Forced Moves and Evictions in New York City

Research on forced moves and evictions highlights the toll that displacement takes on families and neighborhoods. As lawmakers in Albany and New York City are looking to reduce forced moves through the recently established reforms to the statewide rent-stabilization laws and the city’s “Right to Counsel” eviction prevention program, we use Robin Hood Poverty Tracker data to explore the issue in New York City. The Poverty Tracker housing module provides a first look at the experiences and trajectories of New Yorkers who are forced out of their housing.

We find that over 100,000 New Yorkers are forced out of their housing within a year. Further, these forced moves and evictions play a role in concentrating poverty in New York City—people were more likely to be in poverty and face material hardship before they were forced to move, and they were more likely to relocate to higher poverty areas after being forced to move. These findings underscore the importance of the policy reforms that city and state lawmakers are instituting to promote housing stability. 

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The Poverty Tracker is a longitudinal study of the dynamics of poverty and disadvantage in New York City. It is a joint project of Robin Hood and Columbia University.