Mayor Adams Issues Order Requiring City Agencies to Review City Owned and Controlled Land for Potential Housing Development Sites

August 21, 2024

Part of Adams Administration’s Pledge to Use Every Possible Tool to Create More Affordable Housing and Deliver 500,000 New Housing Units by 2032

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the issuance of executive order 43 requiring city agencies to review their city owned and controlled land for potential housing development sites. As New York City faces a generational affordable housing crisis with just a 1.4 percent rental vacancy rate, the Adams administration is proposing bold, forward-thinking solutions and using every possible tool available to deliver the affordable housing that New Yorkers need. The executive order will help support the Adams administration’s bold “moonshot” goal of building 500,000 new homes by 2032.

“If there’s any land within the city’s control that has even the remotest potential to develop affordable housing, our administration will take action,” said Mayor Adams. “To solve a generational affordable housing crisis, we must bring new innovative ideas to the table and activate all city agencies, whether they are directly involved in creating housing or not, to help deliver for New Yorkers. Today’s executive order is one of the many ways we will continue to exhaust every option to meet this crisis head on and fulfil our pledge of building 500,000 new housing units by 2032.”

“Today, we take a significant step forward in our mission to tackle New York City’s housing crisis head-on,” said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. “By directing city agencies to review and assess all city-owned and controlled land for potential housing development, we are unlocking new opportunities to build more affordable housing where they are needed most. This is a crucial component of our broader strategy to deliver 500,000 new housing units by 2032 and to ensure that every New Yorker has access to safe, affordable housing.”

“Today, this administration doubles down on its commitment to address the city’s historically low 1.4 percent vacancy rate and use every tool in our toolkit to deliver the housing New Yorkers deserve,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “Building off our ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’ proposal and wins in Albany to increase housing production, this whole of government response will allow us to develop underutilized land. I’m grateful for every agency doing their part.”

“The mayor’s executive action announced today will add to our administration’s short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to tackle the city’s housing issues,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “We’re helping more people than ever access CityFHEPS vouchers, streamlining our regulatory architecture to help build a little more housing in every borough, and, with this executive order, evaluating all sites owned by the city for potential inclusion in our affordable housing efforts. Ultimately, every individual, family, and child deserves a permanent home and this administration will use every tool to make that goal a reality.”

Effective immediately, the executive order establishes the City Housing Activation Task Force, with representatives from mayoral agencies and other public entities. The task force will review land under the ownership and control of the city to identify potential sites for housing development, and develop guidelines to ensure agency policies promote housing production. All locations that can be used to further housing production or on adjacent or nearby sites without disruption to critical municipal operations will be considered.

“As our city faces a critical affordable housing shortage, we are proud to be part of this innovative, all-of-city approach to tackling the problem,” said New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Louis A. Molina. “Through an intensive review of city-owned and controlled land, we’re committed to leveraging every asset at our disposal to contribute to this ambitious goal of 500,000 new homes by 2032 and support this bold vision to ensure that every New Yorker has access to affordable housing.”

“Housing policy and education policy are closely intertwined,” said New York City Public Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. “Today’s announcement is a significant step toward making our city affordable for all New Yorkers, including the next generation. We want families to raise their children in our city and send them to New York City Public Schools, and this executive order helps us work toward that goal.”

“In the midst of a profound affordable housing crisis, we applaud this executive order from Mayor Adams as the administration leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to develop new housing and lower costs for New Yorkers,” said New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala. “DEP has already successfully worked with our partners at HPD to develop housing and we will continue to do so under this direction from Mayor Adams.”

“Mayor Eric Adams’ new executive order is an important step in addressing New York City's affordable housing crisis,” said New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “This effort ensures that we can carefully balance the need for housing with the thoughtful use of the valuable facilities under NYC Parks’ jurisdiction. By evaluating those park facilities that may support housing development, without compromising green spaces, we can advance Mayor Adams’ ambitious goal of building 500,000 new homes by 2032 while maintaining the quality of life for all New Yorkers.”

“The ‘City of Yes’ calls for a little more housing in every single neighborhood, and every single neighborhood is exactly where the New York City Department of Sanitation operates,” said New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “The Adams administration is innovating around the housing crisis, and the Department of Sanitation will begin its review immediately.”

“Developing new affordable housing is critical to making our city more livable for New Yorkers,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “We look forward to participating in this review and thank Mayor Adams and the administration for taking every step possible to deliver new housing while balancing the city’s critical operations.”

“The Adams Administration has made it clear that we need to leave no stone unturned when it comes to building more housing, and this new executive order will allow for creative solutions to addressing the housing crisis,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “At NYCEDC, we remain committed to working alongside our city agency partners and the private sector to build more housing throughout New York City and make this city an even better place to live, work, play, and learn.”

