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“The problem is significant enough that we are now conducting a formal survey of our membership to document the full scope of housing instability and homelessness among city workers. That should concern anyone who relies on city services—which is everyone.”
Each morning, administrative managers keep city operations on track. Legal coordinators support the city’s legal work across agencies. Computer associates maintain the systems that keep departments connected and the government functioning.
Alongside thousands of other administrative and managerial professionals represented by CWA Local 1180, these workers keep New York City running. But increasingly, they can’t afford to live in the city they serve.
Most of New York’s housing debates focus on two ends of the spectrum: luxury development or deeply affordable housing. Both deserve attention. But too often, that conversation leaves out the many New Yorkers in the middle—people who earn too much to qualify for many affordable housing opportunities but still struggle to afford market-rate rents. Many city employees fall squarely into that category.
I serve as secretary-treasurer of CWA Local 1180, one of the city’s largest public-sector unions representing more than 9,000 active members across dozens of city agencies. Our members work in administrative, managerial, and technical roles that keep the government functioning every day. Many earn middle-income salaries that leave them caught in New York’s “missing middle”—earning too much to qualify for many affordable housing opportunities while still struggling to keep up with the city’s housing costs.
For many of these workers, remaining in New York City isn’t just a personal preference, but a condition of employment. Yet, the very employees required to live in the communities they serve are increasingly being priced out of them.
This burden falls especially hard on the women of color who make up the majority of our membership. For years, CWA Local 1180 has fought systemic pay inequities affecting these workers, from our landmark equal pay case against the city to our advocacy for Local Law 27, which requires public reporting on racial and gender pay disparities across city government. Yet even as we’ve made progress toward greater transparency and accountability, many members continue to struggle with a cost of living that has far outpaced their wages.
As such, housing affordability becomes not just a personal inconvenience but a fundamental conflict within New York City’s public employment system. I’ve even heard from members living in homeless shelters while working full-time for the city. The problem is significant enough that we are now conducting a formal survey of our membership to document the full scope of housing instability and homelessness among city workers. That should concern anyone who relies on city services—which is everyone.
CWA Local 1180 has always supported deeply affordable housing, and that hasn’t changed. But housing policy cannot stop at serving the lowest-income households and declare the problem solved. New York’s housing crisis spans the income spectrum. If we expect teachers, social workers, analysts, inspectors, case managers, and administrative professionals to keep this city functioning, we must also make it possible for them to live here.
Workforce housing should be viewed as essential public infrastructure, no different than transit, schools, or utilities. Cities cannot function without the people who operate them.
Atlantic Yards is the clearest example of this conversation playing out today.
After more than two decades of delays, New York State has unveiled a new plan to finally complete one of the largest housing developments in the city’s history. The proposal would deliver approximately 5,600 new homes, including more than 1,200 income-restricted apartments, while completing the long-delayed development over the Vanderbilt rail yard through significant public investment.
The project has understandably reignited debate over affordability. Community advocates have rightly pressed the state to ensure Atlantic Yards finally delivers on its long-promised affordable housing commitments after years of delays and missed deadlines. That accountability is essential.
But Atlantic Yards also highlights a broader challenge facing New York’s housing policy. Our affordability crisis doesn’t end with the lowest-income households. It affects teachers, nurses, nonprofit workers, and the public employees who keep city government running. The question isn’t whether these New Yorkers deserve housing too—it’s whether our housing strategy is broad enough to recognize the full range of people being priced out of the city.
One of the reasons Atlantic Yards has generated so much debate is that it forces New York to confront a difficult question: who should publicly supported housing serve? There is broad agreement that the project must deliver on its longstanding affordable housing commitments.
But as state officials finalize the project’s affordability mix in the months ahead, they should also recognize that New York’s housing crisis increasingly affects middle-income public employees. A comprehensive housing strategy should reflect the full range of New Yorkers being priced out of the city—not just one segment of the income spectrum.
This shouldn’t be unique to Atlantic Yards. Every major publicly supported housing development should ask whether it is serving the full range of New Yorkers who make this city work, including the public employees responsible for delivering the very services those developments depend upon.
The cost of ignoring this reality is already becoming apparent. When public-sector salaries cannot keep pace with the cost of living, experienced employees leave for the private sector or relocate to places where their pay stretches further. Agencies struggle to recruit qualified candidates. Vacancies remain open longer. Institutional knowledge disappears.
The consequences extend far beyond City Hall. Slower hiring means slower inspections, delayed benefits, longer permit approvals, reduced oversight, and less responsive government. Housing affordability is no longer simply a housing issue—it is increasingly a public service issue.
Every day, city employees process benefits, oversee housing programs, manage public services, and keep New York functioning. They deserve the opportunity to live in the city they serve.
As New York continues investing billions of public dollars in housing, we have an opportunity to build communities that reflect the full spectrum of our workforce. That means honoring our commitment to deeply affordable housing while ensuring middle-income public employees are not left out of the conversation.
If we want a city that works, we need a city whose workers can afford to call home.
Robin Blair-Batte is the secretary-treasurer of CWA 1180.