Preserving Our Homes: An Analysis of the Mitchell-Lama Affordable Housing Program

Abstract

This thesis investigates the pressing problems that cooperative residents in New York City’s Mitchell-Lama (M-L) affordable housing program experience in the current day. Created in the 1950s, the M-L program has served as one of the most successful affordable housing models in the nation for decades. The M-L program provides crucial affordable housing stock to combat the rampant affordable housing crisis New York City and the rest of the nation faces today. However, due to recent trends of privatization and deteriorating building conditions, the fate of these cooperatives is precarious. In an effort to preserve this affordable housing, my thesis asks the following questions: How can the Mitchell-Lama program, a program developed under a different set of circumstances, evolve to address the current politics and economics of housing in New York City today? What lessons can we learn from the Mitchell-Lama program that we can implement in future housing cooperative programs modeled after M-L? What can we learn from amplifying the voices of M-L residents and organizers and facilitating the transfer of knowledge between residents and policymakers?

Throughout this research I employ a qualitative approach, including the use of semi-structured interviews, observational study of town halls and group meetings, and content analysis of electronic informal and formal documents provided by residents and organizers, to understand what residents believe the most pressing issues facing their communities are and how these problems intersect with one another. While recent scholarship primarily focuses on quantitative analysis of privatization, this study relies on long-form semi-structured interviews and documents from resident-organizers to reveal a more comprehensive, nuanced picture of the problems facing the program. By uplifting the knowledge of resident-organizers, researchers can better understand the mechanisms behind the problems that threaten the Mitchell-Lama program’s survival.

Overall, this thesis argues that the cooperatives in the Mitchell-Lama program confront four major challenges: privatization, deteriorating building conditions, poor governance, and neglect by supervisory housing agencies such as the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). Further, this thesis reveals the relationships and interactions between each issue, determining that each problem exacerbates one another. As a result, policymakers must develop policies that comprehensively address each problem and the strong connections between them.

The policies proposed as a result of the evidence in this thesis seeks to capitalize on the recent increase in investment and political will around housing in NYC to implement comprehensive updates to the M-L program and create safeguards for the pilot program. I recommend that city governments facilitate greater communication between grassroots organizers/residents and city officials, invest in governance training, implement anti-privatization measures, and increase staffing at HPD. This thesis provides the foundation for future research to further investigate shareholders’ experiences based on cooperative characteristics or employ quantitative research to add to these claims. At its core, this thesis emphasizes that the past and future of housing lies in the Mitchell-Lama program, and we must invest in its success because all people deserve safe, stable, secure, and affordable housing.