About Us
The Housing Data Coalition (HDC) is a group of individuals and organizations who collaborate on their use of public data to further housing justice in New York City. In the face of the real estate industry’s escalating exploitation of housing data to drive speculation and displacement, HDC seeks to make public data more accessible and actionable for housing justice groups. Through a structure of working groups and monthly meetings, HDC provides opportunities for members to connect, learn, and give mutual support to a variety of projects involving housing data.
Current work by HDC members includes:
- maintaining and expanding a central database for public data related to housing in New York City
- creating digital tools that make important housing data accessible for non-profits, tenant organizers, researchers, and tenants/members of the public
- advocating city and state agencies to improve the quality of public data
- sharing best practices for common problems in housing research
HDC members address housing justice from a variety of standpoints. Many members are professionally affiliated with housing in New York City -- coming from non-profit organizations that engage in housing research, policy advocacy, tenant organizing, and technical support and capacity-building. Some members are involved in grassroots organizing around housing justice issues, and others bring tech expertise and volunteer time to HDC’s projects. All members share a commitment to furthering housing justice in New York City as outlined in our values statement below.
At HDC we recognize that data is not inherently objective or without bias. Institutions have used data, cartography, and statistics to legitimize racism and discrimination for decades. This is exemplified through the use of ‘redlining’ maps as a tool to segregate cities and disenfranchise Black communities and other communities of color — practices that continue to affect housing policy to this day.
Amid New York’s current housing crisis, “Big Data” is being used to spur a venture-funded real estate tech industry that fuels predatory speculation and capitalizes on a racist history of disinvestment in the neighborhoods where people of color live. HDC applies this same data, gleaned from public sources, to counteract capitalist, gentrifying forces and further the right to housing.
The Housing Data Coalition (HDC) is a group of individuals and organizations who collaborate on their use of public data to further housing justice in New York City. In the face of the real estate industry’s escalating exploitation of housing data to drive speculation and displacement, HDC seeks to make public data more accessible and actionable for housing justice groups. Through a structure of working groups and monthly meetings, HDC provides opportunities for members to connect, learn, and give mutual support to a variety of projects involving housing data.
Current work by HDC members includes:
- maintaining and expanding a central database for public data related to housing in New York City
- creating digital tools that make important housing data accessible for non-profits, tenant organizers, researchers, and tenants/members of the public
- advocating city and state agencies to improve the quality of public data
- sharing best practices for common problems in housing research
HDC members address housing justice from a variety of standpoints. Many members are professionally affiliated with housing in New York City -- coming from non-profit organizations that engage in housing research, policy advocacy, tenant organizing, and technical support and capacity-building. Some members are involved in grassroots organizing around housing justice issues, and others bring tech expertise and volunteer time to HDC’s projects. All members share a commitment to furthering housing justice in New York City as outlined in our values statement below.
At HDC we recognize that data is not inherently objective or without bias. Institutions have used data, cartography, and statistics to legitimize racism and discrimination for decades. This is exemplified through the use of ‘redlining’ maps as a tool to segregate cities and disenfranchise Black communities and other communities of color — practices that continue to affect housing policy to this day.
Amid New York’s current housing crisis, “Big Data” is being used to spur a venture-funded real estate tech industry that fuels predatory speculation and capitalizes on a racist history of disinvestment in the neighborhoods where people of color live. HDC applies this same data, gleaned from public sources, to counteract capitalist, gentrifying forces and further the right to housing.
Resource Gallery
A gallery of tools and resources created by Housing Data Coalition members!
Who Owns What
JustFix.nyc
New York City Database (NYCDB)
Landlord Lookup Tool
Heat Seek
Heat Seek
DAP Map
Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development
Neighborhood Data Portal
Pratt Center for Community Development
NYC Building Monitor
Geoclient R Package
DAP Portal
Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development
De Facto Rent Stabilized Properties Explorer
Right to Counsel Eviction Crisis Monitor
Housing Data Coalition collaboration with Right to Counsel Coalition
NYC Major Capital Improvements Map
Winnie Shen and Jeremy Lilly
Data Help Desk
Send us your housing data inquiries and we will ask our community of data investigators to look into things! We made this platform for everyone fighting displacement in NYC. We want to make sure that access to housing data can be reached by folks working in the tenant movement who otherwise don't have the time or resources to get it.
Although we try and serve all the requests we get (that fit our mission) we give priority to BIPOC-led groups working within the tenant movement. Read more about our mission below.
Interested in joining the Housing Data Coalition?
HDC holds monthly meetings that are open to all individuals who share our values. If you are interested in joining, please review the values statement below and email us at housingdatacoalition@gmail.com.
Our Values
HDC members are committed to advancing the right to housing for New Yorkers and ending the displacement of low-income communities of color. We believe that the right to housing includes affordable, dignified housing within the communities that New Yorkers have created, and that this right is especially threatened by real estate speculation. Given the current use of data in the real estate tech industry to enable predatory speculation, we agree that information and data from HDC should not be used for profit. Rather we seek to make data transparent, accessible, and empowering to those who work against displacement.
Partner with Us
If you represent a company or organization or if you are a member of the media and would like to partner with HDC, please contact us at housingdatacoalition@gmail.com.