Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Housing

Housing

  • The Suburbs Need to Finally Step Up in New York Housing Crisis

    Housing in view (photo: Governor's Office)


    It is easy to focus on New York City proper when thinking about the affordable housing crisis. Initial findings from the city’s triennialHousing and Vacancy Survey, for example, show that

    Little Being Done to Address New York’s Prison-to-Shelter Pipeline

    A housing rally (photo:John McCarten/City Council)


    Two out of five people returning to New York City from prison last year were released to a shelter or another placement for homeless adults, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). At roughly 2,050 people, it was enough to fill the largest hotel in midtown Manhattan. They often ended up sleeping on the streets.

    Those inside the so-called prison-to-shelter pipeline say cycling through the criminal legal and shelter systems is destabilizing and dehumanizing as they attempt to reenter

    ...
  • Albany Can Give New York City More Power to Fix the Housing Crisis

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


    State lawmakers clearly understand that New York faces an emergency-level housing crisis and have acted accordingly: adopting a five-year housing plan to invest $25 billion in affordable and supportive housing across the state. But the job is not over, there are several important housing bills under consideration that would help New York City fight the housing crisis.

    In the final days of the state legislative session, Albany has a chance to help the city

    ...
  • Tenants are Struggling; New York Needs Good Cause Eviction Now

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


    Tenants in New York are struggling. Rent prices are through the roof, rising more than 30% from last year. People are getting kicked out of their homes at rates we haven’t seen since before the pandemic.

    Add to this the growing costs of

    ...
  • Affordability, Good Cause Eviction, and the Costs of the Housing Ecosystem

    Housing (photo: Edwin J. Torres/ Mayor's Office)


    No matter who you are, these past two years have been difficult for New Yorkers across the state. The COVID-19 pandemic was not only a health crisis where we lost tens of thousands of our loved ones, but also an affordability crisis. Too many of our neighbors lost jobs, routines, social connections, and more. Hundreds of thousands were thrown into economic instability, made even more difficult by circumstances that predated the pandemic: the housing crisis. 

    Everywhere you

    ...
  • 'Real Affordability and Supply Challenges': Adams Administration Officials Outline Housing Priorities

    Mayor Adams and others at a development ground-breaking (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Mayor Eric Adams promised on Thursday that in the coming week, he will release a comprehensive housing plan to address New York City’s affordable housing crisis and rebuild its crumbling public housing stock. Adams spoke at the annual conference of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH), where officials from his administration appeared on expert panels to discuss the challenges of building affordable housing in the city and further preview some of the strategies that

    ...
  • To Truly Address Homelessness, New York City Must Take on Housing Voucher Discrimination

     
    Welcome home (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    In 2021, the values of New York City's largest housing voucher program, known as CityFHEPS, were significantly raised.This victory, passed by the City Council and Mayor de Blasio, was accomplished thanks to the tireless efforts of housing advocates and opened up tens of thousands of new housing units for tenants holding these vouchers — among the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

    We must

    ...
  • At City Council Budget Hearing, Commissioner Previews Adams Housing Plan

    Housing (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    In his State of the City speech last month, Mayor Eric Adams promised that he would in the coming weeks release a comprehensive housing plan to address perhaps the most intractable problem facing New York. At a hearing of the City Council on Monday, housing officials from his administration outlined the main principles of that agenda and gave a preview of the city's broad approach to building affordable and supportive housing, preserving public housing, and tackling the homelessness crisis.  

    Monday’s hearing concerned the

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: Solving New York City's 'Housing Problem,' with Two Veterans of the Trenches

    Construction underway (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    April 29, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Solving New York City's 'Housing Problem,' with Two Veterans of the Trenches

    Rafael Cestero, CEO of the Community Preservation Corporation and former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Kirk Goodrich, President of Monadnock Development and chair of the NYS Association for Affordable Housing, joined the show to discuss New York City's 'Housing Problem,' which is also the name of their podcast miniseries, and how to solve it. The

    ...
  • In Updated Budget, Adams Fails to Follow Through on Housing and Parks Funding Promises

    Mayor Adams (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday released a $99.7 billion executive budget proposal, a $1.2 billion increase from his February preliminary budget. Though Adams committed billions more in funding for housing and hundreds of millions for the parks department, he nonetheless failed to abide by major pledges he made while running for mayor last year. 

    As a mayoral candidate, Adams made sweeping promises for how he would lead the city. But on two fronts he was particularly

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Pierina Sanchez on Solving NYC's Housing Crisis

    City Council Member Pierina Sanchez (photo: Gerardo Romo/NYC Council)


    April 27, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: City Council Member Pierina Sanchez on Solving NYC's Housing Crisis

    City Council Member Pierina Sanchez, a Bronx Democrat and chair of the Council's Committee on Housing and Buildings, joined the show to discuss her priorities in solving the city's housing crisis.

    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

    ...
  • How the Next Phase of the Second Avenue Subway Can Build a Better East Harlem

    A groundbreaking in East Harlem (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


     

    (Housing projects and tenements surround the $6 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 planned route (MTA Capital Division))

    Plans are advancing rapidly for the 1.5 mile Second Avenue (Q) Subway from 96th to 125...

  • Courts and Other Officials Must Act Now to Protect Right to Counsel in Eviction Proceedings

    Protect housing for the most vulnerable (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Five years ago, New Yorkbecame the first city in the country to create a right to counsel for low-income tenants facing eviction. Unfortunately, this right is now being hollowed out by the combination of a recent explosion of eviction cases and a shortage of tenants’

    ...
  • 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

    ...
  • 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

    ...
  • ‘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

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

    vicki been jan12

    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

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

    31969304957 184e7f6bec c

    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

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

    affor housing admin

    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

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

    greg russ betances

    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

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

    housing NYC

    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 ...

  • Housing for Everyone Makes Everyone Safer: The City Council Must Ensure a Fair Chance for Housing for All

    banana kelly resident

    Housing in the Bronx (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)


    In response to George Floyd’s killing and demands to reimagine community safety, Governor Cuomo ordered all local governments to create plans to reform and reinvent their police forces. In response, the New York City Council adopted a “Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan.” The

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: New York's Covid Emergency Rental Assistance Program

    mpolitics emma comm

    Major housing questions linger in New York (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    July 27, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: New York's Covid Emergency Rental Assistance Program

    Emma Whitford, a reporter for Law360 who covers real estate and more, joined the show to discuss New York's pandemic housing crisis, eviction moratorium, and state emergency rental assistance program, which has seen major initial problems in its rollout.

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

  • 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

    ...
  • Democratic Mayoral Candidates Discuss Taking on Family Homelessness

    shelter housing

    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 --

    ...