Press Release: Paying Tribute to A True Legend in Affordable Housing

Press Release

Paying Tribute to A True Legend in Affordable Housing

It is with profound sadness that the Community Service Society of New York (CSS) says goodbye to Victor Bach, a legend in the affordable housing field and a senior housing analyst and Director of Housing Policy at CSS for 35 years. Vic passed away on June 4 in the Washington, D.C. area where he lived upon retiring in 2022.

Vic's legacy is multi-faceted. He mentored numerous researchers at CSS who have gone on to become experts in their fields. And because of him, CSS can boast of having some of the finest housing analysts in New York. He authored ground-breaking reports on homelessness, documented the enormous rent burdens on the poor, and unmasked the devastating impact of government divestment in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

He was widely known and respected by housing professionals, policymakers, government housing agencies, tenant leaders, public housing residents, the legal community, unions, advocates and journalists. Through his research, Vic shed light on the housing conditions of the city's extremely poor and worked with community leaders and grassroots organizations to preserve tenant protections and fight back against efforts to de-regulate public housing. He deeply believed that public housing residents and low-income New Yorkers should have safe, decent and affordable housing. To that end, he worked tirelessly to strengthen residents' rights, including advocating for technical resources to support tenant groups fighting to preserve their buildings, as well as making the case for rent-regulation and government housing subsidies as bulwarks against the displacement of residents.

Few housing leaders have done more to engage residents, standing with them and behind them in their fight for housing justice. Vic was there at late evening meetings, on long bus rides to Albany and Washington, at rallies, and behind the scenes offering technical support.

Vic received his Ph.D. from MIT and taught at the University of Texas and The New School for Social Research before joining CSS in 1983. At CSS, with its emphasis on using compelling research to drive advocacy, Vic found the place to realize his goal of fusing policy analysis with grassroots organizing. He was a stalwart in the fight to empower residents, and for the preservation and expansion of affordable housing for the lowest income New Yorkers. He helped secure hundreds of millions of dollars in operating and capital funds for NYCHA and helped found the New York City Public Housing Resident Alliance to organize and inform public housing residents. Over his distinguished career, Vic authored numerous influential reports, all with the collective purpose of improving housing conditions for the city's low-income residents.

CSS is proud and grateful for all of Vic's contributions, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

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The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) has worked with and for New Yorkers since 1843 to promote economic opportunity and champion an equitable city and state. We power change through a strategic combination of research, services, and advocacy to make New York more livable for people facing economic insecurity. By expanding access to health care, affordable housing, employment opportunities, debt assistance, and more, we make a tangible difference in the lives of millions. Join us at www.cssny.org.

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