Gotham Gazette

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Affordable Housing

Affordable Housing

  • Will Office Conversions Actually Produce Affordable Housing? They Should, But State Leaders Must Act

    Gov. Hochul signs a bill for hotel to housing conversions (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    In 2016, the City Council adopted mandatory inclusionary housing (MIH), city legislation requiring for the first time that in any rezoning or other regulatory change that created or expanded the right to build apartments — in a neighborhood, or in a single building — at least 20% of the new housing had to be affordable, and affordable in perpetuity.  

    The foundational concept was simple: if government gives a developer

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  • 3 Ways the Next New York State Budget Must Lift Up Communities of Color

     Economic development with a focus on MWBEs (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    As Governor Hochul and lawmakers in Albany work toward a new state budget, meaningful conversations are occurring on a wide range of critical issues from housing to workforce development to sustainability to health care and more. New York has long been at the forefront of advancing consequential progressive policies in these and other areas. But given the current political dynamic and the historic diversity of our state government, we have a tremendous opportunity to leverage this

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  • Getting to a Deal on the Housing Compact New York Needs

    Gov. Hochul addresses the state (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    Policymakers in Albany sent a clear message to their constituents last week: we are not serious about solving the housing shortage that is driving rents up, causing extreme housing insecurity, and keeping our communities segregated. The housing growth strategy outlined in both the Senate and Assembly one-house budget resolutions is a weak, incentive-driven approach that replicates housing policies that have been tried and failed. Localities that want to remain exclusionary and not add housing can still

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  • Keep The Compact: The Legislature's Lackluster Housing Plans Won't Work


    Housing in the works (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Housing has taken center stage in the current budget negotiations in Albany and for good reason: Our statewide housing crisis has become dire, and for the first time in decades, there are many concrete proposals to tackle it.

    Discussions about the issue often focus on rents in the five boroughs and how they have reached historic levels, but the crisis does not stop at the city’s borders, nor is the crisis limited to renters. In communities across the state, renters and homeowners are struggling with housing costs, as younger generations are

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  • Direct Subsidy: A Realistic Strategy to Ensure Housing Affordability For All

    Housing in the offing (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    We all benefit from an inclusive city that allows all types of people, not only privileged residents, to live with dignity and security. Yet, New York City continues to become an even more impossibly expensive place to live, disproportionately displacing communities of color, “essential workers,” artists, cooks, security guards, drivers, retail workers, and their families.

    If we truly want to overcome this disparity, a plan to provide housing for all must deliberately aim to fund the true cost of building enough low-rent units to meet

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  • Bonds, Vouchers, Tax Credits, & More: Mayor Adams' Federal Housing Agenda

    Mayor Adams and Chief Housing Officer Katz unveil housing plans (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    Facing an affordable housing and homelessness crisis, Mayor Eric Adams has set an ambitious goal to build 500,000 new homes, rehabilitate a collapsing public housing system, and transform social service delivery.

    While most attention is paid to policies at the city and state levels, Adams is relying in part on action from Washington, D.C. that could bring in billions of dollars in subsidies and make it easier for New Yorkers to access

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  • Make Hochul’s Housing Compact Tougher, Not Weaker

    Gov. Hochul pitches her housing plan (photo: Governor's Office)


    You can’t talk seriously about Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed New York Housing Compact without acknowledging with respect that she is the first Governor in decades to try to get localities in the state to take on at least some of their fair share of housing need.

    It is also clear from examining one set of her proposed “preferred actions” that she understands the exclusionary effect of lot-size minimums, height limits, lot coverage restrictions, and parking

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  • NYCHA Rent Arrears Crisis Shifts Budget Focus from Capital Needs to Operating Assistance

    Governor Hochul makes a NYCHA announcement (photo: Governor's Office)


    After decades of neglect and underinvestment at every level of government, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) continues to struggle to fund its annual operating expenses and massive infrastructure repair needs.

    While the city and state have made some recent investments in the public housing authority’s capital infrastructure needs, the pandemic blew a hole in its operating budget as rent revenue plummeted and its roughly 500,000 residents were

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  • Preservation Trust and Beyond: Report Assesses NYCHA's Progress and Challenges in Executing 'Blueprint for Change'

    A NYCHA building in Queens (photo: Governor's Office)


    In July 2020, the New York City Housing Authority published “A Blueprint for Change” to address decades of organizational mismanagement, financial instability, and repeated crises that were affecting the health and wellbeing of the city’s roughly 500,000 public housing residents. Last year, NYCHA achieved one of the crucial steps from that plan as the state

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  • The City Council Should Reject Misguided Housing Bill

    Affordable housing in the Bronx (photo: @NYCHousing)


    A new consensus is taking shape in New York City: politicians, advocates, and policymakers are prioritizing ways for the city to produce more housing. Of course, there are still plenty of housing disagreements, but most now agree that New York’s severe affordability crisis is caused by the fact that there is not enough housing to go around.

    While this is progress, New York City still has plenty of work to do if Thursday’s City Council Housing and Buildings Committee hearing is any indication.

    City Council Members will hear feedback on a

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  • Officials, Advocates Analyze Implications of Hochul's 'Housing Compact' on New York City

    Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams & others at ground-breaking (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Last month, in herState of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a “Housing Compact” to build 800,000 units of housing across the state over the next ten years. It is an ambitious plan that aims to tackle the state’s dire housing shortage by leveraging private

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Borough President Mark Levine's Vision for Manhattan

    Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council)


    February 2, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Borough President Mark Levine's Vision for Manhattan

    Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine joined the show to discuss his new State of the Borough speech and agenda, particularly his new housing plan, as well as other key issues facing Manhattan and the city.

