We’ve slowed down on our entries, but we’ve got a great excuse. We’ve been working on one of the most important artists events that happens every year in NYC – the Platinum Pias Community Awards Show for Artists that will be occurring on Monday, March 20th that is in a little over a week!

Because our “NYC Housing Lottery” readers are interested in “all things artist” we wanted to extend an invitation to you to attend the awards. To find out more about the Platinum Pias please visit this MovieProcess.org blog entry.

As we progress further with this project the two biggest disappointments are:

1. You have to have a very low income to qualify for low rents.
2. Some of the places – in fact we’ve gotten 3 of these – want you to pay a $200 application fee and sometimes be expected to wait 5-7 years.

So what is the conclusion? Just to keep moving forward!

Hi.

We dropped off the map for a couple of days but we are still going. Three application requests per day still seems reasonable and today we did four.

We’re discovering that the filling out the application itself does take time, so maybe just one of those a day.

Just suggestions and what we’re doing.

How is your artist apartment hunting going?

Let us know!

It seems most of the housing management companies we’re contacting want SASEs (Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes) which of course means being sure you have a lot of stamps. Also, we’re finding the process at times challenging (coming up with reasons not to do it) so to combat that, maybe set a minimum amount of letters you will do a day – such as three. That’s the number we’ve been using and it is going pretty well. Good luck!

HI. We’re feeling a bit guilty because we only filled out two applications today. Though, the good news is, the applications are starting to come in!

Also, we got feedback that we should put up the PDF link again so people can access it more easily. Here it is https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/hpd/downloads/pdf/renters-mitchell-lama/ML-waiting-Lists-Status.pdf.

Not to be a one note artist housing seeker, but the NYC Housing Lottery PDF from several days ago continues to be valuable. Today we called all the leads we had targeted yesterday from the PDF. Most places answered their phone and were forthcoming with how to apply for housing. The majority of the calls were to property managers who wanted SASEs (Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes) sent. Plus, we’ve already started getting responses!

Hi everyone. Wanted to give you an update on our “housing for artists” activities today.

Today felt much like trying to audition for an existing and seemingly closed ensemble of artists. What happened is that we called all of the nine leads we had gotten from the PDF and each lead had a different way of handling getting out applications for apartments. Some had voicemail systems that lead to telling you to send a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) and others actually answered the phone and took your information. Several made it clear there were waiting lists for anywhere from 5 to 20 years. But just as art is a process, so is this. And in time, even if it does take years, you will be a part of the ensemble!

We’re only a couple days in to the process and already we are getting leads on housing for artists. Here’s what we did. First we signed up for Housing Connect located here https://a806-housingconnect.nyc.gov/nyclottery/lottery.html#ml-register. Next we downloaded the PDF located here https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/hpd/downloads/pdf/renters-mitchell-lama/ML-waiting-Lists-Status.pdf. Once acquiring the PDF we cut and pasted into a text document the places that most interested us. In our case it is Manhattan. But artists can live all over NYC with artist’s housing choices including the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn. Our plan for tomorrow is to call the leads we gleaned today. Happy hunting!