History

Habitat for Humanity - New York City is the largest builder of Habitat homes in the Northeast. We have built more than 180 homes in New York City, and thousands of volunteers build with us each year. Habitat-NYC's first project in New York City began in 1984 with Jimmy Carter's visit to the Lower East Side. We now build in all five boroughs of New York City.

There have been many milestones marking the
growth of our affiliate:

1982	Habitat for Humanity Lower East Side affiliate founded.
1984	Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter volunteer on the Lower East Side as part of the First Annual Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP).
1985	Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter return to the Lower East Side for the Second Annual JCWP.
1989	Completion of 742 East 6th Street Mascot Flats, 19 units — the first Habitat building in New York City.
1994	Completion of 745 East 6th Street, 23 units.
1995	Consolidation of four New York City affiliates to one united affiliate: Habitat for Humanity - New York City.
1998	Construction of Habitat-NYC’s first new construction development and first development in Queens.
1999	Nine homes completed; Habitat-NYC’s first five-year Strategic Plan adopted.
2000	3,000 volunteers join Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter for JCWP in Brooklyn and Harlem; Completion of Habitat for Humanity International’s 100,000th home worldwide in Harlem.
2001	Completion of 23 homes in all four boroughs, including first Bronx project.
2002	Habitat-NYC Leadership Council established; Habitat-NYC hosts Habit for Humanity International’s Urban Conference.
2003	Completion of 19 homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the largest Habitat-NYC new construction project to date; Completion of Habitat-NYC’s first Green Building Project in Brooklyn; second five-year Strategic Plan adopted.
2004	Completion of rehabilitation of a five-story apartment building in Harlem, providing affordable homes for 10 New York families. We also completed 13 rowhouses in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, all built from the ground up.
2005	Habitat-NYC broke ground on new developments in Harlem, Queens and Brooklyn.
2006	Handed keys to six new homeowner families in Jamaica, Queens; Dedicated our eight homes in the South Bronx; Built the foundation for nine homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, using innovative energy-efficient materials; Completed pre-development work on our premier project—a LEED-standard, 41-unit complex of affordable condos in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn.
2007	Broke ground on a 41-unit Atlantic Avenue complex in Brooklyn, the largest multifamily building constructed by a Habitat affiliate; Completed the historic renovation of a five-story building the South Bronx, providing affordable homes for eight New York families; Put the finishing touches on our unique nine-home "Coffee Cup" buildings in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; Assumed a leadership role in inspiring other Habitat affiliates to adopt green-building at our national green-building conference; Won a major effort to reform a city housing tax abatement program to support more affordable housing.
2008	Habitat-NYC completed nine homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn — these homes were among the first buildings in New York City to be constructed of highly energy-efficient insulated concrete forms; Continued construction on the LEED-standard 41-unit Atlantic Avenue complex in Brooklyn, our largest and greenest project to date.
2009	Habitat-NYC plans to hand over keys to 41 new home owners in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn; We plan to begin work on 12 new homes in on our first co-development project in the South Bronx and break ground on 16 new homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.