“Adding to New York City's affordable housing stock is absolutely necessary to combat the current housing crisis,” said New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “It is critical that we think outside the box and utilize every tool at our disposal in addressing the shortage in housing options, just as NYCHA is using the Public Housing Preservation Trust and PACT program to renovate properties across our portfolio in the face of a nearly $80 billion capital need. NYCHA commends Mayor Adams and his administration for looking inward for meaningful solutions to this challenge, and reviewing city owned land in an effort to build more affordable housing for New Yorkers in need.”

“Safe, affordable, and accessible housing is a critical part of the foundation for better mental and physical health,” said New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. “Ensuring healthier, longer lives for New Yorkers demands we consider any and all available resources that can support more high-quality and equitably-distributed housing.”

“Housing is essential to good health,” said NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “NYC Health + Hospitals’ Housing for Health initiative will create over 650 new affordable homes on hospital land. We are grateful to Mayor Adams for expanding this effort to all city-owned land to help even more New Yorkers find home.”

“We appreciate Mayor Eric Adams’ commitment to affordable housing and look forward to our continued partnership to help his administration reach its goals,” said Anthony W. Marx, president and CEO, The New York Public Library. “We have a model for the innovative solutions necessary to unlock more affordable housing: our state-of-the-art Inwood Library includes deeply affordable housing units, and the proposed redevelopment of our Grand Concourse Library will have a similar provision. We’re excited to explore all options and work in partnership with the city to tackle this urgent issue.”

“Brooklyn Public Library is committed to helping address the city's affordable housing crisis,” said Linda E. Johnson, president and CEO, Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). “BPL’s Sunset Park Library stands as a successful example, seamlessly integrating 100 percent affordable housing and modern library facilities — the first collaboration of its kind in New York City. We look forward to working with Mayor Adams and the new task force to explore innovative housing approaches.”

“This bold approach has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers by addressing the city’s housing crisis while continuing to modernize its public library buildings to meet the demands of our times,” said Dennis M. Walcott, president and CEO, Queens Public Library. “We look forward to accomplishing these critically important goals through our ongoing collaboration with our government partners and the new task force.”

“Public safety is made possible by many factors, including safe, affordable housing,” said Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) Commissioner Robert Tucker. “Creating new locations for potential housing will help enhance the success of our city. FDNY joins Mayor Adams in his mission of exploring all avenues for providing such housing to New Yorkers.”

“This administration understands that reinvigorating our economy and making the city more livable requires the same level of creative, intelligent planning that we dedicate to enhancing public safety and improving quality of life for hardworking New Yorkers,” said New York City Police Department Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “Ongoing partnerships with our sister agencies, as well as with all the people we serve, remain essential because every mission — including the quest to create more affordable housing — is a shared responsibility.”

“Mayor Adams’ executive order is a bold, transformative decision that will streamline our ongoing efforts to build more affordable housing in every neighborhood,” said New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrion, Jr. “HPD stands ready to work collaboratively with all government agencies to unlock the housing opportunities and leverage the valuable resources of city-owned land as we work to solve the housing crisis."

"'City of Yes for Housing Opportunity' is all about ensuring that every neighborhood helps solve our housing crisis, and we are ready to roll up our sleeves and work with our sister agencies to build new income-restricted, affordable housing on city-owned land,” said New York City Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick. “Initiatives like this demonstrate our commitment to turning the tide on our housing shortage and building the homes that New Yorkers need.”

Since the start of his administration, Mayor Adams has made record investments towards creating and preserving affordable housing. Mayor Adams announced back-to-back record breaking years in both creating and connecting New Yorkers to affordable housing. In June, 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. Last month, Mayor Adams and others announced a landmark $500 million investment from the Battery Park City Authority’s Joint Purpose Fund to build and maintain affordable housing. This spring, thanks to Mayor Adams’ vision and leadership, the city celebrated the largest 100 percent affordable housing project in 40 years with the Willets Point Transformation. 

Further, the Adams administration is using every tool available to address the city’s housing crisis. Earlier this month, Mayor Adams announced multiple new tools, including a $4 million state grant, to help New York City homeowners create accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that will not only help them to afford to remain in the communities they call home, but also to build generational wealth for families. 

This year, Mayor Adams and members of the administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 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 is fulfilling its 2024 State of the City commitment to build more affordable housing, including staying ahead of schedule on advancing two dozen affordable housing projects on city-owned land this year through the “24 in ‘24” initiative, reopening the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program waitlist after being closed to general applications for nearly 15 years, and creating the Tenant Protection Cabinet to coordinate across agencies to better serve tenants. The city has also taken several 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. 

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