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Last year, state lawmakers were unable to come together on a housing deal, frustrating virtually everyone. This year, they were able to come together on a housing deal, frustrating virtually everyone.
The framework, which Gov. Kathy Hochul announced late Monday, includes a version of “good cause” eviction protections that tenant activists slammed for being too watered down, along with a replacement for the 421-a affordable housing tax break that landlords slammed for being too watered down. It also gives property owners more flexibility to raise rents on regulated apartments after renovating them that landlords slammed for being — you guessed it — too watered down, and it includes several other measures — Office-to-residential conversions! Denser residential buildings! — that most organizations seem too angry to comment on at the moment.
It has not been met with an outpouring of support, in other words, although unions, larger developers and the Adams administration appear fairly happy with it. And while the final details are still being worked out, one change that will not happen is a last-minute inclusion of 2023’s statewide housing mandates. Keeping them out of this year’s conversation was likely a necessary sacrifice to get any deal together, but officials should still not abandon the idea if they are truly set on confronting New York’s housing shortage.
Growth mandates being kept out is no surprise. The Hochul administration pointed to them as the biggest reason why a housing deal fell apart entirely last year, as suburban lawmakers refused to sign onto what they argued was a top-down effort to transform their districts, and the governor indicated before budget negotiations even started in earnest this year that she would not pursue them again right away. Although she said in her State of the State address that a statewide approach to encourage new homes was still necessary, insisting on mandates for the second year in a row probably would have meant no housing deal for the second year in a row.
But this should not mean the controversial policy is off the table entirely, especially if Hochul’s goal of building 800,000 new homes in the state over the next decade includes ramping up production in the suburbs. The policies in this year’s package aimed at making it easier to build homes are almost entirely focused on the city, and while a housing shortage has long been a problem within the five boroughs, the city has actually done a slightly better job at producing housing than the suburbs — particularly Long Island — in recent years.
The $650 million incentive program Hochul launched over the summer appears set to remain the state’s chief strategy for encouraging development in the suburbs coming out of the budget. Hochul has touted this program and singled out Westchester and Long Island leaders as showing interest, but it remains to be seen how much of an actual supply increase the program will spark. Many housing advocacy groups are skeptical, as suburban areas have historically not been willing to increase their housing supply voluntarily.
The amount of angry statements organizations from across the political spectrum have already released about the housing package over the past few days make it clear that housing should remain a hot topic in Albany even if, as expected, this deal ultimately passes. Pulling back on mandates one year after they helped tank a comparable deal is understandable, particularly given the outsize role the suburbs are poised to play in this year’s elections, but they need to remain part of the debate going forward for New York to have a serious shot at building its way out of its housing crisis. Any package that included them would similarly face heaps of criticism — but not for being too watered down.
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Eddie Small , 2024-04-17 12:03:05
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