What might the new administration mean for New Yorkers living in subsidized housing or those who are struggling to afford rent in the city? To unpack the potential impacts and how tenants can prepare, we met with affordable housing expert Leah Goodridge. She is a tenants’ rights attorney who has served on the New York City Planning Commission since 2021.
Before diving in, a quick disclaimer: Goodridge is speaking in her personal capacity, not on behalf of the city. Also, many of the administration’s housing plans remain unclear, but she says it’s critical for New Yorkers to understand the potential ripple effects of federal policies on local housing.
From stricter enforcement of small infractions to proposed rules that could affect mixed-status families, Goodridge offers insights into what tenants might face — and shares practical tips on how to protect your housing. Plus, she explains why staying informed and politically engaged is more important than ever.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
With this incoming Trump administration, what changes will New Yorkers who rely on Section 8 need to prepare for?
The main thing to think about is that the federal government branch, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is HUD, is the one that funds a lot of the affordable housing and also creates a lot of the rules around some affordable local housing.
When it comes to Section 8 and public housing they are proposing some rules that would affect those tenants. For example, they would like to minimize the housing trust, which funds a lot of the affordable housing.
I truly don’t know what will happen with budgets. But as someone who has fought for tenants many years before becoming a commissioner, I’m worried about how this might impact them. There’s a lot of language in Project 2025 about the workforce and about how the current system, they view it as very anti-family.
So the way that they’re looking at this is that [receiving] public benefits prevents women from marrying men and having families because they’re relying on the government for help. And this is a very old false trope. It’s just another form of blaming people for being poor and another form of saying ‘get out of poverty,’ [by your own] bootstraps. So there is a lot of workforce development and talk about, ‘you have to get a job.’ So I think that we might see a lot more of that.
Another change: they would like to make it so that you cannot have mixed-status families with what they call “non-citizens.” So if you have a family that lives in an apartment that is under a Section 8 voucher or public housing and one person is undocumented, but everyone else is documented, has legal status, then that would not be allowed. So that’s considered a mixed-status family.
New York is a city of immigrants and this is very common with all types of housing. So that will be something that people should be cautious of about the incoming administration, because, again, HUD is the federal government and they make a lot of the determinations on the local level, and then they create funding that is tied to those eligibility criteria.
Key Takeaway
Three big fears from housing advocates:
- NYCHA and Section 8 funding may be cut
- Work requirements, which advocates consider punitive, could be added
- NYCHA and Section 8 recipients will no longer be allowed to have undocumented family members stay with them
Just to clarify, there’s specific language in Project 2025 to make sure that mixed-status families don’t live together in federally subsidized housing?
Yeah. The specific language that they have is that no person who is undocumented can live in any kind of federally assisted housing, and that includes Section 8 and public housing. They do not want, even if it’s one household, if it’s one undocumented person, if it’s an undocumented person in a family, the whole family can’t live here, can’t live here in mixed status. Families can’t live there. They don’t want any person at all who they consider a non-citizen.
The word that they’re using is “non-citizen.” But there have actually been a lot of news articles that are now claiming that their classification has now moved from “undocumented” to just talking about “denaturalization.” So the other part that we are trying to assess is when they say “non-citizen,” are they only talking about undocumented or could they have a much broader definition? So those are things that advocates are on the lookout for.
If that happened, is there anything HUD could do or any pushback they could give?
There have been some times where the city and the federal government are not in alignment. For example, in the case of marijuana on the local level. I’m not sure how it will shake out this time.
Bonus insight
While Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, housing advocates are approaching it as if it is the plan, especially considering the ties between Project 2025 authors and Trump. For example, Trump nominated Dr. Ben Carson to run HUD during his first administration. Carson wrote the HUD chapter in Project 2025.
The city also has some affordable housing projects in the works. How could actual affordable housing projects be in jeopardy if HUD’s budget changes?
Some of them are by HUD and they have this part of the housing trust that I mentioned before. One of the things that I have raised is our current structure is we are very much reliant on private developers to build a lot of the housing. And then for the affordability part, the government chips in order to provide a portion of it.
I think what will likely happen is we will have more of the city pitching for a lot of the developments. But the reason why I brought up the private sector taking over is that there’s already been an overreliance on the private sector anyway to fund housing in the first place.
Bonus insight
So far neither the city nor the state has said what they would do if the Trump administration cuts funding to housing, but advocates hope the city and state would contribute more money to fill the budget gap.
If the Trump administration cuts funding, could we see more and more buildings being sold to developers?
Well, that is actually a part of the Project 2025 for across the nation: to make it easier for public housing to be sold to private enterprises. I mean, another part of it and we’re talking about public housing Section eight.
One suggestion they have is to minimize the amount of 30-year mortgages so that it’s fewer people getting 30-year mortgages — by increasing the PMI, or premium mortgage insurance. They also have another suggestion of taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and privatizing that. Those are the programs where you get government-sponsored mortgages.
They have a lot in Project 2025 where they want to privatize basically the federal government. Which would mean private companies come in and they take over. And this is part of the Republican platform where they don’t want big government. Government becomes very small and the private sector takes over and does what we would expect the government to do and make money while they’re doing it. We already know who is going to benefit from this — the working class is not going to benefit from that.
You spoke about doom and gloom — is there anything that gives you hope for affordable housing in New York City right now?
I have been using my platforms to inform people that when they say affordable housing, they actually mean $3K studios in Brooklyn. And people are , ‘what?’ And what I realize is the more that people are aware and the more you arm them with knowledge, then they can go to their council member or the mayor and say, ‘you said you’re building affordable housing, but it’s $3,000 studios. I don’t agree with that.’ So that gives me a lot of hope because I’m realizing that information is power.
Tips on how to prepare for possible changes in NYC public and affordable housing
As a tenants’ rights attorney, Goodridge observed that during the first Trump administration, federal policies often led to stricter enforcement at the local level. NYC public housing authorities became more stringent, targeting minor infractions. She recalls the rude awakening for all the people who had lived in public housing for 10 or 20 years and thought a small rule bend wouldn’t matter.
“They [had] … life changes and then [the city] finds out and then suddenly it’s ‘you’re up for termination because you didn’t tell us that your niece was here for a month,’ or whatever it was,” Goodridge says.
So now, before the incoming Trump administration’s stance on public housing trickles down to NYC, is the time to get your ducks in a row — and to fight for elected officials who will defend affordable housing. Here are some of her tips:
Stay vigilant with reporting requirements
- Household Changes: Report any changes in household composition (e.g., a relative visiting for a while)
- Income Changes: Notify housing authorities of any changes to your income promptly.
- Even minor or temporary changes can lead to termination from a subsidy program such as Section 8 if unreported
- Be aware that reporting may impact rent calculations, but it is better to disclose than risk violations.
Adhere strictly to rent payment rules
- Avoid chronic rent delinquencies, defined as repeated late or missed payments (e.g., three times in a year).
- Understand that chronic delinquencies can lead to probation periods; breaching probation even once can result in housing loss.
Get ahead of Section 8 inspections
- Communicate with your landlord about repairs before the annual inspection date.
- Ensure repairs are completed to avoid failing the Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection.
- Address repair issues as soon as they arise, especially when dealing with non-cooperative landlords.
- Voucher suspension can occur if the unit fails inspection, putting your housing security at risk.
Engage politically to advocate for housing protections
- Vote with housing in mind: Support candidates with strong housing platforms that prioritize protecting rent-stabilized and public housing.
- Ask candidates specific questions about their policies on funding public housing and rent stabilization.
- Be cautious of politicians who propose generic housing solutions without clear plans for protecting public housing.
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