FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 05, 2026
CONTACT: media@nycha.nyc.gov | (212) 306-3322

NYCHA Delivers Historic $5.1 Billion Capital Investment with More Than 800 Completed Construction Projects Over Last Five Years

Despite industry instability, NYCHA is now completing more capital work each year than at any point in recent history with annual expenditures topping $1 billion per year, representing the delivery of thousands of critical assets

Strategic restructuring through the Transformation Plan has enabled the Authority to accelerate critical renovations and effectively take on increasingly more complex and innovative modernizations, with another $6.3 billion in investment across 506 projects planned or underway

 

NEW YORK – The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) today announced the investment of over $5.1 billion in capital improvements across its public housing portfolio over the last five years, having completed 810 construction projects and steadily increasing expenditures to $1.25 billion in 2025, despite unprecedented instability in the construction industry since 2020. After temporarily pausing or slowing construction activity during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect resident health and safety – and navigating the resulting inflation and global supply chain issues – NYCHA is now completing more capital work annually than at any point in the Authority’s recent history. 

Annual expenditure on capital projects grew by 48% since 2021 to $1.25 billion

 

As part of its Transformation Plan and a major contributing factor in this progress, NYCHA established its Asset & Capital Management (A&CM) Division in 2022 to restructure, scale, and significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Authority’s capital projects, sustainability and resiliency, real estate development, and comprehensive modernization functions. Annual capital expenditures have topped $1 billion in each of the last three years, reflecting delivery of thousands of new heating systems, roofs, elevators, interior and exterior waste compactors, brickwork renovations, CCTV and lighting installations, apartment upgrades, community center and playground renovations, and more. As of January 1, 2026, NYCHA is also currently managing over $6.3 billion of active investments across 506 projects.

$6.3 billion of active investments are distributed across properties in all five boroughs 

 

“Every NYCHA resident – and every New Yorker – deserves a safe and dignified home,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg. “In the face of longstanding federal disinvestment in public housing, NYCHA has made important changes over the last five years resulting in significant capital improvements at properties across the five boroughs. While there is more work to do together across all levels of government to deliver for NYCHA residents, these investments and changes are making a tangible difference for thousands of our neighbors.”

“Following the 2019 HUD Agreement, and as a result of our implementation of the Transformation Plan, NYCHA is now completing more capital work annually than at any point in recent history,”  said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “The completion of more than 800 projects is a testament to our dedication to not only enhancing and expediting service delivery, but to making tangible improvements on the campuses and inside the homes and buildings of NYCHA residents. We look forward to continuing this momentum with the hundreds of projects that are already underway this year.”

“Our strategic and operational transformation efforts in recent years have successfully strengthened our project delivery capabilities, allowing these historic capital expenditures,” said Chief Asset and Capital Management Officer Shaan Mavani. “Each dollar spent contributes to meaningful improvements for NYCHA residents – from new heating systems to playground renovations, and everything in between. Critically, as part of these efforts, we’ve made considerable improvements in how we partner with other areas of NYCHA and how we serve our customers, by providing a previously unprecedented level of transparency, engagement and regular communication with residents and other stakeholders about the projects taking place on their campuses and in their communities.”

In 2019, NYCHA signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Southern District of New York (SDNY), establishing an independent federal monitorship and outlining requirements for key pillar areas to improve conditions across its portfolio. In the years following, the Authority has worked with federal oversight to implement its Transformation Plan to make tangible improvements in the realms of accountability, governance, and compliance while enhancing customer service and optimizing service delivery.

