New York’s housing production includes the construction and preservation of residential units across the city and state to address ongoing affordability and supply challenges. This page covers CBC’s work on environmental review reform, land use and zoning policies, construction costs, property tax incentives, and the modernization of the New York City Housing Authority.
This page was created with AICBC Insights uses AI to group, analyze and present data and recommendations from CBC's publications. Always reference the cited sources to verify important details..
The plan's rezonings should allow more as-of-right development, especially near transit, to boost housing production.
The City should leverage newly streamlined review processes to build more housing in neighborhoods that have resisted growth.
The City should maximize PACT, the Preservation Trust, and new infill development to repair and rebuild NYCHA housing.
The City should reform building codes, including unique requirements for elevators and plumbing, to reduce New York's high construction costs.
The Administration should make changes to the Mayor’s Management Report to publicly track progress on the housing plan.
The City should take full advantage of State and federal resources and partner with the private sector to deliver needed housing.
Key Data
In April 2026, the CBC highlighted that New York City's asking rents were rising at 3.8% a year, with the average asking rent of $3,800 per month consuming half of the median household income.
A March 2026 article noted that in 2024, New York State courts decided 43 SEQRA challenges, of which only 5 prevailed, demonstrating how the threat of litigation delays projects even when most challenges fail.
In January 2026, the CBC analyzed that environmental reviews increase costs by 10% for modest, low-rise projects, adding $35,000 per unit in Rochester or Buffalo and $45,000 per unit on Long Island.
In September 2025, the CBC noted that New York City's housing production has averaged 25,000 units annually in recent years, but needs to double to at least 50,000 units per year to address the severe undersupply.
In March 2025, the CBC reported that the City's private rezoning process takes 2 to 3 years for approval and adds up to $82,000 to the cost of each housing unit in 2025 dollars.
The New York State fiscal year 2027 budget includes reforms to the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process, which are intended to facilitate the construction of housing more efficiently and affordably. These changes are part of a broader policy package that aims to improve housing production alongside efforts to increase affordability and advance climate goals.
Mayor Mamdani's "Block by Block" housing plan aims to increase housing production by utilizing as-of-right development near transit, streamlining review processes, and reforming building codes to lower construction costs. The plan also prioritizes repairing NYCHA housing through PACT and the Preservation Trust while emphasizing the need for public tracking of progress and private sector partnerships.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The plan's rezonings should allow more as-of-right development, especially near transit, to boost housing production.
The City should leverage newly streamlined review processes to build more housing in neighborhoods that have resisted growth.
The City should maximize PACT, the Preservation Trust, and new infill development to repair and rebuild NYCHA housing.
The City should reform building codes, including unique requirements for elevators and plumbing, to reduce New York's high construction costs.
The Administration should make changes to the Mayor’s Management Report to publicly track progress on the housing plan.
The City should take full advantage of State and federal resources and partner with the private sector to deliver needed housing.
New York City's SPEED reforms aim to accelerate housing production and occupancy to reduce costs and address the ongoing housing crisis. These initiatives include setting clear benchmarks to measure success in creating a more affordable and competitive city.
The FY 2027 General Agreement includes positive policy changes, such as SEQR reforms that will reduce costs and increase the speed of housing production, but it also introduces long-term fiscal risks by adding $5 billion in spending without sustainable funding. The state should prioritize fiscal stability by reducing inefficient spending and avoiding new taxes rather than relying on temporary budget additions.
21 is the number of days late the State budget was when this episode was recorded. Policy negotiations are proving difficult to resolve, with high-stakes debates continuing over the Governor’s proposals to overhaul auto insurance, reform environmental review for housing construction, and advance the State’s climate agenda. This week, WTDP…
New York City's housing production remains low, causing asking rents to rise by 3.8% annually, which is twice the pre-pandemic rate. With the average asking rent reaching $3,800 per month, housing costs now consume half of the median household income, highlighting a critical affordability crisis.
Key Data
3.8%
— Asking rents are rising 3.8% a year, which is twice the pre-pandemic rate.
$3,800
— The average asking rent is $3,800 per month, consuming half of the median household income.
New York's housing production is currently insufficient to meet demand, largely due to lengthy environmental reviews that increase development costs. Reforming the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) by imposing time limits and expanding project exemptions could accelerate approvals and lower costs for new housing.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Enact the Governor’s proposed SEQRA reforms and include the broader set of housing projects identified in the Senate one-house bill.
Key Data
$82,000
— The cost increase per housing unit in New York City resulting from a two-year delay in environmental reviews.
New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), originally designed to ensure environmental accountability, has evolved into a bureaucratic hurdle that significantly delays and increases the costs of essential housing and infrastructure projects. Reforming this process by exempting strategic priorities like multifamily housing is necessary to allow the state to address its urgent housing shortage and infrastructure needs at an appropriate pace.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Governor Hochul should exempt multifamily housing from the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) to accelerate development.
The state should exempt childcare projects from SEQRA to facilitate their development.
The state should exempt resiliency projects from SEQRA to accelerate their development.
Policymakers should reform environmental review to rebalance public decision-making processes so that New York can address its mounting needs.
The state should maintain zoning and building codes while reforming SEQRA to ensure continued oversight.
Key Data
43
— Number of SEQRA challenges decided by State courts in 2024.
5
— Number of SEQRA challenges that prevailed in State courts in 2024.
23 months
— Median time to complete environmental review and pre-certification for projects using streamlined environmental assessments.
33 months
— Median time to complete environmental review and pre-certification for projects undergoing a full Environmental Impact Statement.
$2.2 million
— Average home value in Sag Harbor, where a 79-unit affordable housing complex was blocked.
1,800
— Number of new affordable housing units permitted by the 2018 Inwood rezoning.
Reforming the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process by exempting modest residential development and imposing agency deadlines would reduce project costs and accelerate housing production. Current environmental review requirements can increase development costs by 10% for low-rise projects, with per-unit cost increases ranging from $35,000 to $45,000 in various regions across the state.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Exempting modest residential development from the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process would make building housing cheaper and faster without additional costs to the government.
Exempting water facilities, parks, and resiliency retrofits from SEQR would reduce the cost of projects that improve the environment.
Imposing deadlines on State and local agencies to sign off on environmental reviews would ensure reasonable and predictable timelines and avoid the death spiral of mounting cost increases and uncertainty that too often prevent critical housing from being built.
Key Data
11%
— Increase in development costs for 500-unit projects in New York City due to local environmental review.
$82,000
— Per-unit cost increase for 500-unit projects in New York City due to local environmental review.
10%
— Cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects due to environmental review.
$35,000
— Per-unit cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects in cities like Rochester or Buffalo.
$40,000
— Per-unit cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects in the Mid-Hudson region.
$45,000
— Per-unit cost increase for modest, low-rise residential projects on Long Island.
Reforming environmental review processes is a critical step to accelerate the development of necessary housing while minimizing costs to the state. This approach supports broader efforts to maintain fiscal stability and affordability without imposing additional financial burdens.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Reforming environmental review is an important step to make production of much-needed housing cheaper and faster at no cost to the State.
New York faces a critical need to address its housing and affordability crisis, as the state's population growth has significantly lagged behind the national average since 2000. To improve economic competitiveness and affordability, state leaders should prioritize supercharging housing production by streamlining environmental reviews, promoting transit-oriented development, and reforming tax incentives.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
State leaders should streamline environmental review to supercharge housing production, especially downstate.
State leaders should promote transit-oriented development, including local zoning changes and possible State zoning overrides, to supercharge housing production.
State leaders should reform tax incentives to make housing development financially feasible and supercharge housing production.
Key Data
4.7 percent
— New York State's population growth since 2000.
20.9 percent
— The nation's population growth since 2000.
New York City faces a severe housing shortage with a record-low 1.4% vacancy rate, necessitating a doubling of annual housing production to 50,000 units to stabilize costs. High construction expenses, driven by labor costs, regulatory hurdles like the Scaffold Law, and lengthy approval processes, significantly inflate development costs and hinder the creation of necessary new housing.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City and State should improve productivity and modernize building codes to align with best practices from other global cities.
The City should better balance the trade-off between prevailing wage requirements and production to ensure new residential development remains financially feasible.
The State should repeal New York’s exceptional Scaffold Law and adopt the liability standards used in every other state in the country.
The City and State should focus on predictability and simplicity over site-by-site approval processes by implementing speedy permitting, as-of-right approvals, and simple financing and design requirements.
The State should reform environmental review laws to exempt beneficial projects.
The City should increase opportunities for development through rezoning to chip away at the scarcity that drives up prices.
Key Data
1.4%
— The citywide vacancy rate in New York City, which is the lowest it has been since 1968.
$3,730
— The record-high asking rent for vacant apartments in New York City as of July.
50,000 units
— The minimum annual housing production level needed to bend the curve on housing costs.
23%
— The cost increase for affordable housing projects in New York City that are subject to prevailing wage requirements.
7%
— The minimum increase in total development costs attributed to the Scaffold Law.
$82,000
— The estimated increase in hard and soft costs per unit caused by a two-year discretionary review process.
New York City's land use decision-making process often impedes housing production, with private rezoning applications taking up to 3 years and adding $82,000 to the cost of each housing unit. Voting yes on ballot questions 2, 3, 4, and 5 would streamline these processes, modernize the City Map, and create new appeals boards to help address the city's dire housing shortage.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Vote Yes on Question 2, which would create fast track reviews for affordable housing through the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) and for mixed-income residential projects in the neighborhoods that produce the least affordable housing.
Vote Yes on Question 3, which would create an Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP) for three types of zoning proposals.
