I’m a teacher, married to a cop. How do we get a deal on subsidized housing in Harlem?
New York City is committed to providing subsidized housing for the middle class: the problem is that there’s a lot more demand than there are units.So whenever a lottery is held, there are hundreds of applicants for each spot.
However, residents of the neighborhood take priority over non-residents; according to the Times, 30 percent of the units in new Harlem buildings are set aside for residents of community board 10. (Housing commissioner Donovan once told me there are neighborhood set-asides, too; the nyc.gov site says it’s 50 percent of new units.)
So the first thing you should do is familiarize yourself with the lottery system.
The second thing you should do is move to Harlem; once you establish residency, your lottery chances go up.