Between 2021 and 2025, NYCHA expended more than $5.1 billion in Federal, City, and State capital grant funds and energy performance contracts. This includes just under $1 billion in Federal disaster recovery funds, which in the previous five years (2016 to 2020) comprised the bulk of NYCHA’s $3.9 billion of capital projects expenditure driven by the $3.2 billion Superstorm Sandy Recovery & Resilience program. During this time, NYCHA completed construction on 810 capital projects citywide, across nearly every major type of building system and open space enhancement. From 2021 through 2025, these capital projects created the equivalent of over 620 full-time jobs for low-income New Yorkers, with more than half of these specifically for NYCHA residents. Over that time, capital projects have also increased in size and complexity, including Comprehensive Modernization projects that are currently underway with $1.2 billion in total budget.

Funding from the City of New York between 2021 and 2025 supported a diverse range of projects, including but not limited to roof replacements, waste infrastructure improvements, discretionary investments in community centers, playgrounds, sport courts, security lighting and cameras that directly enhance residents' quality of life. New York State funding addressed critical building systems, funding elevator replacements that improved accessibility and reliability, heating system upgrades that enhanced resident comfort, and facade repairs that preserved the structural integrity and appearance of NYCHA buildings.

NYCHA’s capital investments have heavily focused on compliance with the HUD Agreement, prioritizing the systems that most directly impact resident health, safety, comfort, and convenience:

• 177 heating systems renovated including 156 boiler replacements and/or upgrades to new technologies, distribution system improvements, and domestic hot water system renovations;
• 277 elevator replacements;
• 757 waste and pest management assets replaced, including rat slabs, interior compactor rooms, waste yards and trash hoists;
• 744 roofs replaced;
• 217 building facades repaired with sidewalk sheds removed at 314 buildings;
• Over 3,700 CCTV cameras and 3,100 lighting assets installed;
• Over 3,300 apartment upgrades;
• 25 community centers upgraded;
• 68 new or improved playgrounds and sports courts;
• Strengthened resiliency to storm surge and cloudburst flooding at 30 properties.

In total, NYCHA has replaced or renovated thousands of major assets through capital projects, with steady increases year-over-year since 2021 and continuing into 2026.

NYCHA has been able to effectively accelerate property modernizations due to increased Federal, State, and City funding after the HUD Agreement was signed and a targeted restructuring as a part of the Authority’s Transformation Plan. The establishment of the A&CM division was coupled with a multi-year effort to transform organizational culture and values, policies, processes and systems, and staff capabilities, and led to historic capital investment. Major areas of focus included:

• The strengthening of project schedule management and expanded use of alternative project delivery models such as design-build to improve on-time delivery, cost and quality;
• The integration of dashboards and key performance indicators into day-to-day management and decision-making at all levels;
• Improved coordination with City agencies through dedicated liaisons, escalation arrangements, and joint process enhancements;
• Extensive new tools and staff training programs focused on construction project and vendor management, and other areas;
• Establishment of a highly effective capital emergency response team for rapid response to structural, facade, and other emergency situations.

NYCHA has also strengthened transparency and quality of engagement with residents and other external stakeholders regarding capital projects through:

• New, public Capital Projects & Needs Tracker with details on active and completed projects, including scope of work, location, status, project team contact, and vendor information;
• Dedicated Property Liaison teams, a single point of contact on projects for stakeholders;
• Public, user-friendly guidance documents on capital projects engagement, with standardized engagement touchpoints and protocols for all projects;
• Expanded templates and tools to support stakeholder meetings, communications, onsite signage and noticing;
• New stakeholder surveys to capture feedback across every project; and
• Interactive website for NYCHA Design Guidelines formalize NYCHA’s modern design focus on high-quality housing and building performance, resident health and well-being, and climate mitigation and adaptation.

Today, over 80 percent of capital projects in construction are on-track or have minor delays, net change order rates are below 1 percent across the portfolio, and A&CM completes over 580 quarterly stakeholder meetings with NYCHA property management and resident leadership each year in addition to over 5,000 project-specific stakeholder engagement touchpoints.

