Welcome

Quality affordable housing is not only an essential need, it is a powerful force that improves the lives of generations of families, enhances the quality of communities, and supports overall economic development. The City of New York has a proud track record of creating and implementing innovative affordable housing strategies and programs that transform and strengthen neighborhoods, create meaningful jobs and opportunity for thousands of New Yorkers.

In calendar year 2013, the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) helped to finance more than 7,600 affordable homes, each of which can contribute to the empowerment of the families they house and the communities they serve. As we release our 2013 annual report, we also acknowledge the leadership and commitment of former HDC President Marc Jahr and past HDC Chairs Mathew Wambua and RuthAnne Visnauskas, and we thank them for their efforts.

Over the course of the year HDC issued a total of approximately $1.9 billion in bonds in support of affordable housing. The Corporation, in fact, was ranked number one by Thompson Reuters SDC, the leading data resource of the municipal bond industry, among all municipal housing bond issuers nationally in 2013. This feat is made all the more remarkable given that the rankings reflect issuers with statewide single and multifamily programs, while HDC’s activity is exclusive to New York City’s multifamily market.

While we look back with pride on a year, and further back on a legacy of great production and accomplishment by HDC, we are also all too aware that there is much work ahead. We are continuing to collaborate with our public and private partners to refine existing programs and to innovate, both to finance new construction and to protect the City’s existing affordable housing resources. This is a commitment that has recently been renewed and reinvigorated by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new housing plan, released in May of 2014 and simply but powerfully named Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan, to create or preserve 200,000 affordable units in the coming 10 years.

As you read about the three housing developments that are highlighted later in this report (one in Brooklyn, one in The Bronx, and one in Queens), the true power of housing and what it can accomplish is evident. Each of these demonstrates the innovation of our programs, the commitment of our partners and, most notably, the benefits to – and contributions of – the residents who have made these buildings their homes. These three developments are representative of what we are collectively striving to achieve, and what we must continue to achieve, as we move forward in our ever-expanding mission to provide quality and attainable housing for New Yorkers.

Vicki Been




HDC Board Chair
and HPD Commissioner

Gary D. Rodney




President, NYCHDC