Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, Comptroller Lander Announce $500 Million Investment To Build And Preserve Affordable Housing In New York City

July 22, 2024

Agreement Designates Monies from Battery Park City Authority’s Joint Purpose Fund to Be Spent on Affordable Housing

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander today announced a $500 million investment from the Battery Park City Authority’s Joint Purpose Fund to build and maintain affordable housing across New York City. Through an agreement between Mayor Adams, the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), and Comptroller Lander, BPCA will disburse $500 million in excess operating funds to New York City’s Affordable Housing Accelerator Fund for the purpose of building affordable housing. The agreement builds on commitments by Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, and Comptroller Lander to address the housing crisis by building safer, more stable, and more affordable homes, and reducing overall housing costs for New Yorkers.

“To solve a generational housing and affordability crisis, every sector has a role in providing relief to working-class New Yorkers. Today’s announcement takes us one step closer to delivering that relief,” said Mayor Adams. “Our administration and our partners are united by a common cause: building more affordable housing. The only way to solve these dual crises is to simply build more, and with this $500 million commitment, we are coming together to use our dollars to make a difference and better support working-class New Yorkers.”

“When it comes to building the affordable homes that New Yorkers deserve, my administration is leaving no stone unturned,” said Governor Hochul. “This agreement will turn excess funds from the Battery Park City Authority into a massive $500 million investment to help New York City realize its housing potential. From our landmark budget agreement to tackle the housing crisis to transformative investments that get housing built, I am continuing to work with partners like the BPCA, Mayor Adams, and Comptroller Lander and fighting for a more affordable and more livable New York.”

“Financing the production of affordable housing remains the city’s most powerful tool in combatting the city’s housing affordability crisis,” said Comptroller Lander. “This landmark $500 million investment will help ensure that New York City and New York state have the resources we need to effectively deliver safe and affordable housing to New Yorkers.”

“Our administration is dedicated to solving our housing crisis by building together with partners across government," said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “This historic investment with our administration, Governor Hochul, Comptroller Lander, and the Battery Park City Authority meets the moment, provides affordable housing for New Yorkers, and advances our moonshot goal of 500,000 new homes for New Yorkers by 2032.”

“Building and preserving more affordable homes is an absolute priority in the face of our ongoing housing crisis,” said New York City Executive Director for Housing Leila Bozorg. “I extend my sincere appreciation to Mayor Adams for his clear-eyed leadership on investing in housing, and to Governor Hochul, Comptroller Lander, and the Battery Park City Authority for this meaningful partnership that aims to make affordable housing options in our city more abundant." 

“This multi-year $500 million investment in affordable housing is an agreement that will do more than build more brick-and-mortar buildings, it will transform lives and create new futures for individuals and families waiting for secure, affordable housing,” said New York City Department for Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrion Jr. “Today, in collaboration with city and state leaders, we recommit and extend this partnership to collectively do all we can to tackle the housing crisis. When considered alongside recently secured state legislative tools, a significant city investment in housing funding from the adopted budget, and the possibility of once-in-a-generation zoning changes to accelerate construction and supply, we have a roadmap that puts us in the direction we need to create the housing access we deserve.”

“As New York City’s housing crisis deepens and the cost to build new affordable housing continues to rise, we appreciate the efforts of our city and state leaders in securing new and innovative financing sources essential to increasing our housing supply,” said New York City Housing Development Corporation President Eric Enderlin. “We look forward to collaborating with our partners to leverage this vital funding and provide more housing for New Yorkers.” 

“I’m proud that as a result of the strong financial stewardship of Battery Park City, we’re in a position to recommit to address New York’s affordable housing challenges,” said Don Capoccia, chair, BPCA. “I want to thank the governor, mayor, and comptroller for their partnership in this effort and for ensuring this money will all go to building and preserving affordable housing.”

“Battery Park City Authority has a legacy of funding affordable housing across New York, and we’re thrilled to build on that legacy today” said Raju Mann, president and CEO, BPCA. “We’re facing a housing crisis and this $500 million will help create stable affordable housing for thousands of New Yorkers.”

The BPCA is a New York state public benefit corporation charged with operating, maintaining, and improving Battery Park City, a 92-acre community of residential, commercial, retail, and open space in lower Manhattan. As Battery Park City was being developed, the BPCA entered into long-term ground leases with developers, generating lease revenue from commercial and residential buildings that serves as the primary source of funding for this affordable housing commitment.

Today’s Joint Purpose Fund agreement succeeds the previous agreement for the disbursement of BPCA’s excess operating revenues, which, since 2010, has contributed $461 million in dedicated funding for affordable housing across the five boroughs and helped build or preserve over 10,000 units of affordable housing. 

Since the start of his administration, Mayor Adams has made record investments towards creating and preserving affordable housing. Last month, the Adams administration delivered an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that invests $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to HPD and NYCHA’s capital budgets. In total, the Adams administration has committed a record $26 billion in housing capital in the current 10-year plan as the city faces a general housing crisis. In addition to these historic investments, the Adams administration is in the middle of public review for “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” the most pro-housing zoning proposal in New York City’s history. The New York City Department of City Planning estimates that the Adams administration’s City of Yes plan could produce as many as 108,850 new homes over the next 15 years.

The Adams administration is using every tool available to address the city’s housing crisis. Earlier this year, Mayor Adams and members of the administration successfully advocated for new tools in 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently needed housing. These include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary “floor-to-area ratio” cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments. 

Under Mayor Adams’ leadership, the city financed a record number of affordable homes in 2023 and is ahead of schedule on a 2024 State of the City commitment to advance two dozen 100-percent affordable housing projects on city-owned land this year through the “24 in ‘24” initiative. Mayor Adams has also taken steps to cut red tape and speed up the delivery of much-needed housing, including through the “Green Fast Track for Housing,” a streamlined environmental review process for qualifying small- and medium-sized housing projects; the Office Conversion Accelerator, an interagency effort to guide buildings that wish to convert through city bureaucracy; and other initiatives of the Building and Land Use Approval Streamlining Taskforce.