Latest Round Of New York State's Rent Relief Program Reaches Few People

Despite changes meant to make it more accessible to applicants, the second round of New York state’s rent relief program has reached even fewer people than the first. 

Nearly eight weeks after the February 1st deadline, New York has paid out just $7 million out of $60 million available for struggling tenants, according to figures from State Assemblymember Zohran Kwame Mamdani. Only about 1,000 additional households qualified for aid in the second round, out of 87,000 applications under review.

Between the two rounds, the state awarded $47 million in subsidies to 16,000 households, or roughly 16% of the total applications received since September. 

“What we have to do is meet the actual needs of New Yorkers,” Mamdani told WNYC/Gothamist. “And what this program did was nowhere close to that.” 

Read the full story on Gothamist, and click "Listen" in the player above to hear WNYC reporter-producer Katherine Fung discuss her reporting with "Morning Edition" host Michael Hill.