In January 2007, the city reopened the waiting list for Section 8 rental subsidy vouchers for the first time in 13 years, giving many low-income New Yorkers new hopes of finding a place of their own. But, some prospective tenants are finding that having a Section 8 voucher is no guarantee of getting an apartment.

Many New Yorkers were busy plugging leaks during April’s record-breaking rain storm, but for Lydia Vega and her family, the downpour only made a bad situation worse.

“It was like it was raining in the apartment,” said Denise Rivera, 21, who lives with her mother in the problem-plagued Hunts Point I complex on Coster Street in the Bronx.

Leaks are nothing new for Vega, who pointed to three spots where rainwater routinely pours from her ceiling. For months, the sharp odor of mold from a four-foot-wide leak above her kitchen stove has permeated her apartment, overpowering the smell of dinner cooking. More »