MHANY was born out of an organizing campaign by ACORN NY in the early to mid 1980s in East New York / Brownsville.  During the early 1980s in New York, the City had allowed entire neighborhoods to fall into disrepair.  Buildings had been widely abandoned and the City wasn’t doing anything to keep them livable.

ACORN was organizing around issues that affected low- and moderate-income people and people of color, and housing was the issue the members wanted to fight for. Then, as well as today, the number one issue was always housing - where am I going to live?

ACORN set out to force the City to address this issue.  Members engaged in a squatting campaign where they reclaimed vacant buildings in East New York / Brownsville and put in the work to repair them so they could live in them.  Coupled with a broader political and organizing campaign, this tactic eventually helped pressure the City to turn several buildings over to ACORN Housing to manage.  Later, ACORN Housing would become what is known as MHANY today.

Today, MHANY’s 2000+ apartments in buildings throughout New York City and New Jersey have become models for what real affordability is, and what real decent living is.  And MHANY’s roots in the community continue to grow stronger.  Many of our residents are leaders in their neighborhoods, fighting for social change, fighting for better schools, and remaining involved in our housing campaigns so they can help other people access real, quality affordable housing.