NYC Housing Agency and New York Immigration Coalition Announce Groundbreaking Initiative to Ensure Full Language Access for Vital Housing Survey

April 29, 2026

NEW YORK, NY - Today, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) are announcing the expansion of language access for the 2026 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS) with the help of New York City-based interpreters through the Community Interpreter Bank (CIB).

The NYCHVS is one of the most important tools the City of New York has for understanding how its residents live. It is a citywide, scientific survey of New York City's housing stock and population conducted approximately every three years. The NYCHVS has served for over 60 years as a cornerstone source of data for city and state agencies, researchers, policymakers, and community organizations.

"New York City is one of the most linguistically diverse cities in the world. It is home to more first-generation immigrants than the entire population of Chicago. Now, more than ever, it is essential that all New Yorkers are represented in and heard through official statistics and data, regardless of where they were born, their legal status, or the language they speak," said Dr Elyzabeth Gaumer, HPD's Chief Research Officer and Principal Investigator of the NYCHVS.

The NYCHVS dedicates significant resources to translation and the hiring and training of multi-lingual interview staff. In partnership with the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, the 2026 NYCHVS supports an immersive interview experience in seven languages, and the dedicated interview team speaks 38 languages.

The CIB will provide critical support by offering interpretation for all additional languages not currently provided. Interpreters will work side-by-side with the NYCHVS interview team to ensure selected households understand the importance of the survey, what participation entails, and that all information remains strictly confidential. Together, they will conduct in-person interviews with tenants, homeowners, and landlords and make sure that every participating New Yorker is able to do so in their preferred language.

"The Community Interpreter Bank was built on the belief that language should never be a barrier to accessing public services-or to being counted," said Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition. "We are proud to support the NYCHVS in making sure every New Yorker, regardless of the language they speak, has an equal opportunity to be heard and represented in this critical survey."

A Survey Built for All New Yorkers

The NYCHVS scientifically selects 15,000 residential addresses throughout New York City-these addresses are chosen to represent the full breadth of the city's neighborhoods, all types of housing, and every New Yorker. Every participant selected contributes an essential part of the overall story of our city-the conditions on the ground now as well as how NYC has changed over time. The data are collected through in-person interviews that take about 30 minutes and help city agencies monitor housing conditions, understand the needs of different communities, and shape decisions that affect residents across all five boroughs. Only these selected addresses can complete the survey, making it even more important that the NYCHVS can communicate with everyone who is invited. All information collected as part of the NYCHVS remains strictly confidential. Participants may choose to remain anonymous. The survey does not ask questions about citizenship or legal status.

The NYCHVS is sponsored by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and conducted by the Survey Research Center (SRC) at the University of Michigan-one of the world's leading academic survey organizations. Field interviewers include City University of New York (CUNY) students hired through the SurvNYC program, engaging students across all 28 CUNY campuses.

"The opportunity to partner with the Community Interpreter Bank during our fieldwork is a significant boost to our ability to maximize representation of all New Yorkers. For the first time in SRC's long history, no household will be deemed ineligible to participate due to specific language fluency," said Stephanie Chardoul, Director of Survey Research Operations at the Survey Research Center.

The NYC Community Interpreter Bank: Language Access at Scale

The NYC Community Interpreter Bank is a city-funded initiative led by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization representing over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York. The CIB recruits, trains, and dispatches interpreters to serve New Yorkers across city agencies, elected officials' offices, and city-funded organizations.

The CIB builds sustainable pathways for bilingual and multilingual New Yorkers to become professional community interpreters. It operates in partnership with the Language Justice Collaborative-a network of worker-owned language services cooperatives-as well as Hostos Community College, Immigrant Arc (I-ARC), and several community-based organizations.

Together, the CIB and its partners expand language access citywide while simultaneously creating economic opportunities for bilingual New Yorkers-building a pipeline of trained, professional interpreters who reflect the communities they serve.

About the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS)

The NYCHVS is a citywide, representative survey of New York City's housing stock and population conducted approximately every three years. Sponsored by NYC HPD and conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan, the survey has been a key source of data on how New Yorkers live since 1965. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/nychvs

About the NYC Community Interpreter Bank (CIB)

The NYC Community Interpreter Bank is a city-funded initiative led by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) that recruits, trains, and dispatches interpreters to serve Limited English Proficient New Yorkers across the city. In partnership with the Language Justice Collaborative, Hostos Community College, and Immigrant Arc (I-ARC), the CIB expands language access citywide and creates economic pathways for bilingual New Yorkers. Learn more at https://www.nyic.org/our-work/nyc-community-interpreter-bank/

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