Gov. Kathy Hochul took a series of executive actions on Tuesday intended to put a dent in New York’s apartment shortage by rewarding “pro-housing” towns across the state and extending a controversial tax break to developers in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood.
The announcement marks the culmination of more than seven months of Democratic infighting in Albany — with the governor and Legislature failing to reach a consensus on how to address New York’s affordable housing shortage as it reaches crisis levels, with median rents and the homeless shelter population both setting record highs.
“It is not just a shortage, it is a crisis. That is one of the number one reasons people leave this state,” Hochul said at a news conference in Gowanus. “Doing nothing is not an option anymore.”
The governor’s actions tinker around the edges of the affordability crisis, but Hochul said she hoped the measures would spur “momentum” in the months ahead of the next legislative session in Albany, which starts in January.
The current housing shortage is taking a dramatic toll on New Yorkers, forcing hundreds of thousands of tenants to pay at least half their income on rent, as tens of thousands of people turn to homeless shelters, according to city data..
The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates New York state needs roughly 615,000 new apartments priced for “extremely low-income renters” earning less than 30% of the area median income, or about $36,000 for a family of three.
A January analysis by the Real Estate Board of New York, a lobbying group that represents landlords and developers, found that New York City alone needs 560,000 units for all income levels over the next seven years to keep up with population growth.
Under Hochul’s directive, the state’s economic agency, Empire State Development, could purchase properties in Gowanus where construction is already underway and lease them back to the developers under terms they were promised under…
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