DSS says 5,092 supportive-housing units vacant; bill would mandate vacancy data but agencies warn of reporting limits

The Department of Social Services told the City Council on June 3 that 5,092 supportive housing units were listed as vacant in the city's tracking system, CAPS. Administrator French, appearing for DSS, said the figure includes units taken offline for repair and units in different stages of referral or lease-up.

The matter matters to advocates and council members because the city has thousands of unsheltered and street‑homeless New Yorkers and policymakers have flagged supportive housing as a key tool to reduce street homelessness. Council Member Ressler pressed DSS on the numbers during the Committee on General Welfare hearing and asked for common definitions and reconciliation with nongovernmental analyses.

DSS described how the 5,092 figure breaks down: roughly 44 percent of those units (about 2,226) are marked offline by providers, often for repairs; about 34 percent (1,729) are actively in the referral process; and roughly 22 percent are online but have not yet had a referral requested by the housing provider. DSS said 438 of the referral‑stage units are rerentals linked to a named individual and an additional 518 are rent‑ups for new facilities. Administrator French also said roughly 1,200 of the offline units are under state contract.

DSS officials emphasized the limitations of currently available data. "Readily available data along a number of dimensions important to provision of this kind of legal assistance is limited," Administrator French said in testimony about program design generally, and later answered council questions on supportive housing vacancy data by pointing to gaps in reporting and the multiple funding streams tied to units. DSS also noted the CAPS database covers about 38,329 units but acknowledged some supportive housing is not in CAPS.

Council members urged faster action. "We have 5,000 vacant supportive housing units today," Council Member Ressler said in a line of questioning; he and other members pressed the administration to invest in repairs and in prioritizing vacancies for people experiencing chronic street homelessness.

Advocates at the hearing recommended the vacancy report called for by Intro 7‑91 go beyond tabulations and explain why units are vacant, including whether units are SROs, congregate versus scattered‑site, require repairs, or are tied to funding streams that affect tenant protections and affordability. DSS told the committee it would want to harmonize any new reporting requirements with existing agency reports and with the Office of Supportive and Affordable Housing and Services (OSOS) to avoid creating duplicative and costly reporting burdens.

The proposal remains in committee. DSS pledged to provide follow‑up data and to work with the Council on definitions and report design, and council members said they will press for more granular information showing how many units are long‑term vacant and what funding or repairs are needed to make them available for referrals.

Ending: Council members and advocates asked DSS to provide the committee with the data breakdowns requested, including the number of offline units by funding stream and a list of sites and units that have had no referrals so contracting entities can follow up. DSS said it will provide further details after the hearing.