Vote Yes on Question 4, which would create an Affordable Housing Appeals Board to serve as a final step in the ULURP process for residential projects with affordable housing.
Vote Yes on Question 5, which would modernize the administration of the City Map by digitizing it and transferring administration to the Department of City Planning.
Key Data
2 to 3 years
— Time required for private rezoning application approval.
$82,000
— Cost added to each housing unit in 2025 dollars due to the current land use process.
8,000
— Number of individual paper maps currently administered by the offices of the five Borough Presidents.
30 percent
— Increase in residential capacity allowed in medium- and high-density districts under the proposed ELURP.
45 feet
— Height limit for projects in low density residential districts under the proposed ELURP.
The proposed expedited land use review procedure aims to accelerate housing production in New York City, but requires specific modifications to ensure it does not introduce new delays or legal uncertainties. By streamlining approval processes, clarifying environmental review requirements, and defining clear notice timelines, the city can more effectively leverage these reforms to facilitate new housing development.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Allow all necessary land use approvals for Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP)-eligible projects to go through ELURP.
The Charter language should clarify that applicants can leverage CEQR findings to satisfy the infrastructure requirement and RER reviews to evaluate projects’ consistency with the fair housing plan.
The Charter language could also clarify that the CPC assessment is not subject to a private right of action, which is one of the primary sources of delay and uncertainty in the CEQR process.
Specifying clearly what needs to be transmitted to Community Boards and Borough Presidents would make the process more certain and less open to legal challenge.
The ELURP reform could further streamline the process by simply requiring DCP to transmit the completed ELURP materials at the start of the 30-day pre-certification notice period.
The Charter language should also clarify that the 30-day pre-certification period is the maximum amount of time that Community Boards and Borough Presidents have prior to the start of their ELURP review period.
Key Data
45 feet
— Height threshold for projects eligible for expedited review.
2.0
— Floor-to-area ratio threshold for projects eligible for expedited review in low-density districts.
30 percent
— Increase threshold for projects eligible for expedited review in medium- and high-density districts.
30-day
— Duration of the pre-certification notice period.
60-day
— Duration of the review period.
90-day
— Combined duration of the pre-certification and review periods.
New York City's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure creates a one-size-fits-all process that discourages housing development, particularly for modest projects. Reforming this system by fast-tracking smaller residential developments and exempting non-zoning actions from the full review process would help increase housing production across the city.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City should fast-track residential buildings of 250 or fewer units in moderate- to high-density zoning districts and 175 or fewer units in low density districts through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
The City should exempt all "minor" revocable consents and franchise agreements from the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, subjecting them instead to administrative reviews.
The City should exempt otherwise as-of-right public projects, such as new parkland, from the full Uniform Land Use Review Procedure process.
The City should exempt special permits from the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, as they are administrative rather than legislative actions.
The City could allow the City Council to call up special permits only if the applicant is required to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement under City Environmental Quality Review rules.
The City could empower City Planning to write rules distinguishing between minor and major actions based on size thresholds for specific special permits.
The 2025 mayoral candidate questionnaire highlights the city's $111 billion five-year capital program and the $1.2 billion annual cost of the CityFHEPS housing voucher program. Candidates provided varying perspectives on land use review processes, zoning appeals, and strategies to address the city's housing affordability crisis.
Key Data
$1.2 Billion
— Cost of the CityFHEPS housing voucher program in fiscal year 2025.
$111 Billion
— Total value of the City's five-year capital program.
$38K
— Amount spent per student in New York City public schools.
500,000
— Number of homes proposed to be built under a candidate's housing plan.
New York City should prioritize evidence-based programs in housing and reform property taxes to increase the housing supply. Additionally, the city must streamline approvals, modernize building codes, and leverage programs like RAD/PACT to improve NYCHA and boost overall housing affordability.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The next mayor should focus on what works: evidence-based programs in education, housing, homelessness, and mental health.
The next mayor should reform property taxes to boost fairness and housing supply.
The next mayor should supercharge housing production and affordability: streamline approvals, modernize codes, and target vouchers.
The next mayor should modernize NYCHA to cut costs, speed up repairs, and quickly unlock capital through RAD/PACT and the Preservation Trust.
New York City's land use review process must better balance local community input with citywide needs to address the ongoing housing crisis. Elevating local voices over broader citywide concerns has historically contributed to resistance against new development, necessitating a shift toward prioritizing citywide housing production in land use decisions.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The city should ensure that citywide needs play a substantial role in zone and land use decision making to address the housing crisis.
Changes to the land use review process should seek to address the failure to produce enough housing and increase production citywide.
The city should maintain an appropriate balance between local concerns and citywide needs to foster housing production in all areas of the City.
48,000 is the number of new homes to be created when we add together the 40,000 that should be enabled by 5 neighborhood rezonings and the current proposed plan to redevelop the Brooklyn Marine Terminal. New York must dramatically increase housing production if it is going reduce its affordability problems…
CBC's Andrew Rein was joined by NYC Director of City Planning Dan Garodnick and NYCEDC President & CEO Andrew Kimball for a wide-ranging discussion on job and population trends, housing affordability, and economic development in a time of uncertainty. Dan Garodnick is Director of the New York City Department of…
New York City's land use review process is currently too long, expensive, and uncertain, adding $82,000 to the cost of each housing unit and discouraging new development. Reforming the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) by streamlining reviews, creating an appeals process, and shifting non-zoning actions to administrative agencies could accelerate housing production and reduce costs.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Merge the Community Board and Borough President advisory reviews into a single review under the Borough President.
Allow applicants to appeal actions rejected by the City Council to a ULURP Appeals Board consisting of the City Planning Commission and Council Speaker.
Focus ULURP on zoning and shift review of non-zoning actions and modest rezoning applications with no adverse impacts to City agencies or commissions.
Include time limits to ensure that agencies review projects in a timely manner.
Shift review and approval of smaller projects to the City Planning Commission.
Key Data
$82,000
— Added cost to the cost of each housing unit in 2025 dollars due to the current land use decision-making process.
15 percent
— Minimum increase in the cost of small residential buildings caused by the ULURP review process.
14 months
— Median time to approve dispositions of City-owned land through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Urban Development Action Area Program.
90 days
— Current combined time required for the Community Board and Borough President advisory reviews.
2 to 3 years
— Time required for private rezoning application approval under the current process.
10 of the 14 members
— Supermajority vote required by the proposed ULURP Appeals Board to override a City Council rejection.
New York City's land use decision-making process is overly complex, costly, and uncertain, which significantly hinders the development of new housing and job growth. Reforming this system to prioritize citywide needs, improve predictability, and modernize zoning is essential to address the city's housing shortage.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City should offer ample opportunity for as-of-right development while also facilitating approval of discretionary actions aligned with citywide goals for jobs, housing, and resiliency.
The process should evaluate proposals based on potential benefits and alignment with the goals of its Charter-mandated strategic plan and other plans.
Advisory reviews at the community level should be more collaborative, participatory, and productive.
Balancing citywide needs and neighborhood concerns should not be circumvented by member deference.
Reforming the Charter’s land-use decision-making processes would enable the City to modernize the zoning code to increase as-of-right zoning capacity.
Key Data
$82,000 per unit
— The amount by which a two-year-long review process increases construction costs.
2.5 years
— The average time required for private rezoning applications filed between 2014 and 2017 to secure approvals.
30,000 potential units
— The number of potential housing units cut from the City of Yes plan due to compromises demanded by the City Council.
14 months
— The median time required to approve dispositions of City-owned land through the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Urban Development Action Area Program.
10 percent
— The share of new housing units completed in New York City that are accounted for by privately initiated rezonings.
60 percent
— The approval rate for the 171 private proposals that came forward in the four years studied.
While the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is a significant step forward, it only addresses one-fifth of the city's required additional housing production. To fully resolve the crisis, the city must implement plans to increase development in excluded neighborhoods while ensuring that the $5 billion in new housing commitments is funded through spending reductions rather than widening the $8 billion fiscal year 2026 budget gap.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City Council and the Administration should develop and implement plans that will boost even more housing production all across the City and especially in neighborhoods carved out of the final City of Yes deal.
New operating budget spending associated with housing commitments must be paid for with reduced spending elsewhere to avoid widening budget gaps.
Key Data
one-fifth
— The City of Yes will yield only one-fifth of New York City’s needed additional housing production.
30,000
— The compromises that secured the City of Yes agreement cut nearly 30,000 potential housing units.
$5 billion
— The City Council secured $5 billion in commitments as part of the compromise.
$8 billion
— The fiscal year 2026 budget gap exceeds $8 billion when underbudgeted services are taken into account.
80,000. That’s the number of additional new housing units the Adams’ Administration hopes will be developed over the next 15 years thanks to the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. The City Council votes this week on Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to tackle the housing crisis. However, that is not…
New York City's housing production has failed to keep pace with population and job growth, resulting in a record-low 1.4 percent rental vacancy rate and a severe housing shortage that dampens the economy. To address this crisis, the City Council is urged to pass the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning amendment without scaling back its scope or conditioning approval on unrelated spending.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City Council should pass the City of Yes as is, without exempting neighborhoods.
The City Council should not attach restrictions or mandates that make it financially untenable to build rental housing.
The City Council should not condition approval on new spending that would widen the City’s budget gap.
The Council should not scale back the scope of individual City of Yes provisions by imposing onerous affordability restrictions or wage mandates.
The Council should not condition their approval of City of Yes on new spending or capital projects unrelated to the text amendment.
