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Vacant apartments, questionable spending plague some NYC affordable housing, audit finds
By
David Brand
Published Jun 10, 2025
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David Brand
Published Jun 10, 2025
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A "troubling" number of apartments are sitting empty in many of the city's Mitchell-Lama affordable housing complexes, some left vacant for years, according to a new report from the state comptroller.
Officials from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office reviewed conditions at four housing complexes in the state’s Mitchell-Lama program two years after a 2023 audit uncovered dangerous living conditions, questionable spending, scores of empty units and limited oversight by the Division of Homes and Community Renewal, or HCR, the state agency overseeing the developments. The Mitchell-Lama program provides housing for low- and middle-income renters and owners.
The follow-up review found many of those problems still persist at Jamie Towers and Findlay House in the Bronx, Cathedral Parkway Towers in Manhattan and 753 Classon Avenue Housing Company in Brooklyn — especially when it came to filling empty apartments and accounting for six-figure expenditures by property managers.
The comptroller's office singled out the 620-unit Jamie Towers, where residents have faced 56% maintenance cost increases over the past two years. The report found that roughly one of every 10 apartments was empty in April, depriving New Yorkers of needed housing and suppressing building revenue despite long wait lists. Auditors said some units had been vacant for at least seven years, while other vacancies were not reported to the state housing agency.
DiNapoli slammed the state housing agency for doing little to assist building managers with filling the vacant apartments — one of his office’s main recommendations following the 2023 audit.
“The number of affordable apartments that Homes and Community Renewal has allowed to remain vacant is troubling, particularly because my office flagged this issue two years ago,” DiNapoli said. “With affordable housing so badly needed and thousands waiting for apartments, it’s unacceptable and undermines the Mitchell-Lama Program’s goals.”
HCR spokesperson Charni Sochet countered that the agency is working to adopt DiNapoli’s previous recommendations, but added that the report mischaracterizes its oversight role.
“The Comptroller’s follow-up audit fails to acknowledge the limited role HCR has in overseeing the day-to-day management of Mitchell-Lama housing, which is privately-owned and managed,” Sochet said in a written statement.
The comptroller encouraged the agency to file a formal written response within 30 days of receiving the results.
Jamie Towers’ management company Maxwell-Kates did not respond to calls and emails about the audit and vacancies. The company took over operations after the 2023 audit was conducted. Two years ago, the complex’s previous property manager blamed some of the vacancies on roof damage that led to leaks and mold blooms. At the time, HCR said the aging buildings require pricey maintenance and renovations that take time to complete.
Auditors from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office documented several hazardous conditions at four Mitchell Lama complex they visited, including severe water damage at the Classon development in Brooklyn.
New York Comptroller's Office
Wait lists ignored
DiNapoli's team of auditors found at least one development was going outside usual protocol to fill empty apartments, and HCR did not intervene. Auditors found listings for units at Cathedral Parkway Towers on online rental platforms, bypassing an official waiting list that included people who applied for an apartment more than a decade ago. The management company told auditors they had no knowledge of the listings, according to the report.
DiNapoli also accused HCR of failing to review large payments to contractors for repairs and security, including some that were missing documentation or were awarded without competitive bidding.
In a written response to the 2023 audit, HCR Senior Vice President Jason Pearson said the comptroller’s audit selected some of the most “challenging” complexes and discounted the impact of the COVID pandemic. He said the agency has limited control over operations and spending, which are instead up to individual owners and managers.
Auditors from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office documented several hazardous conditions at four Mitchell Lama complex they visited, including flooded floors at Findlay House in the Bronx.
New York Comptroller's Office
New York City is home to more than 100,000 Mitchell-Lama co-ops and rental units. The state program, named for its two original legislative sponsors, was created in 1955 to provide affordable housing to middle-income homebuyers and renters. But in recent decades, many of the developments have faced mounting debts fueled by rising costs, questionable spending and, auditors and lawmakers say, little oversight from state and city regulators.
As Gothamist first reported last month, residents and local elected officials have criticized HCR for floating a 57% monthly maintenance increase at Rochdale Village complex in Southeast Queens, home to roughly 25,000 residents, after approving years of cost freezes or insufficient increases. It’s the latest Mitchell-Lama development to contend with huge cost hikes.
While several developments continue to thrive under responsible management, according to state housing officials, others struggle to deal with financial headwinds or poor decisions by boards and managers.
At a state legislative hearing in December, Jamie Towers resident Phyllis Gray, a former board member, referred to the problems documented in the comptroller’s 2023 report and said little had changed.
“We are not being managed properly. HCR provides no oversight and we have been ripped off,” Gray said. “Why do we have so many vacancies? … That is a source of our revenue.”
The comptroller’s office said state housing officials partially implemented other recommendations from the 2023 audit, such as compiling reports on housing code violations like rodent infestations, mold and broken doors, and issuing memos to management companies about improper spending. Visnauskas, the HCR commissioner, said the agency sent Jamie Towers a letter about the “inappropriate use” of performance bonuses paid to staff and contractors, noncompetitive bidding for maintenance and repair contracts and other financial issues in 2023.
Yet, the auditors found agency officials failed to actually review many expenditures at the developments.
Jamie Towers paid one contractor a $105,000 “sign-on bonus” that the comptroller’s office found “unusual,” and handed out six-figure contracts without bidding them out, according to the report.
All told, auditors found nearly $3.8 million in expenses that lacked sufficient documentation or were otherwise “unusual” at the four complexes since the 2023 audit.
Tagged
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brooklyn
housing
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new york city
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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