Rents Start at $465 In These 6 Affordable NYC Housing Lotteries — How To Apply

NEW YORK CITY — Six affordable housing lotteries on New York City Housing Connect expire in the next week, including three in Brooklyn, one in the Bronx, one in Queens, and one in Manhattan.

But wait — what is Housing Connect?

For the uninitiated, New York City Housing Connect is an online platform that aims to provide New Yorkers with opportunities for affordable prices on apartments in new developments.

The website, which launched in 2013 after years as a mail-based program, lists residential buildings across the five boroughs currently accepting applications for apartments, with both leasing and purchasing opportunities.

However, there is a catch: Your total income and family size need to fit within a certain range to be eligible to apply to the housing lottery, and each lottery has different income restrictions, based on a measurement called Area Median Income, which you can calculate here.

Oftentimes, real estate developers will set aside a certain number of affordable units in their blueprints to secure support and approval from city officials and community boards.

The NYC Department of Housing and Preservation, which runs NYC Housing Connect, considers affordable housing to be apartments that cost one-third or less of what the people living there make in income.

Also, there's usually a certain number of units in each lottery set aside for people with disabilities, workers employed by the city, or people already based in the community board district where the building is located.

Once users apply for an eligible unit, they are issued a log number, and then the numbers are chosen at random by an automated system, lottery-style.

Here are all the housing lotteries expiring in the next week.

1440 Amsterdam Avenue Apartments

Address: 1440 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027
Rent starts at: $2,950
Eligible incomes range: $104,949 - $227,500
Number of units: 147
Deadline to apply: Sept. 22
Link to apply: Here.

Serén

Address: 16 West St., Brooklyn, NY 11222
Rent starts at: $880
Eligible incomes range: $35,040 - $227,500
Number of units: 35
Deadline to apply: Sept. 22
Link to apply: Here.

22 Frost Street Apartments

Address: 22 Frost St., Brooklyn, NY 11211
Rent starts at: $3,501
Eligible incomes range: $126,858 - $227,500
Number of units: 5
Deadline to apply: Sept. 23
Link to apply: Here.

Wakefield Yards

Address: 4641 Furman Ave., Bronx, NY 10470
Rent starts at: $465
Eligible incomes range: $19,235 - $160,720
Number of units: 212
Deadline to apply: Sept. 23
Link to apply: Here.

2033 East 17th Street Apartments

Address: 2033 East 17 St., Brooklyn, NY 11229
Rent starts at: $3,495
Eligible incomes range: $119,829 - $227,500
Number of units: 2
Deadline to apply: Sept. 24
Link to apply: Here.

229 Beach 14th Street Apartments

Address: 229 Beach 14th St, Queens, NY 11691
Rent starts at: $2,800
Eligible incomes range: $96,000 - $227,500
Number of units: 5
Deadline to apply: Sept. 25
Link to apply: Here.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.