Every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable place to call home, and this historic $5.1 billion investment in NYCHA housing is proof that we can deliver real results for families across our city,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, ranking member of the Senate subcommittee overseeing appropriations for housing. “From new heating systems and roofs to elevator replacements, apartment upgrades, and critical safety upgrades, these projects are improving quality of life for tenants and strengthening communities in every borough. I am proud to support NYCHA’s work and will always be a strong partner in Washington to secure the federal resources needed to modernize public housing, protect residents’ health and safety, and ensure that New Yorkers have access to quality, affordable homes for generations to come.”

“For far too long, public housing infrastructure needs have gone underfunded and unaddressed, worsening conditions and causing serious harm to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. “Completing more than 800 capital projects and investing $1 billion annually in NYCHA housing demonstrates meaningful progress toward repairing, upgrading, and transforming our public housing to ensure it is safe, livable, and sustainable. We have a lot more work to do to address the substantial capital improvements needed across the whole agency and I will continue to work with the city and federal reps to achieve that so that all those living in NYCHA have safe and clean places to live.”

“For far too long, public housing has been treated as an afterthought, synonymous with delay, disrepair, and broken promises,” said U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres. “I know firsthand what it means to grow up in public housing and depend on these buildings to be safe and stable. Completing more than 800 capital projects and investing over $1 billion annually proves that we can move at scale and deliver real results. Families in the Bronx and across New York deserve nothing less than safe, modern, and dignified homes.”

“For decades, many NYCHA residents have endured conditions that no New Yorker should have to accept,” said U.S. Representative Nydia M. Velázquez. “This $5.1 billion capital investment demonstrates that with sustained funding and real accountability, we can deliver meaningful improvements to public housing. But with over $80 billion in unmet capital needs still ahead, it is critical that every level of government remains committed to this progress.”

“Given the destabilizing power of tariffs, as well as a loss of funding for Section 9 housing at the federal level, our public housing authorities are being starved of desperately needed dollars,” said New York State Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Housing. “However, despite those challenges, New York City Housing Authority soldiers on in its determination to invest its very limited resources into securing capital repairs, plowing over $5 billion into 810 construction projects across its portfolio. But this fight is far from over — the state must use every lever to protect our public housing developments from further deterioration, which is why I will continue to boost NYCHA’s efforts in this year’s state budget.”

“These milestones are a testament to the immense impact and progress that can be made by projects operating under a Project Labor Agreement,” said President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York Gary LaBarbera. “Maintaining a commitment to creating good-paying middle-class careers for New York's hardworking people and ensuring tradesmen and tradeswomen are safe, fulfilled, and valued on the jobsite, translates directly into economic development, community building, and the creation and maintenance of much-needed housing. We thank NYCHA for their collaboration and are proud to have a role in helping them achieve these accomplishments.”

NYCHA expects to complete construction on over 125 projects and expend more than $1 billion in capital funds for the fourth consecutive year in 2026. In addition, building on successful pilot demonstrations through the Clean Heat for All program – a partnership between NYCHA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) – NYCHA will expand the deployment of easy-to-install window heat pumps for both space heating and cooling across several NYCHA properties in 2026 and through the next five years. The Authority will also initiate large-scale waste plumbing, kitchen, and bathroom rehabilitation projects at several properties, applying an innovative, cost-effective model to target the root causes of leaks and mold – which comprise close to 20 percent of NYCHA’s $80 billion in capital needs.

Additional information on these and other property modernization efforts is available on NYCHA’s website at the Modernizing NYCHA Properties page.

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About the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the largest public housing authority in North America, was created in 1934 to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. NYCHA is home to 1 in 16 New Yorkers, providing affordable housing to 511,384 authorized residents through public housing and Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) programs as well as Section 8 housing. NYCHA has 177,565 apartments in 2,410 buildings across 335 conventional public housing and PACT developments. In addition, NYCHA connects residents to critical programs and services from external and internal partners, with a focus on economic opportunity, youth, seniors, and social services. With a housing stock that spans all five boroughs, NYCHA is a city within a city.