Mayor Adams Urges Albany Action Amid Record Affordable Home Construction In 2023

HWM Partnership

NYC Mayor Eric Adams today announced that his administration has once again broken records for producing much-needed affordable housing amid a severe housing shortage in the five boroughs.

As private construction activity slows following the expiration of a critical affordable housing creation tool, Mayor Adams reiterated an urgent call for state lawmakers in Albany to partner with New York Governor Kathy Hochul and provide the city with critical tools — including a new affordable housing tax incentive, a pathway to make basement and cellar apartments safe and legal, a tax incentive to turn empty office buildings into affordable homes, and the lifting of a cap on density for new construction — to create the new housing New Yorkers need. 

“When we came into office two years ago, we had a mission: protect public safety, revitalize the economy, and make this city more livable for hardworking New Yorkers, and making our city more livable means building more affordable housing for more people,” said Mayor Adams. “We are proud of our administration’s progress building a record number of affordable homes last year, but New York City cannot solve this affordable housing crisis alone. We are grateful to Governor Hochul for her leadership on this issue and are optimistic that with the support of labor, industry, and lawmakers across the state, we can help ease the pain New Yorkers are feeling every day as we continue to make real progress against this crisis.” 

“Making good on our administration’s promise to increase affordable housing and tackle the city’s housing crisis once and for all, we accomplished record housing production for the last calendar year,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “I congratulate HPD and HDC on financing historic numbers of newly created housing, including record amounts for homeless New Yorkers and those in need of supportive services, and look forward to working with our state colleagues to unlock more housing to reach our need of creating 500,000 new homes in the next decade.” 

“Each record number we report and celebrate today is an investment in our future — representing new, safe, affordable homes where New Yorkers will be able to live out their lives and pursue their aspirations in the greatest city in the world.” said New York City Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “I am proud of our agency staff and our partners at HDC for their tireless work to produce so many homes across the five boroughs. Now, more than ever, we need our state partners in Albany to lean in and help us do even more to address this housing crisis and keep our city competitive.” 

“Last year’s record-breaking production numbers reflect this administration’s tireless commitment to expanding our city’s affordable housing supply,” said New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Eric Enderlin. “While we continue to make strides towards building new supply and preserving our existing affordable and public housing stock, more must be done to tackle the growing housing crisis. It is crucial that we receive the federal resources needed to effectively meet the urgent housing needs of New Yorkers.” 

HPD also directly connected more New Yorkers to homes than ever before, bringing nearly 13,000 households into affordable units this calendar year. Nearly 10,000 of those connections were through Housing Connect lotteries and 3,000 households left shelter to move into HPD homeless set aside units, an increase of more than 30 percent from 2022 to 2023. Late last year, the administration announced that permanent housing placements from shelter using CityFHEPS vouchers increased 10 percent during the first three months of Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) compared to the first three months of FY23. 

Overall, HPD and HDC financed a total 27,911 units in calendar year 2023 through new construction and preservation deals, and increase of 80 percent from 2022, fueled by a 47 percent increase in the financing of new affordable homes. The Adams administration additionally continued to prioritize new homes for the most vulnerable New Yorkers — setting records by creating 3,926 new homes for New Yorkers who formerly experienced homelessness and 1,670 new supportive homes with restricted rents and social services. 

To accelerate housing production and deliver relief to New Yorkers, the Adams administration has advanced a number of creative solutions, including an office conversation accelerator, new proposed rules to streamline approvals for sustainable housing, a “Housing-at-Risk Task Force,” and several pilot programs to help fund the creation of accessory dwelling units, help move New Yorkers out of shelters and into renovated apartments, and fuel mixed-income development in neighborhoods across the city, among other innovative efforts.  

Lifting the city’s impressive 2023 numbers are major development projects closed by the Adams administration over the last year, including new housing projects at Willets Point, the JFK Hilton Hotel Conversion, The Peninsula in Hunts Point, and more. The administration also advanced several robust neighborhood planning efforts to deliver more housing and economic opportunities and investments to Central Brooklyn, Midtown South, South Richmond, Long Island City, Jamaica, and the Metro North station area in the Bronx, among others. 

The city’s accelerated new housing production in 2023 stands in contrast to the private housing market where construction slowed, driven in part by the loss of the 421-a incentive program and the absence of action in Albany to replace it.  According to the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Housing Database, new unit permits dropped by approximately 84 percent between the first six months of 2023 and the first six months of 2022.  

“Affordable housing continues to be an absolutely critical resource for New Yorkers,” said New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “NYCHA extends its appreciation and ongoing support of the Adams administration’s continued dedication to the preservation and creation of new affordable housing in New York City.” 

“This administration continues to do everything in its power to deliver the housing that New Yorkers need, from financing income-restricted affordable housing to advancing zoning changes and streamlining environmental review for much-needed housing,” said DCP Chair and City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick. “We need action from our partners in Albany to pass comprehensive housing policy that supports housing opportunity in New York and across the state.” 

