NYCHA is the largest public housing authority in North America. NYCHA's Conventional Public Housing Program has 178,914 (March 1, 2013) apartments in 334 developments throughout the City in 2,596 residential buildings containing 3,330 elevators (as of March 1, 2013). NYCHA has 12,258 employees (as of March 27, 2013) serving 176,221 families and 403,736 authorized residents (as of January 1, 2013). This includes 2,750 Section 8 Transition Households (as of  January 1, 2013) residing in former State and City funded developments.  

A total of 621,212 New Yorkers are served by NYCHA’s Public Housing and Section 8 Programs. If NYCHA was a city, it would rank 21st in population size in the United States, with New York City ranked first (as per 2010 U.S. Census). Based upon the 2010 Census, NYCHA Public Housing represents 8.2% of the City's rental apartments and is home to 4.9% of the City’s population.

• NYCHA residents and Section 8 voucher holders combined occupy 12.4% of the City's rental apartments and comprise 7.6% of New York City’s population.
  
  CONVENTIONAL PUBLIC HOUSING (as of March 1, 2013)
  
• The Bronx has 90 developments with 44,500 apartments
• Brooklyn has 100 developments with 58,699 apartments
• Manhattan has 102 developments with 53,890 apartments
• Queens has 22 developments with 17,126 apartments  
• Staten Island has 10 developments with 4,499 apartments
• Ten (10) developments comprising Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Acquired Homes total 200 apartments. Four (4) FHA Homes groups are located entirely in Queens, the remainder in multiple boroughs with a majority in Queens.
• 42 developments are for seniors only; 15 seniors-only buildings exist within mixed-population developments
• NYCHA has approximately 9,822 apartments designated for seniors only
• There also are 7,694 retrofitted apartments for families of persons who are mobility impaired.  

  
  SECTION 8 LEASED HOUSING PROGRAM
  

• 92,561 apartments were rented as of January 1, 2013.    
• A total of 1,749 of these apartments, known as Portability Vouchers, are located outside of New York City.
• There are 225,000 residents in Section 8 units.
• There are 31,436 participating private landlords.

• As of January 1, 2013:
  
• Families in the Conventional Public Housing and Section 8 programs pay no more than 30% of their family income for rent. The rent difference is subsidized by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Average family income in Conventional Public Housing is $22,994
• Average monthly rent is $436
• Working families account for 47.5% of NYCHA families
• 11.1% of NYCHA families receive public assistance
• Social Security, SSI, a pension, Veteran's benefits, etc., support   41.4% of the families
• 36.6% of the households are headed by persons over 62 years-of-age
• 18.8% of the NYCHA Population is age 62 or older.
• 34.4% of the NYCHA population are  residents under age 21 and  27.8% are minors under age 18

• On March 27, 2013 there Were: 
• 167,353 families on the waiting list for Conventional Public Housing 
• 123,533 families on the waiting list for Section 8 Housing. The Section 8 waiting list had reopened on February 12, 2007 and subsequently closed on May 14, 2007.
• 23,319 applicants are on both waiting lists

NYCHA's computerized Tenant Selection and Assignment Plan (TSAP) impartially chooses the next applicant for an apartment based on need priorities assigned to each applicant family and matches them to available vacancies as they arise. The TSAP system eliminates any and all interference from external entities and guarantees impartial selection of applicants for vacant apartments based strictly on the need priorities.

• The turnover rate in calendar year 2012 for NYCHA conventional public housing apartments was 3.04%.
• The vacancy rate of apartments available for occupancy was 0.93% as of January 1, 2013.
• Because of the varied need priorities that comprise a family’s TSAP profile and the low turnover and vacancy rates of apartments, it is virtually impossible to establish an average waiting time for a family to enter conventional public housing. Some applicants can be matched up with an available apartment in months, while others often have to wait years.

• Queensbridge Houses in Queens with 3,142 apartments is the largest development in the City
• Brooklyn's largest development is Red Hook Houses with 2,878 apartments
• Manhattan's largest development is Baruch Houses with 2,391 apartments
• Edenwald Houses in the Bronx is the largest with 2,036 apartments
• Stapleton Houses with 693 apartments is the largest development in Staten Island

New York City's Public Housing is constantly modernized and improved to preserve its availability for future generations. In the past nineteen years, NYCHA has invested more than $6.1 billion in preserving our buildings.

• As of March 1, 2013: 12 developments are at least 70 years old; a total of 40 developments are at least 60 years old; there are 53 developments 50 to 59 years old; another 93 developments are 40 to 49 years old, and 63 developments are 30 to 39 years old. A total of 261 developments are 30 or more years old.

NYCHA doesn't just provide a place to live. There are a wide variety of programs offered by NYCHA that are geared specifically to special age or special needs groups such as children, teens, single-parents, seniors, substance abusers, and victims of domestic violence, among others. NYCHA oversees a network of over 400 community facilities that include community centers, senior centers, health care centers, day care and Head Start educational centers.

Programs at many of these centers include sports, photography, painting, literacy classes and general education courses, computer training, arts and crafts, childcare feeding and lunch, and senior companion initiatives.