The Council should oppose any proposals that would reduce zoning capacity or trade growth in one area of the city for stasis elsewhere.
Key Data
1.4 percent
— New York’s rental vacancy rate, which is a record low.
$9.3 billion
— The budget gap the City is facing for fiscal year 2026.
$300 million
— The amount in income and sales tax revenue lost in fiscal year 2022 due to persistently negative outmigration.
$2 billion
— The potential annual tax revenue lost due to the city's severe housing shortage.
1 in 3
— The proportion of city households living in homes that are significantly larger than they need for their household size.
1 in 10
— The proportion of New Yorkers who feel that the government is addressing their housing needs well.
109,000 is the number of new homes New York City aims to create over the next 15 years through its City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning proposal.
New York City's housing crisis, characterized by a record-low 1.4 percent rental vacancy rate and severe overcrowding, requires a citywide increase in development capacity to improve affordability and economic competitiveness. To address this, officials must support the 'City of Yes for Housing Opportunity' zoning amendment and reject proposals that limit growth or preserve the status quo.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City Planning Commission and the City Council must hold the line against such opposition to needed progress.
The final zoning text needs to result in a meaningful increase in development capacity—citywide—to have any chance at improving affordability and quality of life.
Public officials also should oppose any proposals that would reduce zoning capacity or trade growth in one area of the city for stasis elsewhere.
Build more housing of every type in every neighborhood to improve affordability and quality of life for all New Yorkers.
Key Data
1.4 percent
— New York's rental vacancy rate, which is a record low.
$300 million
— Cost in income and sales tax revenue in fiscal year 2022 due to persistently negative outmigration.
$2 billion
— Potential cost in annual tax revenue due to the severity of the housing shortage.
1 in 3
— New York City households living in homes that are significantly larger than they need for their household size.
New York City's persistent housing underproduction has created a severe shortage that drives up costs, limits mobility, and contributes to significant outmigration, costing the city hundreds of millions in tax revenue annually. To address this crisis, the city must implement broad-based zoning reforms and state-level policy changes to significantly increase housing supply across all neighborhoods.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Increasing the supply of housing—everywhere—is essential to a healthier housing market for all households and to a higher quality of life for all New Yorkers.
The City should build more, everywhere, for everyone; and do so at the scale needed both to clear the backlog and to clear room for growth.
New York must reform the State’s environmental review laws to increase production at the scale needed to improve affordability.
The State should pass laws to encourage development in the downstate suburbs to help increase housing production.
New York should repeal the Scaffold law, which drives up insurance costs and hinders development.
The City and State should modernize building codes to facilitate the construction of more housing.
New York must reform the City’s property tax policy to better support efforts to boost housing supply.
Key Data
560,000
— Additional housing units needed in New York City by 2030 to address the supply shortage.
1.4%
— The rental vacancy rate in New York City, the lowest level since the City started tracking in the 1960s.
$309 million
— Estimated reduction in City tax revenue in 2022 due to domestic outmigration.
22%
— Increase in New York City rents from pre-pandemic levels as of April 2024.
160,000
— Net loss of New York City residents from domestic outmigration in 2022.
342,000
— Housing unit shortage in the New York region, including New Jersey and downstate suburbs, as of 2023.
1.4% is NYC’s current—and historically low—apartment vacancy rate. New York City and State are in the throes of a housing crisis caused by decades of underproduction. To discuss the latest housing policy news affecting both NYC and the state, we’re joined by national housing expert Vicki Been, professor at NYU's…
The New York State fiscal year 2025 budget includes a package of housing agreements intended to boost production across all areas to improve affordability and state competitiveness. While the full details are under analysis, the extension of 421-a-approved projects is a positive development for future housing development.
The conceptual New York State budget agreement includes measures such as lifting the FAR cap and extending 421-a-approved projects, which are intended to address the state's housing affordability and underproduction crisis. These efforts to boost housing production must be cost-effective, and the state should provide transparent financial plans to detail the fiscal implications of the proposed bills.
The state budget should prioritize long-term fiscal stability by restraining spending to reduce the $16+ billion structural gap, while also addressing the ongoing housing crisis. Policymakers are urged to incentivize diverse housing production to improve affordability and maintain the state's competitiveness.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State should boost housing production to address the housing-supply and affordability crisis.
Proposals that do not incentivize new housing production of varied types in many areas should be rejected.
New York City's public housing authority faces a persistent operating budget gap of $791 million and massive capital needs totaling $60 billion, with nearly half of residents reporting multiple housing condition issues. To address these challenges, the city must prioritize the rehabilitation of deteriorating buildings through PACT and the Preservation Trust while simultaneously modernizing management and labor practices.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Fix or replace deteriorating buildings with PACT and the Preservation Trust.
Improve management effectiveness and efficiency, and publicly track progress and impact.
Negotiate savings, boost productivity, and modernize property management through collective bargaining.
Overhaul the rent collection process.
Key Data
$791 million
— The gap between public housing expenses and core operating income in 2023.
46.5 percent
— The share of households behind on their rent in October 2023.
$1.5 billion
— Total personnel costs for public housing in 2023.
43 percent
— Public housing residents surveyed who reported three or more housing condition issues.
$60 billion
— Total five-year capital needs for NYCHA developments.
$511 million
— Federal capital funds diverted in 2022 and 2023 to fill the operating budget gap.
New York State's budget proposals must prioritize fiscal stability while ensuring that new housing incentives are carefully designed to be financially feasible. Policies should focus on promoting the development of diverse housing options for all income levels across the state.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State must ensure that the incentives and any housing-related actions are well designed to ensure development is fiscally feasible and that the policies promote the production of all types of housing for all income levels in all places.
New York State faces a critical housing production and affordability crisis, particularly in the downstate region, which requires targeted policy interventions to address. The state should prioritize enacting a successor to the 421-a tax incentive, implementing density improvements, and rejecting proposals that create counterproductive burdens on new development.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Enact a 421-a successor: Tax incentives are necessary to make affordable rental housing development in New York City financially feasible.
Enact housing production and density improvements: Proposals to raise the FAR cap, support office-to-residential conversions, and legalize basement apartments would also help boost production and affordability.
Reject proposals that disincentivize production: Of equal importance to opening the flow of new housing production is to avoid proposals that would add counterproductive burdens to housing production and affordability.
Key Data
$250 million
— Initial appropriation to support a capital program to develop housing and other amenities on State-owned properties.
15,000
— Goal of developing housing units on State-owned property across the State.
20 percent
— Affordability threshold for office-to-residential conversions at 80 percent of area median income.
5 percent
— Affordability threshold for office-to-residential conversions at 40 percent of area median income.
New York faces an intensifying housing production and affordability crisis that requires a comprehensive strategy to address the longstanding failure to build adequate housing. Proven solutions such as replacing the 421-a tax credit program, facilitating office-to-residential conversions, and legalizing accessory dwelling units are essential to boost production while proposals that disincentivize development should be rejected.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State should replace the 421-a tax credit program to help address the housing production and affordability crisis.
Policymakers should facilitate office-to-residential conversions to increase the available housing stock.
The State should increase floor area ratios to allow for greater density in housing development.
New York should allow basement apartments to expand housing options.
The State should catalyze transit-oriented development to boost housing production.
Policymakers should legalize accessory dwelling units to increase housing supply.
The State should amend environmental reviews to remove barriers to housing production.
The State should reject proposals that disincentivize production of new housing.
New York State's failure to pass a budget is hindering the implementation of the Governor's Housing Compact, which is necessary to address the state's ongoing housing crisis. Without legislative action to adopt growth targets and streamline development, the state will continue to underproduce the housing required to improve affordability and support the economy.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The Legislature should offer solutions that work, as incentive-only approaches have been tried and failed elsewhere.
The State should enact a version of the Governor’s sensible, flexible, evidence-based approach to growth targets and streamlining development, along with the other elements of the Governor’s housing plan.
The New York State budget delay threatens to destabilize state finances and increase the structural budget gap through unfunded programs. To ensure long-term sustainability and affordability, the final budget agreement should prioritize reserve deposits, boost housing production, and restrain spending.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The final agreement should boost housing production to ensure New York remains an attractive and affordable place to live, work, and conduct business.
The legislative budget proposals for fiscal year 2024 fail to address key priorities, including the rejection of the Governor's housing production plans. These proposals instead increase taxes and spending, which threatens the state's fiscal stability and competitiveness.
New York City's housing production has lagged behind peer cities, failing to keep pace with population and job growth. To address this, the state should support the Governor's housing plan, including the New York State Housing Compact, transit-oriented development, and the enactment of a successor to the 421-a tax incentive program.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Boost statewide housing production by supporting the Governor’s housing plan, including the New York State Housing Compact and transit-oriented development.
The State should develop and enact a successor for the 421-a program, as rental housing development in New York City is financially infeasible without an incentive.
The State should lift the arbitrary floor area ratio cap for new development and certain commercial conversions in New York City to maximize production potential.
The State should provide a tax incentive for conversion of commercial buildings to mixed-income rentals to maximize production potential.
The State should create a path to legalize New York City basement apartments to maximize production potential.
The State should extend the construction completion deadline for 421-a projects by four years to 2030 to ensure that already approved mixed-income projects get built.
Key Data
4 years
— The extension of the construction completion deadline for 421-a projects.
2030
— The year to which the construction completion deadline for 421-a projects is extended.
New York aims to double its housing production rate to create 800,000 new units over the next decade by removing barriers and providing targeted incentives. The proposed strategy focuses on requiring local governments to plan for growth, rezoning for transit-oriented development, and implementing regulatory fixes like legalizing basement apartments and facilitating office-to-residential conversions.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Local governments should be required to meet production targets or allow streamlined development to facilitate housing growth.
