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Queens Borough President’s Office hosts Housing Connect webinar; HPD demos portal, eligibility and appeal process
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Summary
HPD demonstrated how to use Housing Connect — from account setup to document submission — clarified recent documentation changes (self-certify assets under $51,600; one month of pay stubs), and told attendees that log numbers are randomized. Borough staff and HPD offered contact routes for account help and said quarterly webinars will continue.
The Office of the Queens Borough President hosted a virtual Housing Connect demonstration in which the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) walked residents through the city’s portal for affordable housing lotteries, how to apply and what to expect after applying.
HPD representative Shahin Saleh led a live demo of account registration, household profile setup, the open-lotteries search and the applicant dashboard. Saleh detailed recent documentation changes and eligibility rules: applicants with under $51,600 in assets can self-certify and do not need to submit bank statements; employed applicants generally need only one month of pay stubs rather than six; and tax returns or W-2s are no longer required except for self-employed applicants. "If you have less than $51,600, you do not have to provide bank statements," Saleh said during the demo.
Saleh also explained how the system matches households to unit types and filters by borough and neighborhood. He demonstrated that applicants must meet both the minimum and maximum income thresholds shown on each development’s advertisement to qualify, and that AMI bands set different rent and income requirements (for example, demo slides showed a 30% AMI 1-bedroom with a minimum income near $25,509 and a 50% AMI 1-bedroom with a listed minimum near $48,926).
On the mechanics of selection, Saleh said applicants receive randomized "log numbers" that determine the order in which management companies process applicants. "The log numbers are randomized. No one in HPD or the city can dictate what log number is assigned to an applicant," he said, adding that log-number examples shown in the demo ranged from the low hundreds to tens of thousands and that applications routinely draw between roughly 15,000 and 80,000 entries for a single development.
The presentation covered lottery types (initial lotteries for first move-ins, rerental mini-lotteries for specific vacancies and wait lists for larger vacancy pools), voucher rules (some vouchers cover a dollar amount, others a bedroom type), accessibility and reasonable accommodations (units set aside for mobility, hearing and vision needs), and homeownership lotteries (which require mortgage readiness and credit checks; eligibility is limited to first-time homebuyers).
Saleh walked attendees through common account problems and how to resolve them: incomplete profiles will show a red status (preventing submission) until missing fields such as account cash values are supplied; correcting those fields turns a profile green and allows applications. He outlined the dashboard statuses applicants will see — pending, action required, in process and completed — and noted applicants typically have about 10 working days to submit requested documents once contacted.
During Q&A, Borough President Donovan Richards spoke about the borough pipeline and outreach priorities, saying the city had approved "over 28,000 units" in areas including Jamaica and Long Island City and previewing projects at Creedmoor, the Rockaways and Willets Point. Richards also flagged community-preference limits have been reduced after litigation: "We were sued when it comes to community preference," he said, noting ongoing work to maximize local access to new units.
Residents raised account-specific issues during the question period: several participants said they could not access their accounts or saw unfamiliar emails tied to their profiles. Saleh advised changing passwords, reviewing the dashboard to confirm log numbers, and contacting HPD for targeted help. He provided an HPD contact number in the webinar chat (212-863-7990) and said HPD staff would respond to emailed inquiries; borough staff also offered to follow up with attendees who shared information via the webinar chat.
HPD reiterated that management companies, not HPD, handle tenant selection and document review for individual developments; HPD can contact assigned project managers to follow up on applicants’ behalf if a management company is unresponsive. Participants asked about support for older adults and people in shelter; Saleh said HPD has more than 40 community-based housing ambassadors and a pilot with some libraries to provide one-on-one assistance and agreed to share the ambassadors’ contact list and the presentation materials by email or chat.
The webinar closed with a reminder from Richards that the borough office will run these sessions quarterly, and with HPD urging applicants to keep their profiles current and to check their Housing Connect dashboard at least three times a week. Saleh said HPD expects to post more affordable developments in 2026 and encouraged applicants to use the site’s "Learn" resources and language settings if they need translated guidance.
What residents can act on now: create or update your Housing Connect profile, confirm household and asset entries, check log numbers and dashboard statuses, and contact HPD at the number shown in the webinar chat (212-863-7990) or by the channel provided in the presentation if a management company does not respond.
(Contacts and specific email addresses were provided in the webinar chat and materials; attendees were asked to consult the webinar recording or chat for the borough office email and for HPD’s Housing Connect inbox.)
