The Furman Center was established in 1995 to create a place where people interested in affordable housing and land use issues could turn to for factual, objective research and information.
[2] The Furman Center has a three-part mission, including providing objective academic research about land use, real estate, housing and urban affairs, with a particular focus on New York City, promoting intense debate and productive discussion among elected, academic, and industry leaders,[3] and presenting essential data and analysis about the state of New York City's housing and neighborhoods.
[9] The database shows approximately 11,000 affordable-housing units which could possibly expire in the next few years without renewal because they are part of programs that no longer exist.
[10] The database is user-friendly, providing subsidy information to both policy makers and the public, especially New York tenants who reside in subsidized housing units.
The Furman Center and the Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP) received one of nine grants provided through the MacArthur Foundation's $25 million initiative, How Housing Matters to Families and Communities.