Veterans & Military · Surprise rank #339
Applying for NYC Affordable Housing? Municipal Employees and Veterans Can Get a 10% Preference
For covered NYC affordable-housing lotteries, a 10% preference is set aside for households with a qualifying New York City municipal employee and/or military veteran.
Who
Housing Connect applicants who otherwise qualify for the development and have at least one household member who meets the current NYC municipal-employee or military-veteran preference definition.
Where: New York City
What to do
Start here: Create or update a Housing Connect profile, answer preference questions accurately and upload requested proof when a development asks for documents.
Eligibility: The household must qualify for the specific development’s income, size and other requirements and document the municipal-employee/veteran preference. NYC-resident processing rules also still apply.
What you get
The preference changes the order in which eligible Housing Connect applications are processed by reserving 10% of units, or at least one unit, for qualifying municipal-employee/veteran households under covered HPD/HDC marketing.
Benefit: A processing preference for 10% of units (or one unit, whichever is greater) in covered affordable-housing lotteries; it is not a rent discount beyond the unit’s normal affordability terms.
Possible value: No fixed cash amount. The potential value is an improved chance of being processed for a scarce affordable unit if every other eligibility rule is met.
Good to know
Important: The preference is not a guaranteed apartment and does not override income, household-size or documentation rules. HPD’s updated Marketing Handbook Addendum made the combined municipal-employee/veteran preference 10% effective November 15, 2025; older FAQs may still show 5%.
Availability: Active for covered marketing processes under the current HPD/HDC handbook rules.
Why people miss it: Applicants may remember the older 5% municipal-employee preference and not realize veterans are now included in an expanded 10% preference.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026