NYCHA is the largest public housing authority in North America. NYCHA's Conventional Public Housing Program has 178,895 (February 1, 2012) apartments in 334 developments throughout the City in 2,597 residential buildings containing 3,330 elevators (as of February 1, 2012). NYCHA has 11,563 employees (as of February 21, 2012) serving 176,327 families and 403,357 authorized residents (as of January 1, 2012). This includes 2,545 Section 8 Transition Households (as of  January 1, 2012).  

A total of 629,345 New Yorkers are served by NYCHA’s Public Housing and Section 8 Programs. If NYCHA was a city, it would rank 21^st in population size in the United States, with New York City ranked first (as per 2010  U. S. Census). Based upon the 2010, NYCHA Public Housing represents 8.2% of the City's rental apartments and is home to 4.9% of the City’s population.

• NYCHA residents and Section 8 voucher holders combined occupy 12.5%of the City's rental apartments and comprise 7.7%of New York City’s population.
  
  CONVENTIONAL PUBLIC HOUSING (as of February 1, 2012)
  
• The Bronx has 90 developments with 44,498 apartments
• Brooklyn has 100 developments with 58,697 apartments
• Manhattan has 102 developments with 53,889 apartments
• Queens has 22 developments with 17,125 apartments  
• Staten Island has 10 developments with 4,484 apartments
• Ten (10) developments comprising Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Acquired Homes total 202 apartments. Four (4) FHA Homes groups are located entirely in Queens, the remainder in multiple boroughs with a majority in Queens.
• 42 developments are for seniors only; 15 seniors-only buildings exist within mixed-population developments
• NYCHA has approximately 9,822 apartments designated for seniors only
• There also are 7,694 retrofitted apartments for families of persons who are mobility impaired.  

  
  SECTION 8 LEASED HOUSING PROGRAM
  

• 94,400 apartments were rented as of January 1, 2012.    
• A total of 1,709 of these apartments, known as Portability Vouchers, are located outside of New York City.
• There are 232,895 residents in Section 8 units.
• There are 30,650 participating private landlords.

• As of January 1, 2012:
  
• Families in the Conventional Public Housing and Section 8 programs pay no more than 30% of their family income for rent. The rent difference is subsidized by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Average family income in Conventional Public Housing is $22,824
• Average monthly rent is $434
• Working families account for 47.2% of NYCHA families
• 11.4% of NYCHA families receive public assistance
• Social Security, SSI, a pension, Veteran's benefits, etc., support   41.4% of the families
• 36.7% of the households are headed by persons over 62 years-of-age
• 18.5% of the NYCHA Population is age 62 or older.
• 35.2% of the NYCHA population are  residents under age 21 and  28.4% are minors under age 18

• On February 1, 2012 there Were: 
• 163,965 families on the waiting list for Conventional Public Housing (including 6,987 who are in the certification process) 
• 123,499 families on the waiting list for Section 8 Housing (including 716who are in the certification process). The Section 8 waiting list  re-opened on February 12, 2007 and subsequently closed on May 14, 2007.
• 21,936 applicants are on both waiting lists

NYCHA's computerized Tenant Selection and Assignment Plan (TSAP) impartially chooses the next applicant for an apartment based on need priorities assigned to each applicant family and matches them to available vacancies as they arise. The TSAP system eliminates any and all interference from external entities and guarantees impartial selection of applicants for vacant apartments based strictly on the need priorities.

• The turnover rate in calendar year 2011 for NYCHA conventional public housing apartments was 3.29%.
• The vacancy rate of apartments available for occupancy was 0.70% as of February 1, 2012.
• Because of the varied need priorities that comprise a family’s TSAP profile and the low turnover and vacancy rates of apartments, it is virtually impossible to establish an average waiting time for a family to enter conventional public housing. Some applicants can be matched up with an available apartment in months, while others often have to wait years.

• Queensbridge Houses in Queens with 3,142 apartments is the largest development in the City
• Brooklyn's largest development is Red Hook Houses with 2,878 apartments
• Manhattan's largest development is Baruch Houses with 2,391 apartments
• Edenwald Houses in the Bronx is the largest with 2,036 apartments
• Stapleton Houses with 693 apartments is the largest development in Staten Island

New York City's Public Housing is constantly modernized and improved to preserve its availability for future generations. In the past twenty years, NYCHA has invested more than $6.5 billion in preserving our buildings.including $423 million in capital improvements that NYCHA funded through the 2009 American Recovery and Investment Act (Stimulus) grant that was completed in March 2012.

• As of February 1, 2012: 12 developments are at least 70 years old; a total of 34 developments are at least 60 years old; there are 53 developments 50 to 59 years old; another 91 developments are 40 to 49 years old, and 67 developments are 30 to 39 years old. A total of 257 developments are 30 or more years old.

NYCHA oversees a network of over 400 community facilities that include community centers, senior centers, health care centers, day care and Head Start educational centers. Programs at many of these centers include sports, photography, painting, literacy classes and general education courses, computer training, arts and crafts, childcare, meal programs, and senior companion initiatives.

To fulfill its vital mission and even better serve residents while facing dramatic reductions in traditional government funding, NYCHA is developing new financing options and building innovative partnerships across the public, private, and non-profit sectors to help NYCHA increase resident access to a multitude of community, educational and recreational programs, as well as job readiness and training initiatives.