NEW YORK (PIX11) – New York City plans to introduce legislation allowing for single-room occupancies (SROs) or shared housing, according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
If this bill is ultimately passed, it could help alleviate New York City’s strained housing shortage by adding new tools to the city’s toolkit.
This upcoming bill could enable the city to provide affordable housing for New Yorkers and help unlock other strategies for creating new housing in New York City, according to people familiar with the matter.
“We hope to have legislation that will get introduced as soon as later this month,” said Matthew Rauschenbach, a spokesperson for the Department.
Single-room occupancies explained
Single-room occupancies are residential properties that consist of multiple single-room dwelling units.
Each unit is designed to accommodate one person. The unit sometimes, but not always, has an area for food preparation, sanitary facilities, or both, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
SRO history in New York City
Single-room occupancy was very popular across the city, mainly in the 1950s. SRO hotels played an important role in the city’s landscape, offering affordable and safe shelter for people seeking jobs and opportunities, according to HPD.
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The demise of the SRO
Academics and housing advocates argue that the decline of SROs in the 1980s led to thousands of low-income people being pushed onto the streets, which has only worsened the longstanding housing shortage throughout the five boroughs.
In one academic paper in the CUNY Law Review, the authors wrote, “The City’s decimation of SRO housing has amplified the ongoing housing crisis, constricting the low-income housing market and contributing to the ballooning homelessness problem. The overall effect on poor and working-class residents has been tragic.”
The upcoming housing plan
“A century later, New York City remains a place of opportunity, and the number of single-person households in our population is growing rapidly. However, our severe housing shortage means there are not enough options to house these single people. Restoring shared housing options for apartment seekers would create a new housing choice for one- and two-person households, one that centers community-oriented living.”
The proposed plan would be part of the City of Yes housing initiative, which aims to update New York City’s zoning codes to address the city’s critical housing shortage and encourage economic growth.
PIX11 News reached out for more details regarding the proposed bill, but city officials did not provide any further information.
Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here.