ALBANY — Gov. Hochul is gearing up to go hard on affordable housing — but she’s not divulging any details of her administration’s plan to tackle the issue just yet.
The governor lamented New York’s dearth of reasonably priced housing options and promised “bold and impactful initiatives” to address high rents and roadblocks to development during a fiery address Thursday at the New York Housing Conference Annual Awards Program.
“We have never had a statewide strategy on housing before,” Hochul said during the afternoon event held at the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan. “But, under my administration, that will change in January.”
The governor said her team has been “pressure testing” housing policy ideas that will be fully revealed in her State of the State address early next month.
Hochul spoke extensively about the state’s low unemployment rate and the fact that housing demands far outweigh supply in the Empire State while other states have outpaced New York in building affordable units.
“We are in the midst of a housing crisis that has been decades in the making,” the governor said. “In the decade before the pandemic, we created jobs at three times the rate of housing units — leaving us with 1.25 million jobs but only 400 thousand units of housing.
“You see the disconnect. We now have the jobs, but where are you going to put the workers. Where are they supposed to live?” she added.
Housing is sure to be a contentious issue once lawmakers return to Albany for the upcoming legislative session in January as progressive lawmakers prepare to once again push for the passage of a “good cause eviction” bill that would cap rent increases and make it easier to renew leases.
Hochul and lawmakers are likely to readdress a controversial tax credit for real estate developers meant to encourage the building of affordable housing that lapsed earlier this year.
The abatement, known as 421-a, previously lapsed for several months in 2016 before being renewed by lawmakers.
The governor floated a replacement in her executive budget during the previous legislative session that would have offered a 31/2-decade property tax exemption in exchange for developers setting aside a percentage of rental units as affordable.
Another measure Hochul supported that would legalize accessory dwelling units was dropped from budget negotiations during the most recent legislative session.
The proposal would have required localities to permit the construction of additional units on lots zoned for single-family housing.
The fight over “good cause,” meanwhile, has been brewing since the bill was first introduced in 2019.
The measure would restrict rent increases to either 3% or 1.5 times the inflation rate, whichever is higher. It would also prevent landlords from denying lease renewals to tenants who have consistently abided by the terms of their leases.
Hochul, however, noted that subsidies and tenant protections will not be her main focus as she zeroed in on zoning issues in suburban areas.
“We’re a national leader in blocking housing,” the governor said. “New York is essentially in a league of its own when it comes to constricting housing development. Virtually no new housing has been created in large swathes of the New York City metro area for years compared with suburban areas across the country.”
