A TikToker’s celebration after he was offered a lease through a New York City affordable housing program has gone viral on the platform, leading viewers to share their own experiences with the process.
In the video, which has been viewed over 835,600 times since it was first posted Tuesday, user Murdaaaa (@mcmurdaaaa) cheerfully took viewers along to see his new apartment, Dunkin iced coffee in hand.
“This is real nice,” he concluded in the video, panning the camera across a rooftop patio. “I can just imagine the little get-togethers I’ll have.”
Though the unit is small, as he acknowledged in the video’s caption, the complex had an attached laundry room and a gym in addition to the large patio.
@mcmurdaaaa I made new friends 😭, but why they building these apartments so small? #fyp #nyc #housinglottery #funny #viral #hilarious #viral #trending #ny #humor #relateable #brooklyn #bronx #housinglottery #lottery #apartment ♬ original sound – Murdaaaa
Viewers joined in his excitement. “I get so excited seeing someone got picked for the housing lottery! Congratulations!” one wrote.
“I wish it didn’t have to be a slim chance for someone to get ‘picked’ because everyone deserves housing but you deserve this!” another viewer said.
Others shared their experiences with housing lottery systems in New York City and beyond. “I got mine in December! It’s life changing,” one user revealed. “Life will start being much kinder to you.”
“Just applied this morning in GA,” a viewer from Georgia commented.
Responding to a comment from a viewer who eventually left New York City because they could not receive a lease through the lottery system, Murdaaaa revealed that he had also planned to leave the city as soon as the lease on his old apartment ended.
“Right when I was going to do the same they came,” he wrote.
All five boroughs in New York City participate in the housing lottery system. The program aims to provide lower and middle-income individuals with affordable, quality housing. It includes both rental listings and apartments available for sale, subsidized by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Qualifications for leasing vary and are largely dependent upon income and household size.
Applications for specific listings are shuffled randomly, given a number, and reviewed starting at the lowest number. Responses are not a guarantee, and applicants can expect to wait anywhere from eight weeks to a year to hear about their applications.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports a shortage of over 7 million affordable rental properties nationwide for low-income Americans, with New York having only 32 available rental homes for every 100 low-income renter households in the state.
The Daily Dot reached out to Murdaaaa via Instagram direct message.
