From 'Hellhole' To Homes: Hochul Unveils Housing Plan Redo In NYC
The effective revival of an expired tax break will save 3,000 future affordable housing units in Gowanus, said Gov. Kathy Hochul. The New York Governor has unveiled executive actions that include the effective revival of an expired tax break to save 3,000 planned units of affordable housing in Gowanus, a neighborhood that was once a center of industry and a symbol of a wider housing "rebirth" in the city. The governor's actions are a replacement of sorts of her New York Housing Compact that aimed to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade, but failed to gain approval by state lawmakers. The action was welcomed by Michael Racioppo, district manager of Community Board 6, who had approved the rezoning in hopes of increaing Gowanus’s affordability and resiliency. Advocates greeted Hochul's plan with a mix of optimism and skepticism, with some calling it a "handout to real estate" at the expense of tenants. The mayor also announced that $650 million in state discretionary funds would go toward "pro-housing" communities that show 3 percent growth in housing over three years.
Published : 9 months ago by Matt Troutman in Environment
A spate of executive actions Hochul unveiled Tuesday includes the effective revival of an expired tax break to save 3,000 planned units of affordable housing in Gowanus. Hochul used Gowanus, which has transformed from a polluted center of industry to the fifth-most expensive neighborhood in the city, as a symbol of a wider housing "rebirth."
"Where some see a hellhole, I see homes," she said. The governor's actions are a replacement of sorts of her New York Housing Compact that aimed to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade, but failed to gain approval by state lawmakers.
Many critics and advocates had long-questioned aspects of the program, including its many loopholes and often-loose definition of "affordable" housing, but its expiration a year ago was widely seen as a potential blow for incentivizing construction of apartments that New Yorkers can actually afford. And, sure enough, construction of new multi-family residential building has slowed to a crawl. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine recently tweeted May’s numbers: six permits citywide for a total of 539 units, with none in his borough.
“Yes (sic) you read that right,” he wrote. “This is a five-alarm crisis.” The tax break's expiration also threatened to be the death knell for one of the recent Gowanus rezoning's central promises: that it would be the "opposite of gentrification" by ensuring 3,000 of its 8,000 units of housing would be designated as affordable. "All those great plans, that great vision was stopped dead in their tracks," she said. To save the promised affordable housing in Gowanus, Hochul said she'd sign an executive order to mirror the effects of 421-a. Essentially, the state will buy properties and lend them to developers at the amounts they'd receive under the tax break. The action was welcomed by Michael Racioppo, district manager of Community Board 6, where members had approved the rezoning in hopes of increaing Gowanus’s affordability and resiliency.
"This requires improving infrastructure and building more housing," Racioppo told Patch. "Governor Hochul’s announcement today makes that closer to a reality." Hochul also announced that she'd prioritize $650 million in state discretionary funds to go toward "pro-housing" communities that show 3 percent growth in housing over three years. She also directed state agencies to identify abandoned or vacant public properties that could be used for housing. "We are going to jumpstart housing now," she said. Advocates greeted Hochul's plan with a mix of optimism and skepticism.
Annemarie Gray, executive director of Open New York, called the actions "necessary, important, and yet insufficient to address the scale of our housing crisis." "The reality is that few municipalities will take advantage of the new 'pro-housing' designations, but it is important to call politicians’ bluffs and raise awareness of the limited data that municipalities share on housing as a way of hiding their own refusal to build," Gray said in a statement. "We hope that elected officials who supported an incentives-only approach during the last legislative session pay close attention to which localities do and do not step forward in response to the Governor’s call to action." Gray said she hoped Hochul and lawmakers will come together to pass major housing reforms. Advocates with The Legal Aid Society were less enthusiastic. In a statement, they called the tax break executive order a "handout to real estate" at the expense of tenants. Hochul had failed to act on a package of proposals from lawmakers that would have addressed both new housing and tenant protections.
Topics: NYC