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Affordable Housing

Affordable Housing

  • At Hearing, Garodnick Lays Out Adams Administration Planning Values, Talks Budget and Policy

    City Planning Chief Dan Garodnick (photo: Joanna Graham/Mayoral Photography Office)


    In a presentation to the New York City Council Wednesday, newly-appointed Department of City Planning Commissioner Dan Garodnick discussed the Adams administration's proposed budget and values for how land should be used to shape the city's future.

    The Department of City Planning, which helps craft proposed changes to land use rules, including zoning regulations and applications, is working towards some of the pillars of inclusive economic growth and crisis adaptability contained in Mayor Eric Adams’ economic recovery

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  • 4 Keys to an Equitable Economic Recovery from the Pandemic in New York

     

    Ground-breaking (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    A month before COVID-19 swept through the five boroughs, headlines about New York City’shistoric economic growth were abounding. Yet, even as the growth of the city’s economy reached historic heights, a crisis of inequity persisted in Black and brown communities, who were facing higher rates of unemployment, less investment and growth, poorer health

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  • Two Housing Budget Items the City Council Should Push the Adams Administration On

    Housing in the Bronx (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)


    When the New York City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings hosts its first preliminary budget hearing on Monday morning, it will be held against the backdrop of severe economic uncertainty for many New Yorkers. Inflation rose nearly 8% last month, driven by soaring food and energy costs, putting immense pressure on low- and middle-income families even as the job market remains robust for workers. Rents are also on the rise, in some cases increasing as much as 33% between January 2021 and 2022.

    In New York, this

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  • A Housing Plan for the Pandemic’s Aftermath

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    A housing line-up (photo: Governor's Office)


    Governor Kathy Hochul’s commitment to a $25 billion, five-year housing plan creating and preserving 100,000 affordable homes throughout the state – including 10,000 supportive housing units designed to prevent homeessness – sends a bold and welcome signal to low-income New Yorkers still grappling with the spiraling economic effects of the pandemic. 

    At a time when 4 in 10 job losses have not come

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  • ‘We Really Changed the Structure of Housing Production’: Vicki Been on the De Blasio Administration's Affordable Housing Record & What Comes Next

    (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office)

    Vicki Been with Mayor de Blasio (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Mayor Adams must set the tone that housing is a priority in his administration and pursue holistic, aggressive approaches to address the housing crisis in New York City, according to ​​former Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been.

    Appearing on a recent episode of the Max Politics podcast from Gotham

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Vicki Been on De Blasio Era Housing Policy, Neighborhood Rezonings, & More

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    Then-Deputy Mayor Vicki Been (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    January 12, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Vicki Been on De Blasio Era Housing Policy, Neighborhood Rezonings, & More

    Former Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been joined the show to reflect on housing policy and outcomes during the de Blasio years, when she was first housing commissioner before returning to NYU then re-joining the administration as deputy mayor. Been discussed affordable housing planning, the implementation of Mandatory

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  • The Way We Plan is Broken; The Next City Government Has the Power to Fix It

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    Development rendering (image: NYC mayor's office)


    Over the past several years, our cityscape has continued to transform before our eyes. Gentrification and displacement have pushed deeper into working class communities, while shiny new towers throughout the five boroughs remain out of reach. At the forefront of this reality is the way our government makes planning and land use decisions. They shape what our city looks like. And equally as important — they shape what communities are served.

    The fact is, the way we plan is broken,

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  • Max Politics Podcast: What's Next for New York's Pro-Housing Movement

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    New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    December 14, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: What's Next for New York's Pro-Housing Movement

    As the Bill de Blasio administration ends and the Eric Adams administration is set to begin, New York City's housing politics are in flux. Housing affordability and homelessness in the city remain related crises; the city's housing production has come nowhere near keeping up with its population and job growth; and public housing is crumbling. In the

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  • Members of a Community: Opposition to Local Shelters Leaves Vulnerable Families Even Worse Off

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    Finding homes for everyone (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    On October 29, the New York City Department of Social Services sent a letter to Brooklyn Community Board 11 providing notification of a planned homeless shelter to be built in Bensonhurst. The facility would be for 75 families with children, with priority given to those “who have roots in this community and this area of Brooklyn more broadly.”

    Brooklyn CB11 and neighboring CB10 encompass Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Bay Ridge. These community districts

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  • ‘What I Bring to the Table is My Experience’: Francisco Moya on Housing Development, Running for City Council Speaker, & More

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    Council Member Francisco Moya (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    New York City needs to revamp its approach to development, argues City Council Member Francisco Moya, and have the next City Council Speaker be an experienced official who can help usher in that new way of doing business while also crafting a budget that reflects the diverse needs of the city’s many districts..