“The New York City Department of Buildings is making it easier than ever to build in our city by removing outdated regulations and streamlining the development process, but without legislation from our partners in Albany, private developers will not build the houses we need in the numbers we need them,” said New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo. “The simple fact of the matter is greater flexibility and incentives will help jumpstart housing production across the state.”  

“Creating new, affordable, stable housing opportunities across our neighborhoods and preserving the affordability of homes that our fellow New Yorkers live in are critical steps to ensuring our city remains a diverse and thriving place to call home,” said New York City Executive Director for Housing Leila Bozorg. “I’m proud of the hustle and commitment that our housing agencies — with partners across the public and private sectors — have demonstrated through these numbers; each becoming a home that not only chips away at our housing supply and affordability challenges, but that serves as a platform for greater security for our neighbors.” 

“To succeed, cities must provide new housing opportunities to those that need homes at the level they can afford,” said ‘Get Stuff Built’ Executive Director Rob Holbrook. “By working together, industry and government can increase the production rate of housing at all levels of the housing market. These production numbers prove that we can build more housing faster in New York City.” 

“Last year marked a record-breaking year for New York City’s housing landscape with an unprecedented achievement in production, including homeless and supportive units, that underscores the Adams administration’s dedication to creating a more livable and inclusive city,” said “New” New York Executive Director B.J. Jones. “But our work is far from finished. We must accentuate this progress with the necessary policy reforms and state legislative changes to dramatically increase the amount of housing built for all New Yorkers.” 

The administration’s record-breaking production numbers also show New York City’s resilience in the face of difficult trends slowing the creation of new multifamily housing throughout the city and the nation. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, new construction of multifamily housing from January to October 2023 decreased 34 percent compared to the same period in 2022. 

As Mayor Adams has continued his advocacy for Albany to give New York City the tools it needs, he has committed $24 billion to affordable housing — the most in New York City’s history — and taken significant steps towards the “moonshot” goal of his “Get Stuff Built” plan to meet the need for 500,000 new homes over the next decade. Mayor Adams has also proposed the most pro-housing changes in the history of the city’s zoning code through his “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan to create “a little more housing in every neighborhood” of the city. 

“Housing affordability is at a crisis level in New York City. More than half of renters are rent-burdened. New housing construction is not keeping pace with population growth, said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “Almost 150,000 New Yorkers are in our shelter system. Mayor Adams has been taking bold, decisive action to accelerate new housing, financing a record 14,227 affordable homes while also setting records for supportive housing production. Now, it is time for Albany to act. Doing nothing is not an option. My colleagues and I know that we must pass a housing plan this session. This housing plan must include common sense tax incentives which have previously helped finance more than half of new construction, conversions of vacant commercial office space in Manhattan into affordable housing, the legalization of basement apartments in places like my Queens district, and an increase in the FAR cap, which has not been updated since the 1960s. As Albany leaders, we must act this session so that New York City has the housing needed to meet demand and fuel record-breaking growth.” 

“As the representative of the 86th Assembly District in the Bronx, I have witnessed one of the highest post-COVID eviction rates in New York State. The construction of 14,227 new affordable homes last year in New York City is a testament to the multilateral efforts involving all levels of government to increase affordable housing options for residents,” said New York State Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia. “Urgent action is further needed to build more affordable housing in my district and across New York City, and I support Mayor Adams’ call for legislative action at the state level. As emergency assistance programs and federal funds deplete it is now more imperative than ever that New York City has the tools it needs to combat our city’s housing crisis.” 

“We need to get out of the nightmare that the only way to find a home in New York City is by winning a lottery: the birth lottery, a housing lottery, or Mega Millions,” said New York State Assemblymember Alex Bores. “We have to build more housing, and I commend the mayor for proposing four ways to get that done. Many of my colleagues wanted more local control in housing, and here we have New York City asking for exactly that.” 

“The cost of housing in New York is getting more unaffordable by the day,” said New York State Assemblymember Tony Simone. “Housing is the primary driver of the affordability crisis, and the longer we allow the drought of affordable housing to continue, the more New Yorkers will be forced to leave the city. There are many ways to address this problem, but the fact is we have to increase supply. The state and city together can spur a new wave of housing constructions, through new affordability incentives, prioritizing growth on state and city owned property and through commercial conversions, so we can drive down costs for everyone.” 

“Mayor Adams and I share an unshakeable commitment to ending New York’s housing crisis. We need to use all the tools at our disposal to make more units available as soon as possible, from incentivizing private construction to legalizing basement apartments,” said New York State Assemblymember Brian Cunningham. “I commend the mayor’s efforts to keep New Yorkers housed, including leading a record-breaking year for supportive and homeless housing despite the pressures of the migrant crisis. I call on my colleagues in Albany to prioritize housing in this year’s budget negotiations and into the future.”  

