Here's What It's Like To Win An Affordable Housing Lottery

[All photos via a tour of those cantilevering gray cubes that Curbed took in June.]

The 124 affordable apartments at Harlem's Sugar Hill Development have been likened, architecturally speaking, to an unprepared "A" student. But the lucky ducks who emerged with a brand-new lease out of more than 48,000 applicants aren't complaining one bit. "It's everything I dreamed of. ... It took me a long time to be happy like this. I worked very hard for this. ... I feel blessed," home health aide Anette Christopher told the Times, through tears. "It's like winning the Mega Millions," said doorman Johan Lugo, who is moving in with his wife and two kids. Sugar Hill's apartments, designed by David Adjaye, were only eligible for applicants who made between $13,000 and $79,000 a year; depending on the size of the unit and income, rents range from $349/month for a studio earmarked for the lowest income levels to three-bedrooms for families making more leasing for $1,588/month.

A Mount Sinai nurse's assistant named Kaity Glenn scored a studio for $636/month. Before that, she had been living with her grandmother for five years, apartment-hunting for something she could afford on a salary of $26K/year. "It's very hard," she told the News. "I had my fingers crossed the whole time."

The NYDN also has a video describing some residents who won the Sugar Hill lottery:

Another doorman, Sam Morales, who will move into a $1,379/month two-bedroom with his two kids, said, "There's no more sleeping on a mattress or a sofa bed." Their tales are really heartwarming. Just try not to think about the disappointed tens of thousands who didn't get a spot. Well, Bill de Blasio is, so that's something?
· For 124 Families, This Lottery's Jackpot Was an Affordable New Home in Manhattan [NYT]
· New Yorkers snag 98 sweet affordable apartments at Sugar Hill, for others the hunt continues [NYDN]
· Kaity Glenn, 30, selected from pool of more than 48,000 applicants to rent Sugar Hill affordable apartments [NYDN]
· Archicritic Likens Sugar Hill Apts To an Unprepared 'A' Student [Curbed]
· Previewing Harlem's Controversial, Cantilevered Gray Building [Curbed]
· All Sugar Hill coverage [Curbed]
· All Affordable Housing coverage [Curbed]