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Community Needs Assessment (CNA) 2025

Brownstones in the Community

The NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) is conducting a citywide Community Needs Assessment (CNA) to collect feedback from New Yorkers to set program priorities and direct resources where they are needed most. The survey helps ensure that local services reflect real community needs, and gives residents a chance to shape the future of their neighborhoods.

The online survey is free and fully anonymous, takes about five to fifteen minutes to complete, and is available in multiple languages. The survey collection will continue through October 15, 2025.

Fill out the CNA here! 

A list of citywide neighborhood Public Hearings can be found here.

To help promote the survey in your community, a toolkit is available with text, flyers, posters, and social media assets. 

DYCD introduced the 2016 Community Needs Assessment (CNA) to hear directly from New Yorkers and document their views on what is needed to improve the well-being of their own communities. The findings demonstrate that programs and services in the categories of education, employment/career advancement, and basic needs are the top priorities, and these just happen to be the resources that would especially benefit low-income New Yorkers. 

In 2022, DYCD embarked on a stakeholder engagement process that included collecting feedback directly from 28,751 residents across 41 Neighborhood Development Areas (NDAs). Residents were asked to indicate needs that are currently being met in both their household and community. Conversely, participants were asked to indicate areas in which their needs were not being met. Areas include, Food & Nutrition Assistance, Health Care, Mental Health, Financial Assistance, Immigrant and Citizenship Support, Legal Services, Transportation, Housing Assistance, and many more. We then ask participants to identify why their need was/was not met. Reasons from program location, cost, language barrier, and lack of program visibility were all options of choice. Prior to participants filling out their personal characteristics and employment status, they were asked to indicate the top three needs in their community. Factors such as housing, household (two parent, single, multigenerational, etc.), income and employment status are all intertwined and play an integral role in the quality of life for New Yorkers.

The data collected from our Community Needs Assessment (CNA) will be used by DYCD to fulfil its obligations as the local grantee for federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding that supports a wide variety of programs designed to address the conditions of poverty and promote neighborhood revitalization. In its capacity as the designated Community Action Agency for NYC, DYCD is advised by the Community Action Board, a citywide body that oversees community development efforts and works with Neighborhood Advisory Boards (NABs) in the neighborhoods that receive CSBG funding. The NABs are aligned with designated geographic districts known as Neighborhood Development Areas (NDAs) where poverty Is concentrated. Currently there are 41 NDAs and 41 associated NABs, each with twelve seats. Among the key responsibilities of the NAB members is the assessment of community needs, and setting program and funding priorities for the benefit of the low-income residents in NYC.

Download the 2023 CNA Report

Neighborhood Development Area (NDA) Profiles

Bronx


Brooklyn

Manhattan

Queens

Staten Island