“Our city’s interconnected affordable housing, migrant and homeless crises will only be resolved one way — by building our way out of them. I’m proud that Queens has led the way in affordable housing production, with innovative developments coming online in all corners of the borough, but there is so much more work to be done,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “We need to be given every possible tool from our partners in Albany to spur even more affordable housing production in our city, and I look forward to working with my colleagues across all levels of government to help make that happen.” 

“Our city is in a housing crisis and the need for affordable housing has never been more urgent,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. “I want to thank Mayor Adams for his commitment to accelerating the construction of new housing in our city and for urging our partners in Albany to take additional action to combat the housing insecurity that disproportionately affects our most vulnerable communities.” 

“We applaud Mayor Adams’ call to lift the density cap on new housing construction. Permitting greater density will allow New Destiny to build affordable homes in more neighborhoods, across every borough, giving domestic violence survivors everywhere the support they need to rebuild their lives,” said Nicole Branca, executive director, New Destiny Housing. “We are glad to see the mayor’s continued dedication to expanding New York City’s housing options, and we look forward to working with his administration to ensure our city and state’s policies allow nonprofits to build sufficient supportive housing for domestic violence survivors.” 

“Mayor Adams and his team should be commended for producing tangible results and putting forward policies that will address the city’s worsening housing crisis,” said James Whelan, president, The Real Estate Board of New York. “We hope state lawmakers act this year on sensible, data-driven policies to achieve that crucial objective.”  

“The only path away from our current housing crisis is towards creating, preserving, and maintaining enough homes for all New Yorkers regardless of their background or economic status,” said Jolie Milstein, president and CEO, New York State Association for Affordable Housing. “Today’s figures show that City Hall is dedicated to that path. to take these production numbers to the next level, we – and all of those looking for a safe, affordable home in the five boroughs – are counting on our representatives in Albany to step up and empower New York City with the tools it needs to build at the scale required by this crisis.”

“There’s a lot New York City can and must do to address our housing crisis,” said Howard Slatkin, executive director, Citizens Housing and Planning Council. “But it could do a lot more if state laws stop treating new housing like it’s the problem rather than the solution. To sustain the housing construction that we need and house New Yorkers of all incomes, we need action from Albany to relieve punitively high taxes that make mixed-income rental housing unbuildable, allow the city to set maximum building sizes, and legalize more low-cost housing options.” 

“One of the key solutions to our city’s homelessness crisis is building housing that New Yorkers — especially those living in shelter — can afford,” said Christine C. Quinn, president and CEO, Win. “I applaud Mayor Adams and HPD for stepping up and starting construction on a historic number of new units of affordable housing last year, including 3,900 apartments for our homeless neighbors. Now, it’s time for our representatives in Albany to give the Adams administration and those who want to build affordable housing more tools to go even further. I stand with Mayor Adams in fighting for policies like tax incentives, support for office-to-residential conversions, legalizing basement apartments, and lifting the FAR cap, which will help make our city a more affordable place to live.”  

“There is no bigger need for New York right now than to greatly increase the supply of housing,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director, Center for an Urban Future. “Doing so is critical to solving the affordability crisis, reducing homelessness, and growing the city’s economy. It’s hugely important that Mayor Adams is making this a signature issue and putting pressure on Albany to act.”  

“We are proud to stand with the mayor and his impressive team in celebrating our housing production numbers for 2023,” said Marc Greenberg, executive director and co-founder, Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing. “At this very challenging and consequential moment, New York City stands at a crossroad. The future of our city depends on our capacity to adequately and equitably house our people — and this capacity depends on the vision of our elected officials and the public’s willingness to do our part! Government cannot solve this challenge alone — but with city and state leadership, and New Yorkers standing with those who are struggling to find safe, decent and affordable housing, we can solve this problem together! The Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing joins faith communities across New York State in our commitment to build housing for our people, so that they can build full and productive lives for themselves and their families.” 

“The Housing Partnership remains committed to working hand in hand with Mayor Adams and he continues with this important work of expanding housing opportunities for New Yorkers, and we reiterate his message that our legislative partners in Albany join together with the administration in this important work,” said Jamie Smarr, president and CEO, NYC Housing Partnership. 

“NYREC could not be more pleased with how the Adams administration has prioritized inclusivity, especially with inclusion of Black and Brown developers in affordable housing production,” said Craig Livingston, board chair, The New York Real Estate Chamber. “2023 was a record year for MBE participation in the development of affordable housing. We look forward to continuing working with the Adams administration to ensure we create real equity in New York City with Black and Brown businesses.” 

“Affordable housing is a critical need for the stability of our families, neighborhoods, city, and region,” said Karen Haycox, CEO, Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County. “A truly equitable housing strategy requires more opportunities for New Yorkers to build equity through affordable homeownership — we are thankful for our partners at City Hall, HPD, and our state and local leaders for prioritizing this need. With increased construction costs, rising mortgage rates, and a housing supply deficit in the hundreds of thousands, we call for Albany and New York City to take bold, transformative action to increase and accelerate housing production and preserve expiring affordable homes from loss.” 

Photo credit: 1-2) NYC.gov.

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