Municipalities should rezone for transit-oriented development to increase housing capacity.
New housing development actions should be exempt from costly and time-consuming environmental reviews to accelerate construction.
The state should create a path to legalize New York City basement apartments to maximize existing housing potential.
Policymakers should lift the floor area ratio (FAR) cap on new development and modify the cap for commercial conversions.
The state should provide a tax incentive for conversion of offices to mixed-income rentals to repurpose underutilized space.
Legislators should extend the construction completion deadline for active 421-a projects to ensure existing developments can be finished.
A tax incentive successor to 421-a is necessary to make rental housing development financially feasible given high construction costs.
Key Data
800,000
— Target number of new housing units to be created over the next decade under the proposed state package.
Converting underutilized commercial office space into residential units can help revitalize neighborhoods and address housing needs, provided that regulatory barriers like Floor Area Ratio (FAR) caps are lifted and zoning is modernized. Policymakers should prioritize as-of-right conversion processes and ensure that any tax incentives for mixed-income rental projects are cost-effective and well-targeted.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Policymakers should implement regulatory reforms, such as lifting the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) cap and making zoning and building code changes, to make conversions possible for buildings that would otherwise be prohibited or financially infeasible.
The City should allow conversions as-of-right, rather than through discretionary processes, to maximize the potential number of conversions and let the market determine where they are the best option.
Policymakers should ensure that tax incentives are well-targeted and cost-effective for any projects that require subsidies or tax breaks.
The City should implement the zoning changes identified by the Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force to allow more commercial buildings to convert to residential use as-of-right.
Policymakers should provide tax incentives to support mixed-income rental conversions, as these are necessary to make such projects financially viable.
Key Data
13 million square feet
— Amount of commercial space converted into residential units in lower Manhattan.
12,865 residential units
— Number of housing units created from 13 million square feet of commercial space.
120 million square feet
— Amount of office space built at densities greater than 12 FAR that could be converted to residential use if the FAR cap is lifted.
12 FAR
— The density threshold for buildings that would be permitted to convert to residential use under the proposed regulatory relief.
The state budget includes measures to address the housing crisis by extending construction deadlines for existing 421-a projects. To ensure the continued production of affordable rental housing in New York City, the enacted budget must include a well-crafted successor to the 421-a program.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The Governor’s Executive Budget should maintain the extension of the construction deadline for existing 421-a projects to ensure that units in the pipeline are built.
The enacted budget should include a well-crafted successor to 421-a, which is critical for New York City’s production of affordable rental housing.
The fiscal year 2024 budget and 2023 legislative session should prioritize addressing critical policy challenges, specifically focusing on the need to boost housing production and reform state budgeting and fiscal management. These areas are identified as essential components of the state's broader fiscal and policy agenda.
New York State must construct over 800,000 homes in the next decade to meet demand, a goal currently hindered by excessive permitting delays, restrictive zoning, and burdensome environmental review processes. To address this, policymakers should streamline land use approvals, remove arbitrary residential density caps, and implement statewide housing targets to foster development near transit hubs.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Policymakers should exempt projects smaller than 200 units from costly environmental review to enable deeply affordable housing.
The city should streamline the Department of City Planning’s process for private rezonings to reduce development bottlenecks.
The city should move fire code plan review and inspections to the Department of Buildings to consolidate the review process.
The city should implement district-specific housing production targets to encourage development.
The state should remove the Multiple Dwelling Law’s cap on residential density to allow for more housing.
New York should streamline state environmental review requirements to unblock the development of new housing.
The state should implement mandated minimum densities near commuter rail stations to increase housing supply.
The state should establish a state appeals process for local denial of land use actions to prevent unnecessary project blocks.
Policymakers should remove regulatory barriers to potential office-to-residential conversions to repurpose outdated buildings.
The city should remove the 12.0 floor area ratio (FAR) limit on new and converted residential buildings.
Key Data
800,000
— Number of new homes New York State needs to build over the next ten years to address current needs and meet expected growth.
$50,000 to $70,000
— Estimated additional cost added to each housing unit by two years of delays or putting a project through rezoning and environmental review.
$1.4 million
— Cost imposed by a three-month delay during the construction of a 100-unit building.
$14,000
— Cost per unit imposed by a three-month delay during the construction of a 100-unit building.
25
— Number of new housing units approved per 1,000 residents in New York City over the last decade.
12.0
— The floor area ratio (FAR) limit for new and converted residential buildings capped by the Legislature in 1961.
Governor Hochul’s 2023 housing proposals, including transit-oriented development, a 421-a replacement, and office-to-residential conversions, are identified as effective strategies to increase housing production and affordability. These initiatives, alongside regulatory relief and lifting density caps, are viewed as essential steps to address the state's competitiveness and housing needs.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The state should pursue transit-oriented development to boost housing production and affordability.
The state should implement a 421-a replacement to encourage housing development.
The state should provide regulatory relief and targeted incentives for office-to-residential conversions to increase housing supply.
The state should enact streamlined environmental reviews to facilitate housing production.
The state should establish regional targets for housing growth.
The state should lift NYC’s floor to area ratio cap to allow for more housing density.
New York faces a significant statewide housing production deficit that requires policy interventions like streamlining environmental reviews and incentivizing transit-oriented development. Additionally, enacting a well-designed replacement for the expired 421-a tax credit program is essential to spurring the construction of affordable and market-rate rental housing.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State should implement policies to streamline environmental review to address the housing production deficit.
The State should enact a well-designed replacement for the now-expired 421-a to help spur affordable and market rate rental housing production.
The State should pursue policies to catalyze transit-oriented development, legalize accessory dwelling units, and increase allowable floor-area ratios to boost housing production.
The 421-g program successfully converted nearly 13 million square feet of office space into 12,865 residential units in lower Manhattan, proving that tax incentives and regulatory reform can effectively spark housing production. Future conversion efforts should prioritize cost-effective, targeted incentives and as-of-right approval processes to address current office market challenges and housing needs.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Regulatory relief of various forms is essential, including lifting the FAR cap.
An as-of-right approvals process is needed to ensure the market can dictate when and where conversions make sense.
Care is needed to design a cost-effective incentive that avoids providing subsidies that are more than necessary.
Any conversion program should be appropriately targeted and empirically grounded by a feasibility study and policy design.
Policymakers should consider different incentive structures to limit the City’s fiscal downside risk.
Key Data
12,865
— Number of new residential units created through the 421-g program.
$1.2 Billion
— Nominal cost of the 421-g property tax incentive through the end of fiscal year 2022.
13 Million
— Square feet of office space converted to residential use between 1995 and 2006.
$92,000
— Cost per unit of the 421-g program.
30,000
— Total increase in housing units in lower Manhattan between 1990 and 2020.
200%
— Percentage increase in lower Manhattan's housing stock between 1990 and 2020.
The current property tax system in New York City imposes higher tax burdens on rental housing compared to other property types, which disincentivizes development and contributes to sluggish housing production. Comprehensive reform is needed to address these disparities and create a more equitable system that encourages the construction of new rental housing.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City should narrow the differences in tax burdens among property classes to encourage the development of rental housing.
The Commission should make additional recommendations if current assessment procedures do not ensure equitable treatment within rental and commercial property classes.
The City should analyze the extent to which there may be intra-class inequities resulting from Department of Finance methods to ensure fair valuation of commercial and rental buildings.
Policymakers must consider the recommendations holistically to avoid implementing reforms piecemeal, which could lead to greater inequities and uncertainty.
The City should release a detailed analysis that assesses how tax burdens would be redistributed within the proposed new residential class to ensure appropriate tax relief for property owners.
Key Data
$0.83 per $100
— Median effective tax rate (ETR) for one- to three-family homes.
$1.53
— Median effective tax rate (ETR) for large rentals.
$1.72
— Median effective tax rate (ETR) for office buildings.
$1.5 trillion
— Estimated total market value of the new residential class.
21 percent
— Assessment rate for a median condominium selling between $400,000 and $500,000.
15 percent
— Assessment rate for a median condominium selling between $5 million and $7.5 million.
As Chief Housing Officer, Katz oversees the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York City Housing Authority, the Housing Development Corporation, the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations and the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. Katz most recently served as executive director of the research nonprofit Citizens Housing…
New York City's land use decision-making process is overly complex, uncertain, and time-consuming, which restricts the city's ability to produce necessary housing and jobs. Reforming this process by streamlining environmental reviews, aligning projects with strategic goals, and balancing neighborhood concerns with citywide needs is essential to prevent economic stagnation and housing shortages.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
New York State should amend environmental review laws to reduce barriers to beneficial growth and development.
New York State should encourage local governments to streamline approvals of projects that help achieve identified regional housing and job-creation goals.
New York City should create a process that evaluates proposals based on potential benefits and alignment with goals of its Charter-mandated strategic plan and other plans.
New York City should make advisory reviews at the community level more collaborative, participatory, and productive.
New York City should streamline and rationalize environmental review within limitations of State law.
New York City should better balance citywide needs and neighborhood concerns through an appeals process or requirement of a City Council supermajority to reject an application.
Key Data
171
— Number of private rezoning applications initiated citywide between 2014 and 2017.
60 percent
— Percentage of private rezoning applications initiated between 2014 and 2017 that were ultimately approved.
2.5 years
— Median time for an application from the time it was filed with the Department of City Planning to the end of the ULURP process.
11 percent to 16 percent
— Increase in development costs caused by a two-year-long discretionary approval process.
