Mayor Adams Applauds Governor Hochul’s Signing Bills to Tackle City’s Affordable Housing Crisis

October 23, 2023

Three Bills Provide Critical Tools to Create and Preserve High-Quality, Affordable, Sustainable Homes for New Yorkers

NEW YORK– New York City Mayor Eric Adams today applauded New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s signing of three bills that will advance the city and state’s shared efforts to tackle New York’s affordable housing crisis. One bill will replace the lapsed J-51 program, providing financial support for owners of multifamily buildings to make improvements and keeping those apartments affordable. The other two will expand the city’s authority to finance affordable homes and support sustainability and resiliency measures in city-subsidized affordable housing.

The signing of these bills into law marks a victory for New Yorkers as the Adams administration continues to advocate for bold action from Albany on the affordable housing crisis entering the 2024 state legislative session. In 2023, Mayor Adams built a coalition that included elected officials, labor unions, civil rights leaders, and advocates in support of tools to facilitate creation of new affordable housing and other measures to address the crisis. This milestone also follows the launch of Mayor Adams’ “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan to build “a little more housing in every neighborhood” and the administration’s record-breaking year for creating and connecting New Yorkers to affordable housing.

“As rents continue to rise and working people struggle to afford to stay in New York, our administration is moving aggressively to make the changes we can at the city level to build much-needed housing,” said Mayor Adams. “But our partners in government increasingly understand the need for bold action to address the city’s affordability crisis. I want to thank Governor Hochul, Senator Kavanagh, Assemblymember Rosenthal, and all of our legislative partners for helping to get these bills passed and signed into law today. We are looking forward to continued partnerships across the five boroughs and the state to deliver critical resources and policy changes so New York can continue to work for working people.”

“Under the leadership of Mayor Adams, New York City is making historic investments in the development and preservation of affordable housing. These critical reforms will help our investments go farther, while giving us new flexibility to assist homeowners and deliver high-quality, sustainable housing,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “Governor Hochul and legislative leaders in Albany, including Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart Cousins, deserve our thanks for these important wins.”

“This is a big win for all New Yorkers, as we continue to fight the city’s shortage of affordable housing with every single resource and tool available,” said New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “Thank you to our partners in the state Legislature and to Governor Hochul for understanding what is needed to confront this crisis. Now, we move forward with the City Council’s authorizing legislation to deliver affordable housing for New York City.”

S. 4709A/A. 7758 — sponsored by New York State Senator Brian Kavanagh and New York State Assemblymember Edward Braunstein — establishes a new tax abatement program replacing the former J-51 program to provide real property tax benefits for a variety of alterations and improvements to multiple dwellings. The new, streamlined program targets properties that are most in need of the benefits to facilitate upkeep and includes various tenant protections built into the program, including a private right of action.

S. 2985C/A. 6655A — sponsored by Senator Kavanagh and New York State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal — establishes the “Housing Affordability, Resiliency, and Energy Efficiency Investment Act,” giving New York City more flexibility to provide financing for affordable housing and other related investments. These investments can include climate resiliency improvements to help ensure the sustainability of affordable housing.

S. 7359/S. 6750 — sponsored by New York State Senator Iwen Chu and New York State Assemblymember Nikki Lucas — increases the New York City Housing Development Corporation’s bonding capacity.

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