Heading into 2024, City Limits looks back at key stories and investigations from the last 12 months on New York City housing, homelessness, climate policy and more.
Adi Talwar
From top left to bottom right: Tenants protest NYCHA’s demolition plans outside the Fulton Community Center in September; the skyline at Hudson Yards; Beverly Rivers in front of her apartment building in Flatbush, Brooklyn; A family outside the city’s congregate shelter for immigrants at Floyd Bennett Field at the end of November 2023.Heading into 2024, City Limits looks back at key stories and investigations from the last 12 months on New York City housing, homelessness, climate policy and more.
Tracking NYC’s Record-High Homeless Shelter Population
December 2023
With additional city agencies now providing more emergency lodging than ever before in a system that officials say is at a breaking point, monitoring the total number of people in shelter has only become more important—and more complicated. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
‘It’s Not the Place, But Where it’s Located’: Immigrant Families Weather First Weeks in Floyd Bennett Shelter
December 2023
City Limits spoke with several families about what it was like to live at the shelter, the first congregate facility in which the city has placed large numbers of immigrant families with children. All complained about the cold inside the tents, the remoteness, and inaccessibility.
Adi Talwar
A family outside the city’s congregate shelter for immigrants at Floyd Bennett Field at the end of November 2023.
Efforts to Block Gas Bans Across the Nation Are Growing. Will it Work in New York?
November 2023
After a lawsuit in California toppled the city of Berkeley’s efforts to replace gas stoves with clean electric energy in new buildings, fossil fuel industry groups are testing the same legal strategy in New York. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
Falling through the Cracks: Young Adult Asylum Seekers Struggle to Access City Resources
November 2023
As more young adults enter the city as asylum seekers, there is no official system in place to direct them to specialized shelters tailored to their needs—and, lately, no beds available even if they try. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
Migrants outside the offices of Afrikana, a community center on Malcolm X Boulevard in East Harlem that’s been helping young immigrants navigate the city’s shelter system.
The First Tenants Weigh In: Voting on NYCHA’s Future [VIDEO]
November 2023
This City Limits video delves into the complexities of a vote that will impact Nostrand Houses tenants in the near term, and explores the choices thousands of additional public housing tenants will have to make in the coming years. Watch the video.
Uncertain Waits or Tickets Away: Immigrants Face New Reality as Shelter Stays Expire
November 2023
A city-opened facility dedicated to “reticketing” has sown confusion, emerging as one of the only options—along with new “waiting areas”—for recently-arrived immigrants forced to leave their shelter placements as the cold sets in. Read the story.
Emma Whitford
NYC Promised More Apartments to Break a ‘Vicious Cycle.’ Where Are They?
October 2023
A 2019 plan to expand the Justice Involved Supportive Housing program would satisfy a commitment in former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Points of Agreement to close the city’s notorious jail on Rikers Island. The existing operators aren’t biting. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
David Owens, 56, moved into his own apartment in 2021 through the city’s Justice Involved Supportive Housing program, following what he described as a “vicious cycle” of homelessness and incarceration.
As Chelsea Demo Plans Move Ahead, A Look Back to NYCHA’s Brooklyn Razing
October 2023
There are several key differences between PACT and Hope VI, the now-defunct federal program that facilitated demolition and displacement in Brooklyn decades ago. But, despite contemporary safeguards, advocates say they’ll be keeping a close eye as plans to raze and rebuild the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses move forward. Read the story.
A Real Estate Trust Bought Dozens of Brooklyn Brownstones. Now It Wants Out
September 2023
A real estate trust bought single-family homes in gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhoods, renovated, and rented them out at a premium. With the trust now looking to offload the assets, tenants are left in an uncertain position, feeling like homeownership is further out of reach than ever. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
Homes along MacDonough Street in Brooklyn.
“They Are Fast to Get You Out of Here”: Asylum Seekers Bed Down Outdoors as Shelter System Buckles
August 2023
The administration said this week that its shelter system is at capacity. In addition to those sleeping under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, dozens are also camping out on sidewalks outside the Manhattan hotel serving as the main intake center for migrants, as the city prioritizes shelter beds for families with children. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
Several men sleeping on the street under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Clinton Hill on Tuesday morning.
The Heat is On
In the face of climate change, City Limits’ CLARIFY News youth reporters explore the impact of extreme heat on New York City’s neighborhoods and communities. Read the series.
Aidan Accornero
A street vendor in Brooklyn sought relief from the heat under an umbrella in July.
For LGBTQIA+ Asylum Seekers, Life in NYC Brings New Freedom, and Challenges
July 2023
During New York’s Pride Month, several asylum seekers who arrived in New York City after crossing the border finally paraded in a Pride march for the first time in their lives. City Limits spoke with six of them. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
“To go through a miles-long crowd that was praising and cheering you on, it was a very nice feeling,” Javier, who came to New York City from Venezuela, of participating in his first Pride march.
A NY Law Puts A Steep Price On ‘Serious’ Building Disrepair.
These Tenants Are Fighting To Use It.
May 2023
Brooklyn tenants are trying to dismantle barriers around a seldom-used 1960s-era law that can prohibit landlords from collecting rent when they fail to fix dangerous building conditions for months on end. The campaign just had its first breakthrough. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
Beverly Rivers in front of her apartment building in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.
NYCHA Plan to Put Units Under Private Management is More Than Halfway Done—But Skepticism Persists
April 2023
More than 36,000 NYCHA apartments have either undergone conversion or are in the process of being converted to the RAD-PACT program, which officials say has helped drive billions in needed repairs. But tenants—some of whom will get a chance to vote this year on whether they want their developments to join the initiative—remain distrustful of the change. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
NYCHA’s Manhattanville Houses in Harlem will receive $222 million in repairs through the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program.
Hudson Yards Calls Itself a Model Neighborhood for Energy Efficiency. City Data Paints a Different Picture
March 2023
Hudson Yards promised to be one of the most efficient sustainable neighborhoods in the U.S. But public energy consumption data tracked by the city shows many green-certified properties in the neighborhood are failing to outperform similar buildings nationwide. Read the story.
Adi Talwar
A view of the Hudson Yards neighborhood from the Hudson River.
