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WHAT IS A MITCHELL-LAMA BUILDING ANYWAY?

Named after two politicians, New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Assemblyman Alfred Lama, who sponsored the bill that created it, the program dates back to 1955. That’s when the city cleared sites in formerly rundown parts of town, from Chelsea to the Upper East Side, and developers constructed about 105,000 apartments in 269 Mitchell-Lama buildings.

The housing is made up of income-restricted rentals and “limited equity” co-ops. Rents are tied to a tenant’s income, and co-op prices are set so that buyers pay an “equity value,” which they get back when they sell, meaning there’s no profit to be made. In exchange for keeping these places affordable, the builders get tax breaks and low-interest mortgages. The last Mitchell-Lama was built decades ago.

These days, only about 45,000 Mitchell-Lama apartments are left, two-thirds of which are co-ops.

HOW DO I APPLY?

At this time, Luna Park Housing Waiting Lists are closed because there are already enough applicants listed to fill vacancies expected for the foreseeable future. However, you can apply to other Mitchell-Lama developments through Mitchell-Lama Connect.  On this website, you can view Mitchell-Lama developments with open waiting lists that are currently accepting entries to their lotteries, create and update your account profile, and submit entries to Mitchell-Lama waiting list lotteries.