    Appearing on a recent episode of the Max Politics podcast

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  • The Truth About Neighborhood Rezonings, Housing, and Demographic Change

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    Housing in New York City (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)


    New York City has approved a requirement for racial-equity studies to inform the city’s land-use rezoning efforts. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, one of the proponents of the requirement, has expressed that “the more we have tools like this one, the more we can sift through what’s just noise and what’s actually serious and needs to be addressed. People have told us that these rezonings are going to be for the betterment of the city but, collectively, they have sped up

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  • Now or Never: The High Stakes of Federal Housing Funding

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    Housing repairs (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    When President Biden and Congress first announced the details of the Build Back Better Act, they sent a loud and clear signal to housing advocates and stakeholders that help was finally on the way. The $330 billion investment into the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and $30 billion into the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program both represented the most significant plan in generations to address a worsening housing crisis.

    Now, however, Washington

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  • Max Politics Podcast: New York's Eviction Moratorium and the Housing Justice Movement

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    Housing justice protest (photo: @housing4allNY)


    September 01, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: New York's Eviction Moratorium and the Housing Justice Movement

    Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator at Housing Justice for All, joined the show to discuss the extension of New York's eviction moratorium and the bigger housing policy picture.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the

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  • Initiative Offers Blueprint for Inclusive New York City Recovery and Growth

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    City resources on offer (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    The New York City Inclusive Growth Initiative -- an effort organized by three major nonprofit groups -- this week released a “blueprint” of 50-plus recommendations for the next Mayor and City Council to guide an equitable recovery from the devastating covid pandemic. Noting the propensity for change during times of crisis and the history of disasters like Hurricane Sandy and the

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  • Taking 'Housing is a Human Right' from Slogan to Reality

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    New Yorkers in search of affordable housing (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    With the rights of those experiencing homelessness being debated - or disregarded - in the move from hotels back to congregate shelters, homeless New Yorkers declared July Homeless Rights Month, forcing our leaders to reckon with those often ignored in our policy debates, simply because they don’t have a permanent address. While the United Nations has ...

  • Can the Next Mayor Save NYCHA? Democratic Candidates Offer Varied Plans for City's Crumbling Public Housing

    Few Mayoral Candidates Offer Plans for Rescuing City's Crumbling Public Housing

    NYCHA (photo: governor's office)


    The New York City Housing Authority, home to more than 400,000 New Yorkers, is falling apart. Long plagued by mold, lead paint, structural cracks, and failing elevators, boilers, and locks, the authority of over 177,000 units in 335 developments across the five boroughs is in need of a staggering $40 billion in physical repairs over the next ten years and faces an immediate operating budget deficit of about $300 million.

    Long the victim of official

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  • Democratic Mayoral Candidates Discuss Taking on Family Homelessness

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    Shelter in the Bronx (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Tens of thousands of parents and children are living in city shelters. Some of the worst effects of the pandemic may not be felt until the next mayor is in office in 2021, when New York City and State may have to reckon with the fallout from an expiring eviction moratorium, mass income losses, and diminishing federal stimulus.

    Three of the front-runners for the Democratic nomination for mayor -- civil rights attorney Maya Wiley, city government veteran Kathryn Garcia, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang --

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  • Seeking to Influence Mayor's Race and Solve Social Issues, Advocates Offer 'Caring & Compassionate New Deal for NYC'

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    Housing rally (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    An advocacy group that has spent decades fighting for the “defunding of harmful systems” is issuing a call to action to New York City’s political class to reorient city government and pursue permanent solutions to longstanding issues of home lessness, substance use, mental health, criminalization, and

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  • At Televised Debate, Democratic Mayoral Candidates Outline Housing, Homelessness Plans

    Gotham Gazette:

    (top: Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Andrew Yang, Ray McGuire; bottom: Eric Adams, Dianne Morales, Maya Wiley, Scott Stringer)


    Eight leading Democratic candidates in the race for mayor appeared in the first televised mayoral forum of the 2021 race to share their policy proposals for tackling housing and homelessness in New York City. The discussion had a particular focus on the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has added a new layer of concern regarding homelessness, evictions, rent and mortgage debt, housing segregation, affordable and

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  • WATCH: Experts Discuss What's Next for New York City's Streetscapes, Businesses and Neighborhoods

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    New York City (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Three experts joined Citizens Union Foundation for a panel on "Vacancies andn Vision: What’s Next for NYC’s Streetscapes, Businesses, and Neighborhoods," disussing the future of New York City. Moderated by Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max, the panel included former Deputy Mayor Alici