Gov. Kathy Hochul’s landmark plan aims to combat NYC’s affordable housing shortage

NYS Governor Kathy Hochul announced more details of the state’s long-awaited approved housing plan at a joint press conference with NYC Mayor Eric Adams in Manhattan on Tuesday. 

Hochul originally introduced the plan as part of the final state budget — a $237 billion spending plan — that was announced on Saturday, April 20. The plan, an agreement with state lawmakers to combat the ongoing affordable housing shortage in the state, advances policies to increase the housing supply, promote affordability, strengthen protections for New York renters and homeowners, and combat bias and discrimination in housing.

“Since I became governor, I’ve held a vision to build housing that New Yorkers desperately need, and we’re celebrating this historic agreement that will transform lives and put working families first,” Hochul said. “This housing deal enacts a plan endorsed by unions and a diverse and vibrant coalition of New Yorkers to revolutionize the housing landscape and create the biggest expansion of tenant rights in New York in generations.”

Elected officials and union representatives at the press conference called the plan a “landmark agreement” and “historic,” as it was difficult for lawmakers to agree on a package in previous years.

Affordable housing in NYC

Hochul’s housing plan includes a package of programs and initiatives to create new housing, including affordable housing, in the Big Apple. 

“This is such a significant moment, because I tell people all the time that housing is the precursor to seek that allows you to experience the American dream,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams said. “When you have a home, you can plan for the future.”

It includes the new 485-x tax incentive, a 10-year program building on the now-expired 421-a incentive program, which provides benefits for housing construction while “encouraging affordability and delivering strengthened wage standards for building service and construction workers, where applicable,” according to a press release from the governor. 

The plan also includes historic anti-price gouging and eviction protections for renters in the city. It makes annual rent increases above 10% or 5% plus the Consumer Price Index (whichever is lower) presumptively unreasonable to protect tenants against price gouging and strengthens legal protections for covered renters in eviction proceedings.

As part of the FY 2025 enacted budget, Governor Hochul has also advanced legislation to prohibit insurance carriers from inquiring about or considering tenants’ source of income, the existence of affordable dwelling units, or the receipt of governmental housing assistance in the decision to issue or continue to provide insurance for residential real property. 

The governor also announced a plan to increase the state’s housing supply that would put up to 15,000 homes on stand land, and aims to reduce housing costs for New Yorkers by increasing the housing supply. 

“There’s only one way out of the affordable housing crisis our city faces, building,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said. “I’m proud that Queens continues to lead New York City in affordable housing production, but with countless families living on the sharp edge of poverty, it’s never been clearer that much more must be done to grow our affordable housing stock.”