Affordable Housing Lottery Debuts for Bushwick Buildings Once Claimed by City

An affordable housing lottery has opened for 10 apartments in six Bushwick tenements rehabbed by a nonprofit through the city’s Third Party Transfer Program.

The studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units at 135 Menahan Street, 301 Harman Street, 230 Moffatt Street, 160 Bleecker Street, and 115 and 111 Linden Street are aimed at households earning between 50 percent and 60 percent of Area Median Income. The income targets and rents are genuinely affordable compared to many of the units available through the city’s housing lottery. The buildings have been dubbed the Riseboro TPT Ten, having been renovated by nonprofit housing provider Riseboro.

The level of affordability is due to the city claiming the properties from private landlords through the Third Party Transfer Program, and transferring them to a nonprofit for $1 to renovate as affordable housing. Through the controversial TPT program, properties deemed “distressed” — such as for unpaid taxes or poor building conditions — are foreclosed on and transferred to nonprofit organizations and affordable housing developers. In this case, the properties have all been rehabilitated and will be managed by nonprofit housing and services provider Riseboro, the listing states.

Eligible incomes for the 10 apartments range from $50,949 to $120,540 for households of one to seven people, and rents vary from $1,359 to $2,264 a month depending on unit size and income level, according to the NYC Housing Connect listing.

Included are two studio apartments at $1,547 a month, four one-bedrooms at $1,359 and $1,651 a month, three two-bedrooms at $1,969 a month, and one three-bedroom at $2,264 a month.

The six buildings have a total of 56 units, 38 of which are for existing tenants, the listing says. Eight apartments are being set aside for formerly homeless individuals, and the rest are included in the lottery. The buildings include WiFi and some have a shared laundry room and elevator, the listing says.

Tenants have to pay for electricity, which covers cooling and the stove, but rent includes heat and hot water. Residents are allowed two pets, but dogs must be under 35 pounds and aquariums must be less than 20 gallons, according to the listing.

According to city records, the properties all became distressed between the late 1980s and 2005. All except the one at 135 Menahan Street were transferred from the city to Neighborhood Restore Housing Development Fund Corp in 2018 for $1, and in 2023 the development fund sold the properties to Riseboro for $1.2 million, city records show. The property at 135 Menahan Street was transferred from the city straight to Riseboro in 2023 for $1.

The city halted its Third-Party Transfer program in 2019 after a City Council report found it disproportionately targeted small property owners, stripping many low- and middle-income New Yorkers—nearly half of them low-income co-op owners—of their homes without compensation.

However, some elected officials are pushing to bring it back, saying ending the program also eliminated a key enforcement tool for holding negligent landlords of large apartment buildings accountable.

The listing says the buildings were repaired through HPD’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and the TPT Program.

The lottery for the Riseboro TPT Ten closes on May 6. To apply, visit the listing on Housing Connect.

Related Stories

• City Mulls Ditching Controversial Property Transfer Program as Federal Class-Action Lawsuit Looms
• How New York City Can Create Genuinely Affordable Housing
• What Is Affordable Housing?

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