Supporting NYCHA residents with the information they need to renew their NYCHA lease and maximize their rent affordability.

Community Partners

A community session with NYCHA residents to review an early Spanish draft.

Affordable housing in NYC has become increasingly difficult to find, and NYCHA public housing is one of the last affordable options for many New Yorkers. If you live in NYCHA, rent should only be 30% of your income. 
NYCHA’s lease renewal process (called the Annual Review) is supposed to make sure residents are paying the right amount of rent. However, many residents skip this yearly process because of how labor-intensive and confusing the process is. It takes a lot of time to collect all the necessary documents, and residents are wary of what to share with Property Management and how it’ll impact their rent. But, failing to do the Annual Review yearly can lead to overpaying for your apartment, or potentially eviction.

The Center for Justice Innovation collaborated with CUP, illustrator Mark Nerys, and designer Bo-Won Keum to create resources in English, Spanish, and Chinese to provide NYCHA residents with clear information about how their rent is calculated, how to renew their lease, and what to do if their rent is wrong. The goal of the project was to create materials that empower residents with the information they need to feel confident navigating the NYCHA lease process on their own. To support that, we created a booklet and a poster. The booklet explains the documents needed for each step of the process, what counts as deductions from the cost of rent, and the steps to submit a renewal. The poster guides residents through the general steps of the lease renewal process and is meant to spread the word to other NYCHA residents about the annual review process. The posters will be hung in NYCHA property management offices, common spaces in buildings, and other community spaces. 
After months of hearing from NYCHA residents how critical these resources are, the Center for Justice Innovation is excited to distribute these materials city-wide through their Community Justice Centers throughout the five boroughs, and through other organizations.

The booklet covers and posters in each language created.

Check Out the Project

<h3>Download the Booklet </h3>
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/assets/pdfs/Let-The-Papers-Do-The-Talking.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Let The Papers Do The Talking! (English)</a>
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/assets/pdfs/Papelitos-Hablan.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">¡Papelitos Hablan! (Spanish)</a>
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/assets/pdfs/Let-the-Papers-Do-the-Talking_Chinese.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NYCHA租金续签指南 (Chinese)</a>
 
<h3>Download the Poster</h3>
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/assets/pdfs/Renewing-Your-Lease-Can-Keep-Your-Rent-Affordable-in-NYCHA.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Renewing Your Lease Can Keep Your Rent Affordable in NYCHA! (English)</a> 
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/assets/pdfs/Renewing-Your-Lease-Can-Keep-Your-Rent-Affordable-in-NYCHA.pdf_Spanish.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">¡La renovación de su contrato de arrendamiento puede mantener su alquiler accesible en NYCHA! (Spanish)</a> 
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/assets/pdfs/Renewing-Your-Lease-Can-Keep-Your-Rent-Affordable-in-NYCHA.pdf_Chinese.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">续签租约可以让您在NYCHA的租金保持可负担租金! (Chinese)</a>

CUP
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/clair-beltran">Clair Beltran</a><a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/yasmin-safdié"> </a><a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/yasmin-safdié">Yasmin Safdié</a>

Community Partner
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/center-for-justice-innovation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Center for Justice Innovation</a> Viviana Gordon Ross Joy Brianna Williams <a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/us-department-of-justice" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a>

Illustration 
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/mark-nerys" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mark Nerys</a>
Design
<a href="https://welcometocup.org/people/bo-won-keum">Bo-Won Keum</a>

Project Collaborators

<h4>Special Thanks </h4>
Karen Blondel, Maria Capella, Courtney Clark, Cynthia Colon, Emily Cruz, Maria De Los Santos, Julia Duvall, Lurden Gil, Valerie Hill, Zhong Shao Kieng, ShaoLian Li, Xiu Hua Lin, Linda Mattei, Louisa Miranda Johnson, Guadalupe Moreno, Juana Narvaez, Maria Rodriguez, Karen Rivera, Daren Sealey, Paula Smith, Yolanda Soto, Xiaochun Sun, Melissa Torres, Georgina Villalona, Marissa Williams, Li Hua Wu, Qiao Ling Wu, Emelyn Zokari.
Interpreters: Jie Ling Chen, Allison Corbett, Aldo Reséndiz
Translators: Jie Ling Chen and Jesus Armando Walle

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Keep Your Family's Home

NYCHA Workshop

Gentrification is a Fuzzy Word

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Hyperakt is a purpose-driven design and innovation studio that elevates human dignity and ignites curiosity. Since 2001, co-founders Julia Zeltser and Deroy Peraza, along with the Hyperakt team, have been partnering with change-makers moving society forward. We believe in design’s power to build a future filled with courage, optimism, and honesty.

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The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is a nonprofit organization that uses the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement in partnership with historically marginalized communities.

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