skillfully managing crises after crises while making our economy stronger and boosting investor confidence. And while we have made great strides, we will never stop fighting to make our city more affordable, more livable, and the best place to raise a family.”
Financing Affordable Housing Through Sale of Social Bonds
Social Bonds allow the city to take advantage of demand for investment opportunities while addressing core policy objectives, including investing in programs and initiatives that can make the city more affordable for working-class New Yorkers. The city’s first three sales of Social Bonds — all of which took place under the Adams administration — totaled $1.92 billion and helped finance over 12,100 units of affordable housing across the city. Following the upcoming transaction, the city will have sold $2.38 billion of Social Bonds since 2022 to help finance over 14,300 units of affordable housing.
The upcoming issuance of Social Bonds to support the building of more affordable housing follows yet another record-breaking year by the Adams administration for producing and connecting New Yorkers to affordable homes. Through its efforts to date, the administration has created, preserved, or planned for over 426,800 homes for New Yorkers — including at least 250,000 affordable homes — over the next 15 years. To support the creation of even more affordable housing, the Adams administration continues to use every tool available to produce the homes New Yorkers need and make generational progress against the city’s housing crisis, having committed $25.8 billion towards affordable housing through the city’s 10-Year Capital Plan.
Net proceeds from the upcoming sale of Social Bonds will be used to reimburse prior spending by the city under the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Extremely Low- and Low-Income Affordability (ELLA) Program, Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program, and Supportive Housing Loan Program (SHLP). The projects being financed are expected to provide an estimated 1,152 units under the ELLA program, 190 units under the SARA program, and 856 units under the SHLP program. Over 80 percent of the units will be for households earning 60 percent of area median income (equal to $97,200 for a family of four) or below. Additionally, 790 of the total units — more than one-third — will provide housing for individuals and families formerly experiencing homelessness.
Leading Credit Rating Agencies Again Show Confidence
Earlier this month, based on the strength of the city's fiscal management, revenue performance, budget reserves, and post-pandemic recovery, Moody's, S&P, Fitch, and Kroll all assigned double-A category ratings and stable outlooks to the city's upcoming sales of approximately $1.5 billion tax-exempt and $1.75 billion taxable General Obligation Bonds, which includes the $460 million of Social Bonds. The four credit rating agencies have repeatedly upgraded or affirmed the city's strong General Obligation Bond ratings and outlooks over the course of the Adams administration. Notably, in February 2023, Fitch Ratings upgraded the city's credit rating from AA- to AA. On each occasion, the four agencies cited the city's ongoing strong fiscal management in support of their decisions.
Maintaining a strong bond rating is an indication of the city's financial strength and encourages continued investment in the city's bonds, which help support funding to build and maintain housing, schools, streets, parks, and other critical infrastructure that spans the five boroughs.
In maintaining its Aa2 rating, Moody’s Ratings cited “New York City’s post-pandemic economic recovery, including a record-high employment-to-population ratio, positive trends in assessed property values despite commercial real estate challenges, and steady but slow tax revenue growth. The expanding economy is driven by the city's competitive advantages: a young, highly skilled labor pool that over time has helped make New York City households wealthier; strong higher education and medical centers that also contribute higher paying jobs; and strong domestic and international transportation links that support New York City's position as a global economic, financial and cultural hub.”
S&P Global Ratings stated that the AA rating “reflects our view of New York City’s governance strengths and the dynamism and resilience of its economy, which we believe support stable credit quality over the outlook horizon. At the onset of fiscal 2026, we believe that the fiscal trajectory remains stable, and budgetary reserves — while not projected to increase over the near-term — provide the city with financial flexibility to navigate near-term risks…The stable outlook further reflects our view of the city's continuing ability to navigate potentially disruptive economic uncertainties and sustain financial stability in the near term, particularly amid a shifting federal and state funding landscape.”
Fitch Ratings noted that “New York City's 'AA' Long-Term Issuer Default Rating and GO bond rating reflect the city's exceptionally strong budget monitoring and controls, supporting Fitch’s 'aa' financial resilience assessment…The city experienced record revenue performance and strong economic recovery coming out of the pandemic, as well as improvement in reserve levels, which will help management navigate slowing revenue growth and future economic downturns.”
In its assignment of the city’s AA+ rating, KBRA wrote that “the city's role as an international business and cultural center, and its position as the hub of the country's largest metropolitan economy, highlight the diversity of the resource base supporting the G.O. Bonds. Institutionalized, long-range financial management and capital planning practices support financial stability.”
The credit rating and stable outlook affirmations follow the passage of the city's $115.9 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Adopted Budget, which builds on Mayor Adams' FY 2026 Executive Budget — often called the “Best Budget Ever.” The “Best Budget Ever” prioritizes investments that will make New York City a safer, more affordable city that is the best place to raise a family. Additionally, this fiscal year, for the first-time ever, New York City abolished or cut personal income taxes for eligible low-income New Yorkers. Recently, in his FY 2026 September Capital Commitment Plan, Mayor Adams announced the largest capital commitment plan in city history, which includes the acceleration of $1.5 billion in the New York City Housing Preservation and Development capital budget and $300 million in the New York City Housing Authority capital budget for FY 2026 to expedite construction and rehabilitation of nearly 6,500 homes, yet another example of how the administration is delivering affordable housing faster and more creatively.
Thanks to careful fiscal management and policies that have fostered robust economic growth, the Adams administration overcame unprecedented challenges in this budget cycle to manage the budget responsibly, support essential services, and make upstream investments that will benefit New Yorkers for generations to come.
