People-powered data for fair housing

We partner with researchers, community members, and grassroots organizations to interpret our growing dataset and use it to spark movement-wide change. We publish reports, make policy recommendations, and produce other creative research to share our findings.

Report 2024

Featured Report

Denial Tactics

Tracking new forms of source of income discrimination in New York City

Report 2023

Featured Report

Serial Discriminators

Who is locking New Yorkers with vouchers out of the housing market?

Report 2022

Featured Report

An Illusion of Choice

How Source of Income Discrimination and Voucher Policies Perpetuate Housing Inequality

Interactive Map 2022

Featured

Community-powered Discrimination Map

See where our users have reported unfair treatment by landlords and brokers and send an email to your council member about why you care about this issue.

Our Data in Action

A unique source of data

Think of us like a citizen science lab – for fair housing. We crowdsource our data directly from tenants, then rigorously review, aggregate, and integrate with other housing datasets. At every step, we follow best practices to protect the privacy of user-generated data and embody the guiding principles of 'consentful' tech.

Two women stand behind a handwritten poster that says "my voucher is good as cash" against a yellow background with a semi-transparent map of NYC

Identifying emerging tactics

Our research shows that landlords and real estate agents continuously adapt the tactics they use to mask discriminatory behavior. We stay one step ahead by tracking over 30 specific tactics (and counting!) and alerting enforcement agencies as we identify new trends.

A collage featuring a woman on the phone turning toward an apartment building; the background is a speech bubble that says "it's the landlord's decision whether you qualify."

Changing the narrative

Voucher holders hold a diverse array of identities, backgrounds, and experiences. Through our disparate impact research, we are learning more about the ways that discrimination against vouchers impacts specific groups differently. We plan to expand this research area in 2024 – stay tuned!

Collage of three different sets of hands holding megaphones, with a map of New York City and a graph paper spiral notebook faded in the background

FAQs

Can I have access to Unlock NYC’s dataset?

Try our Data & Research page first to see if the publicly-available aggregated data that we have published answers your research question. On a case-by-case basis, we may have the interest and capacity to work with journalists on conducting more detailed analysis of our dataset and/or engaging in a data-sharing agreement. You can submit a data request here. Please note that we are a small team and we prioritize the privacy, security, and integrity of our community’s data, so requests that involve data-sharing agreements are normally not suitable for projects with tight turnarounds.