887
— Median approval time in days for private discretionary projects in New York City.
80 percent
— Portion of time spent in public review taken by pre-certification and environmental review for the median project.
New York City needs to significantly increase housing production to address its affordability crisis, requiring a shift from solely focusing on affordable units to setting goals for total housing production across all income levels. To achieve this, the city must implement broad-based rezonings, improve operational efficiency in development approvals, and reform property taxes to make building new housing financially feasible.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City should set goals for total housing production (inclusive of both income-restricted and market-rate units), the net growth in housing units citywide, and the net change by community district.
Doubling production will require broad-based rezonings to increase as-of-right development capacity in every neighborhood.
The City should speed up development approvals and reform the property tax system, building and construction codes, insurance laws, and the Multiple Dwelling Law to make housing less expensive to build and operate.
The City should identify the specific operational and policy actions needed to achieve housing goals, including identifying responsible parties and setting implementation milestones.
The City should track and publish outcome metrics, such as the share of rent burdened households or the homeownership rate, to monitor the effectiveness of both demand- and supply-side policies.
Key Data
560,000
— Number of additional housing units New York City needs by 2030 to meet existing needs and future population growth.
50,000
— Number of housing units that need to be permitted annually to meet housing needs, which is twice as many as issued in recent years.
40%
— Percentage fewer housing permits issued per resident in New York City compared to San Francisco.
20%
— Percentage of the city’s residential lots that have enough capacity under current zoning to make it worthwhile to develop.
22,000
— Number of vacant positions in the city that could be utilized to help improve basic operations like speeding up approval times.
New York City requires 560,000 new housing units by 2030 to address population growth and existing shortages, necessitating a comprehensive strategy that includes citywide zoning reform and streamlined approval processes. To achieve this, the city must implement property tax reform and increase as-of-right development capacity across all neighborhoods to ensure housing production keeps pace with demand.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The city's housing plan should set ambitious but achievable production goals, identify needed operational and policy actions, and commit to tracking publicly both the process and results.
The city must speed up approval times for zoning certifications, building permits, and certificates of occupancy to improve basic operations.
The city requires broader upzoning to increase allowable building sizes to provide enough density to meet an ambitious production target.
All neighborhoods need as-of-right zoning capacity to increase to ensure the housing plan is realized quickly and cost-effectively.
The city must implement property tax reform and the right tax and other incentives to encourage mixed-income development to make development of all housing types financially feasible.
Key Data
560,000
— Number of housing units New York City needs by 2030 to meet existing needs and future population growth.
50,000
— Number of housing units that must be permitted annually to meet housing needs, which is twice as many as issued in recent years.
40%
— Amount fewer housing permits issued per resident in New York City compared to San Francisco.
22,000
— Number of vacant positions in the city that could be utilized to improve operations like hiring and retaining staff.
20%
— Percentage of the city’s residential lots that have enough capacity under current zoning to make it worthwhile to develop.
New York City requires a successor to the 421-a tax incentive program to boost the production of affordable and market-rate rental housing, as failing to do so would limit future revenue and construction. Additionally, passing legislation to create the NYCHA Preservation Trust is essential to secure funding for comprehensive renovations and improve the quality of life for the city's 400,000 public housing residents.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
State lawmakers should support a 421-a successor to improve the supply and affordability of New York City’s rental housing.
State lawmakers should pass the NYCHA Preservation Trust legislation to secure funding for comprehensive renovations and improve the quality of life for public housing residents.
The proposed 485-w replacement program should be modified to incentivize more production in moderate-to-middle-income neighborhoods, require greater transparency, and harmonize with existing State and City affordable housing programs.
State and City officials should take action to reduce construction and operating costs.
State and City officials should increase zoning capacity to support housing production.
State and City officials should reform the property tax.
Key Data
$100 million
— The amount of revenue generated annually over the next seven years if the 421-a program is ended.
$1.8 billion
— The amount of funding that will not be freed up for decades to come if the 421-a program is ended.
400,000
— The number of residents living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing.
New York City must implement a successor to the 421-a tax exemption program as part of a broader strategy to increase housing production, as ending the program without a replacement will not immediately free up the $1.74 billion in foregone tax revenue. This comprehensive approach should include reducing construction and operating costs, increasing as-of-right zoning capacity, and reforming the property tax to ensure the city can meet its housing needs.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
New York City needs to produce more housing of every kind, including both affordable and market-rate rental units.
A successor to 421-a is a key component of a broader package of policies and programs needed to boost housing production.
The broader package of policies and programs needed to boost housing production should include reducing construction and operating costs.
The broader package of policies and programs needed to boost housing production should include increasing as-of-right zoning capacity.
The broader package of policies and programs needed to boost housing production should include reforming the property tax.
Key Data
$1.74 billion
— Foregone tax revenue from 421-a properties in fiscal year 2023.
$1.65 billion
— Projected foregone tax revenue in fiscal year 2029.
$451 million
— Average annual "available" tax revenue from fiscal year 2030 to fiscal year 2036.
$700 million
— Value of exemptions still in force in fiscal year 2043.
$123 million
— Estimated "mini tax" property taxes paid by 421-a properties for fiscal year 2023.
60,149
— Number of tax lots expected to receive 421-a exemptions in the upcoming fiscal year.
The New York City Housing Authority is utilizing the Rental Assistance Demonstration and Permanent Affordability Commitment Together programs to renovate public housing, having already financed $3.2 billion in capital improvements. To address the remaining 110,000 units that lack renovation funding, the passage of the proposed Preservation Trust legislation is essential to secure federal vouchers and modernize operations.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The best hope for preserving the remaining 110,000 public housing units is the passage of the proposed Preservation Trust legislation (S6999A/A7805).
The City Council should join NYCHA and City Hall in lobbying for State and federal actions needed to pass the Trust.
The City must fully integrate NYCHA into the City’s affordable housing strategy to address the capital crisis.
The City should accelerate and maximize the pace of Section 8 conversions through RAD/PACT.
The City should take advantage of underutilized land to raise revenue through infill development or air rights sales.
The City should improve operations and construction management to address the capital crisis.
Key Data
$32 billion
— The estimated capital needs of the New York City Housing Authority.
90 percent
— The portion of the New York City Housing Authority's portfolio at risk of deteriorating to poor conditions by 2027 without action.
14,742 units
— The number of public housing units that had been completed or were in the process of being renovated as of February 2022.
20,426 units
— The number of public housing units in the pipeline for renovation as of February 2022.
62,000 units
— The maximum number of units the New York City Housing Authority can convert under its federal cap.
$3.2 billion
— The amount in capital improvements financed through RAD conversions.
The 421-a property tax exemption is essential for rental housing development in New York City, and allowing it to expire without a well-crafted successor would significantly reduce housing supply and increase costs. To ensure continued production, any replacement program must be available as-of-right, align with other city housing initiatives, and be tailored to reflect varying market conditions across different neighborhoods.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
State lawmakers should better tailor affordability options to reflect different market conditions by creating a new option for mid-rise projects outside the Prime Development Area or offering Option B to all projects outside the Prime Development Area.
The City should track and evaluate program usage by creating a database of project recipients, reporting on overall residential development trends, and collecting data on the pipeline of projects that plan to use the program.
State lawmakers should work with the City to align the incentive with other housing programs by modifying ANNY and the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program to be compatible and clarifying rules for projects receiving bond financing or other subsidies.
State lawmakers should authorize an as-of-right tax exemption designed to foster rental housing development, minimize disruption of land and development markets, and help the City meet its affordable housing production goals.
The City should ensure greater transparency and public reporting of data to support a robust assessment of the program’s impact and effectiveness, which would inform any successor program.
Key Data
30 percent
— New York's property taxes as a percentage of rental income, which is high compared to 13 percent elsewhere in the country.
50 percent
— The cost to operate a multifamily building in New York City is higher than the national average.
75 percent
— The increase in rents required to generate a reasonable rate of return without the 421-a tax exemption.
5 percent
— The minimum Yield-on-Cost (YOC) return necessary for a development to proceed.
20 percent
— The affordability requirement for projects under ANNY Option B.
25 percent
— The weighted average affordability requirement for projects under ANNY Option A.
New York State must prioritize housing production by enacting a cost-effective replacement for the 421-a tax incentive to ensure the continued development of affordable and rental units. Additionally, the state should stabilize the New York City Housing Authority by approving the Preservation Trust bill and increasing support for public-private partnerships.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State should approve the proposed NYCHA Preservation Trust bill, enact procurement reform, and increase financial support for Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) public-private partnerships to stabilize the New York City Housing Authority.
The Legislature should enact a cost-effective 421-a replacement that supports affordable and rental housing development.
The City and State should harmonize any 421-a replacement with other affordable housing programs and reduce bureaucratic hoops to development.
The 421-a replacement program should come with greater transparency and public reporting of data to support a robust assessment of the program’s impact and effectiveness.
An as-of-right property tax exemption is necessary to make development of rental housing feasible in New York City.
New York should advance housing production by zoning for denser transit-oriented development, legalizing accessory dwelling units, and lifting residential floor area caps to encourage conversions. Additionally, the state must stabilize public housing by approving the Preservation Trust bill, enacting procurement reforms, and increasing financial support for public-private partnerships to renovate 110,000 units.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State should require local governments to zone for denser transit-oriented development to increase regional housing supply.
The State should legalize accessory dwelling units to help meet the diverse housing needs of New Yorkers.
The State should lift the cap on residential floor area ratios to give New York City more tools and flexibility to stimulate housing production.
The State should encourage commercial-to-residential conversions to stimulate housing production, especially in the Manhattan core.