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

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  • ‘We Need to Build Everywhere’: Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso on Housing, Maternal Health, & Other Priorities

    Brooklyn BP Antonio Reynoso (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    One year into his term as Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso is taking an expansive view of his office and pushing an ambitious set of policy proposals.

    Reynoso, then a City Council member, emerged through a tough, crowded Democratic primary in 2021, while running as a reform-minded candidate endorsed by progressives like Rep. Nydia Velazquez and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Earlier this month, Reynoso delivered his first State of the Borough address, a

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  • Max Politics Podcast: A Pro-Housing Agenda for New York, with Annemarie Gray

    A housing ground-breaking (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    January 17, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: A Pro-Housing Agenda for New York, with Annemarie Gray

    Annemarie Gray, a planner and housing expert who is now Executive Director of pro-housing group Open New York, joined the show to discuss the group's 2023 housing agenda, the Governor's sweeping Housing Compact proposals, what Mayor Adams should do next on housing, and more.

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

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Borough President Antonio Reynoso's Vision for Brooklyn

    Brooklyn BP Antonio Reynoso (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    January 11, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Borough President Antonio Reynoso's Vision for Brooklyn

    Borough President Antonio Reynoso joined the show to discuss his new State of the Borough agenda and vision for the city's most populous borough.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.

  • Hochul Presents State of the State Agenda Focused on Public Safety, Housing Development, Mental Health Care, Climate Action, & More

    Gov. Hochul (photo: Governor's Office)


    Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday delivered her second State of the State speech, and the first since she was elected to a full term, pledging to tackle crime, boost housing production, advance climate action, and invest heavily in the state’s mental health system to “make New York more affordable, more livable, and safer.”

    Speaking in the Assembly chamber at the Capitol building in Albany, Hochul outlined a broad legislative and policy agenda for the year ahead. It was Hochul’s first fully in-person State of the State address, following last year’s speech

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  • The State Must Take on Frankensteining Before More Affordable Apartments Vanish

    Under construction (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    The Stand for Tenant Safety/Coalition to End Apartment Warehousing applauds the New York State housing agency’sproposed regulations regarding the first rents for combined or “Frankensteined” apartments. Under that proposal, where at least part of a newly-combined apartment is rent-stabilized,the

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  • California and the Federalist Papers Offer a Path Forward on Housing, New York Should Take It

     

    Housing in view (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    The United States, and New York particularly, faces a housing crisis of its own making. Today, housing costs arethe main driver of inflation, which is leading to painful interest rate hikes across the whole economy. And they’re the...

  • Max Politics Podcast: Dan Doctoroff on the Plan for a 'New' New York

    Dan Doctoroff, far right, with the Mayor, Governor, and others (photo: Governor's Office)


    December 15, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Dan Doctoroff on the Plan for a 'New' New York

    Dan Doctoroff, former deputy mayor and now co-chair of the 'New' New York panel assembled by Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams, joined the show to discuss the extensive action plan put forward by the task force, governor, and mayor.

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

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  • Manhattan Borough President Adds Affordable Housing Focus to Community Board Appointment Process

    Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit)


    Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine is opening up the annual application process for community boards on Thursday with a new question on the application, asking would-be members about their priorities around housing development in the borough as part of an effort to encourage pro-housing voices in local matters.

    New York City’s 59 community boards, 12 of which are in Manhattan, are its most local form of government, playing an

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  • New York City Needs Housing for Everyone, Not More Shelter Beds

    Housing (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    Faced with an influx of migrants, the main shelter system bursting at the seams, and skyrocketing rents, New York City Mayor Eric Adams

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  • Series of Major Housing Approvals, Announcements Mark Progress in Adams’ ‘City of Yes’

    Mayor Adams releases his housing plan (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    New York City is soon to be awash in new housing construction with the City Council approval in recent months of over 12,000 new units and a mayoral administration promising to bring thousands more through major development projects and changes to city zoning rules.

    The development is essential to meet the city's demand for housing, particularly affordable housing, where the vacancy rate for the lowest income apartments is less than 1% while tens of

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  • As Hochul Promises ‘Bold’ Agenda, Many Housing Policies on the Table for 2023 in Albany

    Gov. Hochul at a housing event (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    New York faces an acute housing crisis: rents are sky high, not enough housing is being built, homeownership is increasingly out of reach, and there is a looming eviction crisis coming out of the covid pandemic. But while the issues contributing to the problem have long been simmering, solutions from state and city leaders have been halting and piecemeal, far from meeting the need wherein 53% of New York City tenants are...

  • How Could the City Council Cut Affordable Housing in Gowanus?

    Housing construction (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    If you listen to progressives in New York City talk, you'd think they're focused on addressing our worsening housing crisis. Endless rally cries for tenant protection and increasing affordability make up the bulk of their campaign promises and slogans.

    And they would be right to — everyone, from democratic socialists to President Biden agree housing production is a problem. Over half a million units are needed by 2030, according to a...

  • 'Alarming to Not Have a Goal': City Council Pushes Adams Administration on Affordable Housing for Seniors

    A push for senior affordable housing (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    Older New Yorkers, aged 65 and above, are the fastest growing age group in the city, currently numbering at about 1.24 million and expected to grow to as many as 1.4 million residents by 2040. They are also a population that experiences significant housing insecurity and other housing challenges, with more than half considered rent-burdened. As the city continues to grapple with a deepening affordable housing crisis, City Council members on Monday sought answers from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration about efforts to support and prioritize

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