Hochul promotes housing plan on Long Island tour as lawmakers worry about density and tenant rights

ALBANY — Gov. Hochul spoke about transit, zoning and affordability Thursday as she traveled to Long Island to implement her ambitious plans to tackle New York City’s housing crisis.

The governor joined local leaders when she visited Patchogue in Suffolk and spoke about parts of her New York housing deal, a plan she said would set the state on track to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade.

“It’s ambitious, but I know we can achieve this together,” the governor said a day after lawmakers criticized the plan and questioned it during a budget hearing in Albany.

Governor Hochul talks about his New York City Housing Agreement plan in Patchogue, NY Thursday.

Hochul, a Democrat, has rebuffed critics who have drawn a proposal that would require every city, town and village in the state to set a target for the number of new homes to be built over a three-year period as a top-down approach. that communities will be able to build as they wish.

“But municipalities, you can do whatever you want, just by creating some growth. And yes, people say, “Why? Why? Why?’ Because the status quo didn’t work,” the governor said.

Under the plan, downstate areas, including Westchester, Putnam, and Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties, would have to increase their housing stock by 3% every three years.

Upstate cities will have to meet a 1% growth target every three years.

Governor Hochul visits Patchog in Suffolk, March 2, 2023

The Governor also wants more apartment buildings near MTA subways and train stations. Her proposal requires municipalities with MTA rail stations to rezone within half a mile of the station so that there are at least 25 homes per acre.

The proposal includes $250 million for infrastructure to provide increased density, including sewers, schools, and roadworks.

On Thursday, Hochul’s office issued a pair of press releases with comments from more than two dozen officials praising her plan.

But Senator Jack Martins (R-Nassau) called the governor’s housing deal “mandatory” and “universal” during Wednesday’s housing budget hearing.

“We view this as an attack on our suburban communities,” Martins said, interrogating RuthAnne Visnauskas, New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal Commissioner, about location and density.

Senator Jack Martins in 2015.

Criticism has also come from Hochul’s left, as progressive Democrats are calling for more tenant protections to be included in the plan.

Many liberal lawmakers and supporters are pushing for an “Our Homes, Our Power” legislative package that includes a “good cause” eviction, a long-awaited piece of legislation that will give tenants protection from unfair evictions and the right to challenge unfair rents. increases.

Assemblyman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), Chair of the Assembly’s Housing Committee, said during Wednesday’s hearing that she would like the Governor to support more programs “to help tenants across the state stay in their homes and help new people find housing.” “. a place they can afford to buy.”

Rosenthal also wondered why the compact home does not specifically push for more affordable units.

Hochul pushed for housing on the same day that the Court of Appeal upheld a lower court decision striking down the city of Albany’s good cause eviction law.

A five-judge panel determined that local good works laws take precedence over state law, meaning that such protections must be approved at the state level.

Defenders said the decision only underscored the importance of persuading the Democratic-led legislature to take strong action as lawmakers negotiate budget details with Hochul before the state’s April 1 fiscal deadline.

With Albany’s tenants in limbo, this court ruling only makes it more urgent to accept the Good Cause across the state. If cities cannot pass Good Cause, the state must act now to pass this important legislation,” said Sia Weaver, campaign coordinator for tenant advocacy group Housing Justice for All.

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