New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams hosted an open forum with residents of southeast Queens on Thursday, June 15, to hear their concerns about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed New York Housing Compact, a plan that would create 800,000 new homes in New York over the next decade to address homelessness, lack of affordability and an overall housing shortage throughout the state.
Hosted at the Roy Wilkins Recreation Center on Baisley Boulevard, the meeting also included local southeast Queens representatives, who stalled the 6 p.m. meeting until 45 minutes after when Williams finally arrived. Williams, who has held the public advocate position since 2019, said it was important for him to visit the community, referring to the housing crisis’ effect on Black and Brown families.
“This is not about trying to sell anything to anybody,” Williams said in opening remarks. “It’s really just trying to have a conversation about what’s going on … It was really done pretty poorly when stuff was put out without having conversation and it was important to me to reach out to your representatives.”
After gauging residents’ understanding of the New York Housing Compact, Williams explained the plan further to residents, mentioning that it would require downstate New York communities to expand housing by 3% annually. If this benchmark is not met, the state could then override local zoning and “facilitate the building” of new housing units.
Among the concerns brought up residents included the existence of empty apartments and vacant houses, or “zombie homes,” in southeast Queens. The residents questioned why those properties were not considered for housing over building more homes in the neighborhood.
District 14 state Senator Leroy Comrie responded by telling the residents that all legislative efforts to address these vacancies receive push back from the banks and fail to pass. Still, Comrie maintained that developing housing in the area is not…
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