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governor of new york Kathy Hochul The governor is hoping the state will have a few carrots, not sticks, to spur housing construction this year, according to the $233 billion budget proposal the governor announced Tuesday.
Hochul plans to ask the state Legislature again to extend the deadline for developers with ongoing projects to take advantage of the expired 421a tax abatement program, this time by four years until 2031.
She also wants to create a $650 million “Housing Acceleration” fund to award communities that increase the supply of housing, with an initial $250 million to invest in former correctional facilities and other He proposed repurposing state property into affordable housing.
In a speech announcing the $233 billion budget, Hochul called New York’s housing shortage “inexcusable” and criticized the New York State Legislature for not doing more to solve the problem.
“When I submitted an innovative housing plan last year, many councilors said they would not support it,” Hochul said.
Hochul teased about his housing plans, although he kept the details sparse. Her State of the Union speech last week. Her housing proposals include creating new incentives to convert underutilized office buildings into housing and increasing floor-area ratios that would allow the city to build more densely in some areas. This includes paving the way around the cap and legalizing underground apartments.
But Hochul has given up on the idea of using the order to achieve her housing goals. A more ambitious proposal that included mandatory housing growth targets failed last year after a lengthy battle with Westchester County and Long Island lawmakers who were adamantly opposed. Now, Hochul’s new $650 million in funding will go to pro-development communities that are already actively participating.
“Some said they needed local control over housing decisions,” Hochul said. “Okay, let’s test that.”
Critics characterized Hochul’s 2024 housing plan as a watered down version of her previous housing goals.
“New York has suffered from a severe housing shortage for decades.” Jay MartinManaging Director. Community housing improvement programAn organization representing owners of rent-stabilized properties said in a statement. “The governor has said he is committed to addressing the shortage, but his plan lacks the bold vision of last year, when he was unable to do anything on housing due to an impasse with the Legislature.”
Hochul did not come up with a replacement for 421a, a tax break that proponents say helps spur the construction of affordable housing, but instead ordered the city to come up with an alternative.
What she did was propose giving developers who are already building projects in 2022 a four-year extension to complete those projects and still qualify for tax breaks.It could still be an uphill battle as Hochul failed to win the state. Congress agreed last year to push the deadline back to 2026..
The budget also includes a plan to continue Mr. Hochul’s $25 billion, five-year plan to build or preserve 100,000 homes in the state, which was launched when he took office in 2022. Funding continued to be allocated.
At the State of the Union, Hochul said he would allocate $500 million to develop 15,000 new housing units on federal land, including former prisons and the campus of the State University of New York. The budget begins in the first year with an allocation of $250 million.
Hochul wasn’t the only New Yorker to announce a budget Tuesday.That’s a rare double whammy, Mayor. Eric Adams He began the budgeting process, proposing a $109.4 billion city budget late in the afternoon, saying it would focus on “prioritizing the needs of working-class New Yorkers.”
Adams expects the city to bring in $2.9 billion more in revenue over the next two years than previously expected, but the city still faces a $7.1 billion budget gap. Adams cited the end of pandemic stimulus funds, spending from labor contracts and outpacing city spending as reasons. The asylum seeker crisis. (Hochul’s budget bill increases state support for New York City’s spending on immigrant services to $2.4 billion from $1.9 billion last year.)
Still, while the additional funding in the state budget allowed Adams to reverse some of his previously proposed cuts to city services, government agencies including Gov. Ministry of Education And that Department of Social Welfare The budget will continue to be reduced.
Mr Adams did not mention any new housing proposals in his budget speech. He issued another statement agreeing with Hochul’s latest tactic of encouraging more construction.
“I agree with Governor Hochul that the only way out of the housing crisis is to build more housing,” Adams said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “With the Governor’s support, we are confident that our partners in the state Legislature and City Council will also say ‘yes’ to the legislation our city needs to address our housing crisis with the urgency that New Yorkers demand. .”
Abigail Nehring can be contacted at: anehring@commercialobserver.com.
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