Some of the 10,000 low-income families in danger of losing the rental assistance they get through a voucher program will probably keep receiving it, thanks to $23.5 million that the New York City Housing Authority is to receive from the federal government, officials said Thursday.

For years, homeless people were sent by the city to illegal boarding houses, places with crowded conditions, rows of bunk beds and vermin. For many of the buildings' landlords, it was an easy way to turn a run-down house into a fairly lucrative operation - tenants were charged hundreds of dollars each month for little more than a mattress.

Because of a $45 million budget gap, the New York City Housing Authoritymay have to revoke rental-assistance vouchers from more than 10,000 low-income tenants, a drastic move that could cause families to lose their apartments.