The State should approve the proposed Preservation Trust bill to stabilize the future of NYCHA.
The State should enact procurement reform to reduce NYCHA’s costs.
The State should increase financial support for Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) public-private partnerships to bring in capital and new management.
Key Data
110,000
— Number of public housing units targeted for renovation through the proposed Preservation Trust and public-private partnerships.
The proposed "Good Cause Eviction" legislation, while aiming to provide tenant stability, risks discouraging new rental housing development and depressing property values by limiting rent increases below operating cost growth. Alternative interventions like the federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program are better suited to address affordability concerns for the lowest-income households.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Policymakers should ensure that rent increase caps are sufficient to encourage owners to maintain buildings and invest in repairs and rehabilitation.
The legislation should exempt new development for a period of time to avoid discouraging investment in new rental housing.
The bill should include provisions that allow for existing residential buildings to be redeveloped.
Policymakers should utilize other programs, such as the federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, to address rent burdens for the lowest-income households.
Key Data
3.6 percent
— Average annual growth in operating expenses of rent-stabilized buildings between 2010 and 2019.
15.1 percent
— Cumulative increase in rents of rent-stabilized units over ten years.
37.5 percent
— Cumulative increase in expenses of rent-stabilized units over ten years.
80 percent
— More maintenance deficiencies reported by tenants of rent-stabilized units compared to tenants living in market-rate units.
3.3 percent
— Average annual increase the bill's formula would have resulted in between 2010 and 2019.
New York State must prioritize increasing housing production and affordability, particularly downstate, by adopting policies that encourage suburban development through incentives and mandates. Additionally, the state should support the New York City Housing Authority by approving the Preservation Trust to facilitate the renovation of 110,000 public housing units and by increasing financial support for public-private partnerships.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State should act to facilitate housing development and affordability, especially downstate.
New York State should follow the examples set by New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, and other states that encourage suburban housing development through a combination of incentives and mandates.
The State should help improve the New York City Housing Authority by approving the proposed Preservation Trust, enacting procurement reform, and increasing financial support for Rental Assistance Demonstration public-private partnerships.
The State should increase financial support for RAD conversions at NYCHA by providing tax-exempt bonds and Low Income Housing Tax Credits through the NY Housing Finance Agency and the New York City Housing Development Corporation.
Key Data
110,000
— Number of public housing units the Preservation Trust would allow the New York City Housing Authority to renovate.
New York City's failure to produce sufficient housing has contributed to an affordability crisis and hampered competitiveness, necessitating a focus on increasing the supply of diverse housing types. To address this, the city should implement strategies such as rezoning for density, modernizing building codes, and reforming property tax and development laws.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The administration should plan for growth and set ambitious but achievable production goals across the city.
The administration should rezone to increase density appropriately and allow more as of right development when aligned with City plans.
The administration should modernize the City’s building code to decrease costs.
The administration should support reform of laws that disincentivize development such as the New York State’s Scaffold Law, the Multiple Dwelling Law, and rent stabilization.
The administration should reform the property tax system to increase equity.
Key Data
$40 billion
— Capital needs at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) exceed this amount due to years of underinvestment, cost inflation, and costs for lead abatement.
New York State should adopt the proposed "rail-advantaged housing" initiative to incentivize residential development near transit hubs, addressing the long-standing lag in housing production within the metropolitan area. This policy aims to improve housing supply and affordability by facilitating development in transit-oriented corridors.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State should enact the "rail-advantaged housing" proposal to encourage the development of housing in proximity to transit infrastructure.
29 is the number of acres in the proposed Special Flushing Waterfront District. In our third episode on land use and zoning, we move from Brooklyn to Flushing, Queens to discuss the proposed district that could add 3 million square feet of housing, hotel, retail and office space; remediate Flushing…
Reforming the Scaffold Law's strict liability standard would reduce construction insurance premiums and development costs, potentially allowing for the creation of thousands of additional affordable housing units. Replacing this outdated legal standard with a comparative negligence model would lower costs without requiring state funding, helping to address the ongoing housing affordability crisis.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The state should include reform of Labor Law §§ 240/241 (the 'Scaffold Law') in the 2021-22 Executive budget proposal to encourage the development of additional housing units.
Policymakers should replace the existing strict liability standard with a more common-sense comparative negligence standard that considers the respective negligence of the property owner, employer, contractor, and/or injured party in determining compensation and damages.
Key Data
7%
— The Scaffold Law's strict liability standard has increased affordable housing and other development costs by an estimated 7%.
12,600
— If excessive costs associated with the Scaffold Law had been invested in housing during the current 5-year housing plan, an additional 12,600 affordable housing units could have been created and preserved.
8,200 is the number of new housing units that could be created by the proposed rezoning of Gowanus, Brooklyn. Councilmember Brad Lander joins "What's the [DATA] Point?" to discuss the rezoning plan and make the case for comprehensive planning.
New York City's housing availability is constrained by persistently sluggish production rates, with zoning codes and planning actions limiting development sites and density. To address the affordability crisis, policymakers must modernize building codes, reform the property-tax system and Scaffold Law, and implement comprehensive planning to encourage growth in transit-rich areas.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
State and city lawmakers should advance policies to make it easier to build throughout the region.
New York should update the zoning code to allow for more development.
The city should set housing production targets as part of a comprehensive planning process.
The city should modernize outdated building-code provisions to keep pace with modern construction methods.
New York could enact laws to encourage municipalities to zone for growth, particularly in transit-rich areas.
The state should reform the property-tax system, the Scaffold Law, and rent regulations to reduce the cost of building dense housing.
Key Data
60%
— of all residential lots are zoned for low densities.
12%
— of residential lots allow no more than single-family homes.
fewer than one in four
— of residential lots are potential development sites based solely on the zoning code.
Housing affordability for New Yorkers of all incomes is important to the competitiveness of the New York City region. The panelists discuss strategies for spurring housing production and changes that should be made to laws and local zoning regulations. Introduction Karim Hutson Founder & Managing Member, Genesis Companies Presentation of Report Findings Sean…
New York City's housing production has lagged behind population and job growth for decades, largely due to restrictive zoning, high development costs, and an inequitable property tax system. To address this, the city and state must implement comprehensive housing strategies, modernize building codes, and reform zoning and tax policies to incentivize new construction across all neighborhoods.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
New York City should have a citywide housing plan that quantifies the city’s current and future housing needs at all market segments, identifies the gap between these needs and existing zoning capacity, and sets ambitious but achievable citywide production goals.
The City should update the zoning code to increase capacity, such as by increasing density near transit and along commercial corridors, modifying contextual zoning districts to allow for incremental growth, and making it easier to build three-plus unit buildings as-of-right.
The City should continue to revise outdated or unique building code requirements that increase costs and adopt strategies to encourage construction industry innovation.
New York State lawmakers could require municipalities to zone for both more housing and a wider variety of housing, including accessory dwelling units and multifamily residences, particularly in areas near commuter rail stations.
State lawmakers should pass reforms to make the City’s property tax system more equitable and efficient, including provisions to reduce the high tax rate on multifamily rental buildings relative to single family homes.
Key Data
206,860
— Number of housing units for which New York City issued building permits over the last decade.
0.19
— Number of housing units added for every net new job created in New York City between 2010 and 2018.
$1.6 Billion
— Cost of 71,095 421-a tax exemptions in fiscal year 2019 in foregone City tax revenue.
7 percent
— Increase in total development costs caused by New York's unique construction liability laws.
2.55
— The classification ratio, or the difference between the effective tax rates on apartments and single-family homes in New York City.
60 percent
— Percentage of residential lots in New York City that fall into the lowest density zoning categories.
New York City's land use process must balance community needs with citywide interests to ensure the development of desperately-needed housing and job creation. City leaders are urged to advance projects that allow the city to grow and adapt as a modern metropolis, particularly by carefully weighing the potential for private investment against local concerns.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
City leaders should work to advance and approve projects that help New York City continue to grow and adapt as a modern metropolis.
The City Council should carefully consider how best to balance community needs with citywide interests, which include the potential for job creation with no direct public investment required.
New York City faces significant housing challenges, with over 920,000 renter households burdened by high costs and a housing supply that fails to keep pace with population growth. To address these issues, policymakers should lift density caps, reform property tax systems, and incentivize suburban housing development to meet regional demand.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Lifting the cap on floor-area ratio for residential buildings would help address some of these issues.
City and State lawmakers should continue to look for solutions to boost housing production across the New York region by ensuring that zoning codes match the needs of a growing region.
City and State lawmakers should continue to look for solutions to boost housing production across the New York region by reforming New York City’s property tax system to make it easier to build rental housing without the need for substantial subsidies.
City and State lawmakers should continue to look for solutions to boost housing production across the New York region by finding ways to incentivize the suburbs to build sufficient housing to meet the regional demand.
Key Data
920,000
— renter households in New York City that were rent burdened, paying at least 30 percent of their incomes in rent.
30 percent
— of their incomes that rent-burdened households pay in rent.
50 percent
— of their incomes that severely rent-burdened households pay in rent.
90 percent
— of severely rent-burdened households that were low income.
22 percent
— of all units produced in 2017 that were accounted for by 40-plus story buildings.
23 percent
— of units in 40-plus story buildings that were income-restricted.
New York City faces a massive $31.8 billion capital need for public housing, with the current 10-year plan leaving an $8.4 billion funding gap. Meanwhile, the city allocates $3,830 million in tax expenditures toward housing programs, while capital commitments for housing have risen to $1.8 billion as of 2019.
