A range of critics have begun to pounce as Gov. Hochul and New York state lawmakers draw closer to a housing deal that would revive a tax break for developers and provide new good cause eviction protections to tenants.
The Democratic governor and Democratic legislative leaders in Albany have yet to strike a final deal on housing, but the broad brush strokes appear clear: a deal likely would include pared-down good cause protections to limit landlords’ ability to evict residents or sharply hike their rents, and would offer a tax break to developers that build set amounts of affordable housing.
The governor, a centrist, and the more left-leaning lawmakers who rule the Legislature have been buffeted on the one side by progressives who want stronger tenant protections and on the other by a real estate industry that is resistant to those protections.
Going into the weekend, lawmakers were pushing back against proposed exemptions that would prevent a large number New Yorkers from enjoying the tenant protections, according to a person with knowledge of the talks. The leaders of the Senate and Assembly spent much of the weekend negotiating with Hochul, who had supported a broader exemption.
Lawmakers said Monday that disagreements over the housing compromise continued to delay broader talks over the budget, which is already more than two weeks late.
But even without a final deal, critics are weighing in.
The Legal Aid Society said in a statement Friday that negotiations were headed toward a “blank check to the real estate industry and a raw deal for the countless New Yorkers from all across the state who are facing housing insecurity.”
“Gov. Hochul and the Legislature have completely squandered a moment, one that has been years in the making, to finally equip our clients with meaningful tenant protections,” said Legal Aid’s statement.
Aaron Sirulnick, chairman of the board of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents property owners, meanwhile said Albany was circling a deal that would hamstring landlords’ ability to renovate rent-stabilized buildings.
“Already burdened with escalating maintenance and compliance costs, rent-stabilized buildings — many at or approaching 100 years old — have nothing to applaud in Albany’s economics-denying attempt to placate everyone while actually accomplishing nothing,” Sirulnick said in a statement.
The Albany housing talks come as New York City grapples with a severe housing crunch that has hit working-class residents especially hard. Rental apartment vacancy is the lowest it has been in more than five decades, and half of New Yorkers are struggling to afford the basics.
Mayor Adams and his administration have been calling on Albany to secure a housing deal for months, saying they cannot holistically tackle the problem without the state’s help. A replacement of 421-a, the expired tax break, has been described as crucial given the slump in housing production.
“We know that the housing crisis has reached a fever pitch in this city,” Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer said Monday at a state budget briefing hosted by New York Law School. “That is heartbreaking, but I think helps show the need for action.”
Torres-Springer, who has expressed support for the tentative Albany deal, struck an optimistic tone, saying it could come together within days.
“The details of course matter. We have to get the policies right,” she said. “But what I’m hoping is that if this framework comes together we use it as an opportunity not to finger-point, not to armchair quarterback in every single way, but to say ‘let’s make use of these tools,’ because that’s what New Yorkers deserve.”
The Adams administration previously set a “moonshot” housing goal to create 500,000 new homes over the next decade. The mayor’s cornerstone housing plan, City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, is designed to spur more housing by loosening zoning restrictions. But it faced opposition even before a full draft text was released last week.
The plan will begin formal public review later this year.