Key Data
$31.8 billion
— The total five-year capital needs for the New York City Housing Authority.
$8.4 billion
— The amount of unmet funding need in the 10-year NYCHA 2.0 plan.
$3,830 million
— The amount of New York City tax expenditures dedicated to housing programs in fiscal year 2019.
$29.6 billion
— The amount of New York City property tax revenue collected in fiscal year 2020.
$33.8 billion
— The amount of New York City non-property tax revenue collected in fiscal year 2020.
$1.8 billion
— The total NYC capital commitments for housing in 2019.
The Opportunity Zone program provides tax incentives for investment in low-income communities, but it lacks transparency and may subsidize projects that would have occurred without the incentive. New York should implement reporting requirements for funds, limit tax benefits to projects that meet specific affordability or economic criteria, or decouple from the federal program entirely to protect state and local revenue.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The State can require Opportunity Funds operating in New York State to report on their activity, including estimates of the number of jobs or housing units built, in order to qualify for state tax benefits.
The State could require funds to report annually on the value of gains invested by New York State taxpayers in qualified opportunity funds to understand the fiscal impacts on personal income and business income revenue.
The legislature could pass a bill that would limit benefits to residential projects that meet a minimum affordability threshold for a fixed set of time or to commercial projects that are consistent with an REDC strategic plan.
The State could limit benefits to zones that meet both the poverty and family income thresholds, or to those that meet the criteria based on the most recently available Census data.
The State could decouple fully from the federal Opportunity Zone program to minimize the direct impact on state and local tax revenue.
Key Data
$63 million
— Estimated annual revenue loss for New York State due to Opportunity Zone tax incentives.
$31 million
— Estimated annual revenue loss for New York City due to Opportunity Zone tax incentives.
$6 trillion
— Total estimated unrealized capital gains held by taxpayers nationally.
$53 billion
— Amount that funds intend to raise to invest in Opportunity Zone projects as of August 2019.
$9.4 billion
— Total cost of the Opportunity Zone program for federal tax years 2018 to 2022.
$866 million
— Estimated amount New York State taxpayers will invest annually in Qualified Opportunity Funds.
The New York City Housing Authority requires $32 billion for repairs, yet faces chronic underfunding and deteriorating conditions. To address this, the city should pursue mixed-income infill development on underutilized land to generate billions in revenue for necessary building improvements without displacing residents.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Elected officials and community members should support ambitious developments on NYCHA property that generate new housing and funding for NYCHA.
To reach the $3 billion potential for repairs, the city must include sufficient market-rate units in any new development.
NYCHA and city officials should raise billions in private capital for repairs while maintaining public ownership and permanent affordability.
Key Data
$32 billion
— Repairing NYCHA’s buildings and apartments requires $32 billion over the next five years.
$180,000
— Repairing NYCHA’s buildings and apartments requires $180,000 per apartment.
90%
— In a decade 90% of its apartments may not even be worth repairing.
$3 billion
— By facilitating mixed-income development on underutilized NYCHA land and selling NYCHA-owned development rights, NYCHA can raise $3 billion to repair its apartments.
30,000
— This strategy could support repairs for 30,000 residents without any displacement.
20%
— A rental building with 20% its units set aside for low-income tenants would raise nearly three times as much revenue as a similar-sized building with 50% affordable units.
5 is the number of years Alicia Glen was the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development under Mayor Bill de Blasio. She joins the podcast to reflect on her tenure as Deputy Mayor, the state of the city in 2014, where it stands now, and where it should be…
NYCHA can generate significant revenue for necessary repairs by utilizing underutilized open spaces and parking lots for infill development. However, the financial return from these projects is heavily dependent on the mix of market-rate and affordable units, as stricter affordability requirements reduce the upfront payments developers are willing to provide.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
NYCHA should utilize underutilized open spaces and parking lots for infill development to generate revenue for repairs.
Policymakers should recognize that stricter requirements to produce greater amounts of affordable housing make land less valuable to developers and generate less revenue for NYCHA.
NYCHA should prioritize 80/20 infill developments to maximize potential revenue in both strong and moderate markets.
Key Data
$33 million
— Yield for NYCHA from 80/20 infill developments in a strong market.
$16 million
— Yield for NYCHA from 80/20 infill developments in a moderate market.
$9 million
— Yield for NYCHA from 50/50 infill developments in a strong market.
$4.5 million
— Yield for NYCHA from 50/50 infill developments in a moderate market.
$0
— Yield for NYCHA from 100% affordable infill developments.
The New York City Housing Authority faces a $32 billion capital funding gap over the next five years, leaving 90 percent of its housing units at risk of becoming too deteriorated to repair by 2027. To address this, the city should integrate public housing into its broader affordable housing strategy, leverage underutilized land for development, and transition to a more efficient management model to preserve these essential units.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City should fully integrate NYCHA into the City’s affordable housing strategy to ensure that preservation of public housing is prioritized alongside other affordable housing initiatives.
NYCHA should transition to an affordable housing steward that manages fewer buildings by increasing the use of public-private partnerships and transferring senior housing to qualified nonprofit organizations.
NYCHA should tap underutilized land assets to fund repairs and facilitate redevelopment by selling air rights and allowing infill development on its campuses.
NYCHA should improve operations and construction management to lower costs by decentralizing property management, modernizing collective bargaining agreements, and utilizing more flexible procurement arrangements like design-build.
Key Data
$32 billion
— The amount of capital needs quantified for NYCHA over the next five years.
90 percent
— The portion of NYCHA housing units at risk of deteriorating past the point of cost-effective repair by 2027 without dramatic changes.
31 percent
— The amount of capital need covered by funding during the 2007-2011 period.
11 percent
— The amount of capital need covered by funding during the 2012-2017 period.
39 percent
— The amount by which NYCHA's costs of operations are higher than those of other landlords operating rent-stabilized buildings.
58 million
— The square feet of additional development as-of-right that NYCHA campuses could accommodate.
77,651 is the number of affordable housing units financed thus far in Mayor de Blasio’s 10-year plan to construct or preserve a total of 200,000 affordable units over 10 years. Since the Mayor took office, NYC Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) has overseen the commitment of $2.8 billion for affordable…
The City financed 13,490 affordable housing units between April and June 2017, contributing to a total of 24,293 units built or preserved throughout the fiscal year. Since January 2014, a total of 77,651 affordable housing units have been financed under the Housing New York plan.
Key Data
13,490
— Affordable housing units financed by the City between April and June 2017.
24,293
— Total affordable housing units built or preserved during fiscal year 2017.
77,651
— Total units financed since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in January 2014.
50%
— Portion of Housing New York projects that closed in the fourth quarter of 2017.
9,966
— Existing affordable housing units preserved between April and June 2017.
3,524
— New affordable housing units created between April and June 2017.
New York City has produced or preserved 77,651 affordable housing units under the Housing New York plan since January 2014. Despite this, many neighborhoods with high shares of households paying more than 30% of their income on rent have seen little to no new construction or preservation activity.
Key Data
77,651
— affordable housing units produced or preserved under the Housing New York plan since January 2014
30%
— share of income that rent-burdened households pay on rent
New York City has added $1.9 billion in capital funding to its ten-year affordable housing plan, yet official budget documents lack the necessary details on program usage and productivity benchmarks to evaluate cost-effectiveness. The absence of transparent spending data and per-unit cost estimates makes it impossible to determine if the plan is deploying capital efficiently to meet its goal of 200,000 units.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City should provide productivity benchmarks in the Ten-Year Capital Strategy to allow for the estimation of units financed and cost per unit.
The City should improve financial transparency by regularly updating the public on spending toward the affordable housing goal.
The City should include information on which affordable housing programs each project uses and the value of subsidies provided to evaluate if capital is being deployed in the most cost-effective way.
Key Data
$1.9 billion
— Additional capital funding added to the ten-year affordable housing plan.
10,000
— Number of units for which affordability protections are increased.
200,000
— Total number of planned units in the ten-year affordable housing plan.
25 percent
— Projected share of units reserved for the lowest income New Yorkers after the funding increase.
$5.6 billion
— Total planned housing commitments in the Ten-Year Capital Strategy.
62,506
— Number of units financed through the end of 2016.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development exceeded its fiscal year 2016 goals, achieving an 82% increase in affordable housing unit completions and a 15% increase in unit starts compared to the previous year. These figures highlight the city's progress in expanding the supply of affordable housing as detailed in the 2016 Mayor’s Management Report.
Key Data
82%
— The Department of Housing Preservation and Development increased its affordable housing unit completions in fiscal year 2016 compared to fiscal year 2015.
15%
— The Department of Housing Preservation and Development increased its affordable housing unit starts in fiscal year 2016 compared to fiscal year 2015.
New York City has prioritized increasing affordable housing through the Housing New York plan, which aims to preserve 120,000 units and create 80,000 new ones over a decade. To support these goals, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development significantly increased its staffing and capital funding, reaching $748 million in fiscal year 2016.
Key Data
129
— Additional full-time staff hired by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development during fiscal year 2015.
$419 million
— City capital funding for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in fiscal year 2015.
360
— Additional staff hired by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in fiscal year 2016.
$748 million
— City capital funding for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in fiscal year 2016.
11,708
— Targeted number of affordable housing unit completions for fiscal year 2016.
The fiscal year 2017 executive budget includes a $590 million allocation for capital housing projects, which is viewed as an appropriate use of one-time financial settlements. However, the proposal to subject housing-related private activity bonds to additional oversight by the Public Authorities Control Board is discouraged, as it would not improve project selection or transparency.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The proposal to dedicate $590 million to capital housing projects is appropriate.
The inclusion of housing projects in the Private Activity Bond Allocation Act of 2016 should be rejected, as it will not increase public scrutiny or improve the types of projects selected.
The Public Authorities Control Board review should be limited to bonds for economic development purposes, rather than including housing projects.
Key Data
$590 million
— The amount proposed to be dedicated to capital housing projects in the fiscal year 2017 executive budget.
High construction costs in New York City, driven by land prices and labor expenses, necessitate significant subsidies to make new residential units affordable for low-income households. Maximizing the production of affordable housing requires exploring strategies to improve land efficiency, lower construction expenses, and optimize the use of cross-subsidies.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Options for increasing the efficient use of land should be explored to maximize the amount of affordable housing that can be produced.
Options for reducing construction costs should be explored to maximize the amount of affordable housing that can be produced.
Options for effectively using cross-subsidies should be explored to maximize the amount of affordable housing that can be produced.
Key Data
$437
— Average price per square foot in very strong housing markets.
$2,500
— Rent required to cover construction costs in the weakest housing markets.
$23,766
— Annual subsidy required for an extremely low-income family to occupy a new unit.
$30
— Average price per square foot in weak housing markets.
$955,000
— Annual cost to provide 50 units to very low-income households in weak markets.
$925,000
— Annual subsidy required to provide 20 units to very low-income households in very strong markets.
The New York City Housing Authority faces significant financial challenges, including operating deficits that are projected to reach $194 million by 2019. To address these issues, the 'NextGeneration NYCHA' roadmap proposes strategies such as residential infill development, which aims to generate between $400 million and $800 million over 10 years to reinvest in housing stability.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
NYCHA should pursue residential infill development to generate a total of $400 million to $800 million over 10 years, which would be reinvested in adjacent developments.
NYCHA should increase rent collection rates to HUD's 95 percent target to generate an estimated $39 million in 2015.
NYCHA can pursue cost savings through private property management companies in the long term.
NYCHA should streamline management to curtail the scope of responsibility for borough offices to non-redundant functions to save $33 million annually by 2019.
NYCHA should eliminate responsibility for community and senior centers to save $19 million annually and rely on service provision by better-equipped City agencies and nonprofits.
NYCHA can increase non-rental income by increasing parking fees closer to market rate, increasing monthly fees for appliances, expanding commercial activities, and raising rent collections from nonprofit tenants.
NYCHA can increase productivity by increasing use of Job Order Contracting, which streamlines and shortens the process to perform more routine maintenance.
NYCHA should negotiate work rule changes in collective bargaining to limit overtime compensation for work performed in the evenings and on weekends.
Key Data
$400 million to $800 million
— The amount of revenue proposed to be generated over 10 years through residential infill development.
$194 million
— The projected operating deficit for the housing authority in 2019.
77 percent
— The average rent collection rate for the housing authority.
$320
— The amount by which monthly operating costs per unit exceed those of a private rent-stabilized unit.
$39 million
— The estimated revenue generated in 2015 by increasing rent collection rates to HUD's 95 percent target.
$68 million
— The annual savings yielded by reducing the operating cost gap between the housing authority and rent-stabilized units by 10 percent.
Rent regulation in New York City is often mischaracterized as an effective tool for affordability, yet data shows that 44% of tenants in regulated units remain rent burdened, while market-rate housing provides affordable options for a significant portion of the population. Furthermore, the number of rent-regulated units has stabilized, with thousands of new units added through development programs like 421-a and 420-c in 2013.
Key Data
44%
— of tenants in rent-regulated units are rent burdened, challenging the perception that these units are inherently affordable.
54%
— of tenants in market-rate units have affordable rent, demonstrating the role these units play in providing housing.
6,000
— units were added through the 421-a program in 2013, contributing to the stabilization of the rent-regulated housing stock.
4,801
— units were lost to vacancy/high-rent decontrol in 2013, a factor often cited by advocates regarding the decline of regulated housing.
1,087
— is the number by which the total count of rent-regulated units grew in 2013, indicating a flattening of the previous downward trend.
38%
— of New York City’s tenant households are rent burdened when using the more accurate out-of-pocket rent measure.
Repurposing underutilized Port Authority maritime facilities in Brooklyn could generate between 3,800 and 7,600 new housing units while simultaneously reducing agency deficits. Converting these 105 acres would significantly increase available land for community development, including schools, parks, and commercial space, while saving $29 million annually.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The Port Authority should repurpose its underused and obsolete maritime facilities to better serve the community.
The city should convert the 105 acres of port facilities into a mix of uses including affordable and market-rate housing, commercial space, schools, and parks.
Officials should engage the community in a process to envision how the property could best be used to generate benefits for the regional economy.
Key Data
3,800 and 7,600
— The number of housing units the site could yield if repurposed for development.
105 acres
— The total size of the port facilities that could be made available for development.
$29 million
— The amount of annual savings the Port Authority would realize by 2029 if the facilities were repurposed.
175 percent
— The increase in vacant land in Community Board 6 if the facilities were made available for development.
10 percent
— The growth of vacant land in the borough if the facilities were made available for development.
2,500
— The number of jobs the site could yield, which is more than three times the number of direct jobs currently supported.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's maritime ports face persistent deficits, and repurposing underutilized facilities like Brooklyn and Red Hook for alternative uses, including market-rate and affordable housing, could help improve fiscal sustainability. Converting these sites could yield between 3,811 and 7,623 housing units, contributing to the city's goal of adding 80,000 affordable units.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The Port Authority should consider repurposing underutilized facilities like Brooklyn and Red Hook for market-rate and affordable housing, schools, commercial, and parks.
The city should pursue an agreement to transfer ownership of the Brooklyn and Red Hook sites to a developer to gain 105 acres of available land for housing and other uses.
Rezoning the 105 acres of Port Commerce facilities could yield between 3,811 and 7,623 housing units to help address the city's housing shortage.
Key Data
105 acres
— Amount of available land gained if Brooklyn and Red Hook were closed and transferred to a developer.
3,811 and 7,623
— Estimated range of housing units that could be yielded by rezoning 105 acres of Port Commerce facilities.
80,000
— Goal for the number of affordable housing units the city hopes to add on underused sites.
New York City's housing supply has grown more slowly than in other major cities, contributing to affordability challenges despite rents not being the highest in the nation. Policy solutions that focus on increasing development and the supply of housing are appropriate to address these competitiveness and affordability issues.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Policy solutions that increase development and the supply of housing are appropriate to address the city's affordability challenges.
Key Data
68.3 percent
— The rental share of occupied housing units in New York City, which is greater than every other large city.
5.8 percent
— The increase in the number of housing units in New York City between 2000 and 2012.
3.6 percent
— The vacancy rate in New York City in 2012, which is below the 5 percent 'emergency' level.
51 percent
— The share of New York City rental households in 2012 that spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
Rent regulation in New York City provides significant but poorly targeted benefits, costing the city $283 million annually in lost property tax revenue and increasing rents for unregulated households by $1.9 billion. Future policy should phase out protections for high-income households while expanding more effective, targeted programs to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
Benefits now available to low- and moderate-income households should not be reduced, but the poorly targeted benefits can be removed at an accelerated pace by phasing out regulation for higher-income households.
The long-term contraction in the scope of rent regulation should be accompanied by expansion of other more effective programs to promote affordable housing.
The City should evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of existing affordable housing programs and other policies, such as zoning, that affect housing investment.
New legislation should phase out benefits for all high-income households.
The City should expand its financial commitment to affordable housing as economic and fiscal conditions improve.
Key Data
$5,500
— Average annual rent reduction per housing unit provided by rent regulation.
$1.9 billion
— Total annual amount paid in extra rent by households in unregulated units due to rent regulation.
$283 million
— Annual decrease in the City of New York’s property tax revenue attributable to rent regulation.
190,000
— Number of housing units removed from rent regulation between 1994 and 2008.
62,000
— Number of units added to rent regulation through tax incentive programs from 1994 through 2008.
19 percent
— Amount by which hard costs of residential new construction are higher in New York than in Chicago.
New York City's capital planning process requires modernization to better support long-term goals like housing production and infrastructure maintenance. The current system lacks transparency and clear justification for expansion projects, necessitating a shift toward rigorous economic analysis and systematic asset replacement cycles.
Recommendations related to Housing Production
The City should institutionalize and expand the PlaNYC approach to ensure long-term strategic planning for housing production and other infrastructure needs.
The City should develop a systematic plan for bringing all City-owned assets, including those related to housing, to a state of good repair.
The City should place all capital assets on appropriate replacement cycles and fund their replacement with operating revenues to support housing infrastructure longevity.
The City should pursue expansion projects based on clearly explained priorities and data demonstrating benefits that will accrue to the City, particularly for housing development initiatives.
Key Data
$5.1 Billion
— Value of New York City Housing Authority assets.
$83.7 Billion
— Total capital investments called for in the Ten-Year Capital Strategy.
$60.5 Billion
— Total value of City-controlled capital assets.
$26.5 Billion
— Full value of taxable real property in the City in fiscal year 2006.
New York ranks ninth among competitor states in the expansion of its housing stock, with 42.6 thousand new housing units authorized in 1999. While the state's five-year growth rate of 37.0% in new housing units is a positive trend, it remains in the middle tier of competitiveness compared to other large states.
Key Data
42.6
— thousands of new housing units authorized in New York in 1999
37.0%
— five-year growth rate for new housing units authorized in New York
1,663.5
— thousands of new housing units authorized in the United States in 1999
21.3%
— five-year growth rate for new housing units authorized in the United States
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