Hochul Ready For A 'Bold' Fight To Battle State's Housing Crisis

LONG ISLAND, NY — Gov. Kathy Hochul is ready for a fight as she rolls up her sleeves to tackle the housing crisis that has many New Yorkers packing their bags and heading for states where jobs and housing are ripe for the taking.

According to Hochul, while job opportunities currently in New York, the housing situation is bleak.

Speaking at the New York Housing Conference Awards recently, Hochul said throughout her stints in local government, she's embraced the fight for affordable housing, taking on NIMBYism — or the "Not In My Backyard" mentality — and rezoning and leading the charge for housing creation.

Since taking office last year, Hochul said she and her administration have carried that charge forward.

"I want to make sure people still want to come to New York, that they can have a job and build a future," she said. "That's not just aspirational; it's what been doing since Day 1 in my first State of the State."

Since taking office after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned after sexual harassment accusations, Hochul said affordable housing has been "front and center", with her pledge to make the "largest investment in New York State's history" by preserving and creating 100,000 affordable housing units, to the tune of $25 billion over five years. "It was bold," she said. But, she added, there is a sense of urgency that cannot be ignored. "We have a finite amount of time to correct the wrongs of the past."

Hochul added that she has cut the red to tape to accelerate New York hotel conversion to housing stock — and has tackled discriminatory housing practice across the state. "It is not a new phenomenon but it should be a non-phenomenon," she said.

Growing up in western New York, Hochul said her parents were activists, inviting "people from communities of color to sit on our front porch in an all-white neighborhoods. That's the environment I grew up on. But discriminatory housing practices still exist today. We have to call it out and try to rectify it."

Long Island has long been considered one of the most racially segregated suburbs in the nation, and a new report released in 2021 by the State Senate reviewed evidence of discrimination in real estate practices that may be contributing. The committee was tasked with creating the final report on Fair Housing and Discrimination on Long Island. The investigation points out that Long Island has 291 communities but the vast majority of its black residents live in just 11 of those. The committee offered a multi-step recommendation to address the problems.

During her speech, Hochul pointed to initiatives she has spearheaded, such as an eviction prevention program; $539 million for a homeowners' assistance fund; and $100 million in rent supplements for people "still reeling from the pandemic."

She added: "I'm not here to make history. I'm here to make a difference."

Her goal is that all New Yorkers have the same advantages she had, growing up, Hochul said. Her parents started off in a trailer park and eventually, bought a little Cape Cod house as her father got an education and their lives improved. "I watched my parents' success unfold from the progression of homes they could afford," Hochul said. "And it was the fact that there were homes to move into, plentiful housing."

Later, when factories closed in the 80s and paychecks disappeared, people were forced to leave their homes, Hochul said.

Today, New Yorkers are facing a dearth of housing that has many forced to leave, she said.

"We have to accept the fact that we are once again staring down a crisis," Hochul said. "This new crisis could potentially block families from achieving their dreams; they may go elsewhere. And this time, it's not a lack of jobs. It's the opposite. The jobs are here, but the housing is not."

When families have to move far from one another, with grandparents unable to see their grandchildren, Hochul said it symbolizes a breaking down of the social order."

She added: "We are in the midst of a housing crisis that has been decades in the making."

In New York State, Hochul said, jobs are created at three times the rate of housing; there are 3.25 million jobs but only 400,000 units of housing. "Do you see the disconnect? We now have jobs, but where to put the workers? Where are they supposed to live?"

Other states such as New Jersey and Connecticut have created enough housing to accommodate the new jobs in their states, Hochul said.

Her goal is to leave no stone unturned to find solutions, Hochul said; she and her team have been looking at models nationwide.

"As a result of a deliberative, lengthy process, we arrived at a very bold and impactful initiative. The ideas are not easy at all, but they are necessary," she said.a.

She did not immediately discuss details — those will be revealed in her State of the State address. Hochul said to think of her talk as a "trailer for a movie that will premier in January. But it has to be an Oscar-winner. We have no choice. This has to be extraordinary." She described "bold and audacious" action as necessary.

What caused the crisis, Hochul said, was not a lack of state funding; New York is also a leader in tenant protections, she said.

"Here's the real problem," she said. "We're a national leader in blocking housing."

According to Hochul, the Brookings Institution said the suburban counties that surround New York City "may be the worst in the country in terms of regulatory and zoning hurdles. New York is essentially in a league of its own when it comes to constricting housing development."

Other cities including Denver, Seattle, Austin, and others, she said, are developing new housing at a rate two to four times higher than New York.

And while the lack of affordable housing in the New York City region is "staggering, it's even worse in the suburbs," Hochul said. "There has been virtually no new housing created in large swaths for years. Compared with suburban areas across the country, Long Island and Westchester are at the very bottom of the list."

Along with the dearth of housing, there are also escalating home prices and rental costs, Hochul said. Even upstate, her own young staff "can't find affordable rentals. The idea of buying a house is so out of their reach."

New York, Hochul said, is in competition with other parts of the country to attract and retain the top talent. Part of New Jersey and other states have built four to five times more units of housing per capita that suburban Long Island has.

It would be one thing if the comparison were made to California, an impossible commute for New Yorkers. But for those states that are geographically close "that have done the work and built the inventory — they are the ones poised to capture the talent for jobs that are going to our state. As governor, I don't want to see that. I want to see them living in our state. I want their grandchildren to live here," Hochul said.

Unemployment is only 2.2 percent on Long Island right now, Hochul said. "The jobs are there, they are looking for workers — but they can't find housing."

In New York there is an "unrealized capacity for more housing production and not taking advantage of that is unconscionable and morally reprehensible," with impacts that could be economically "catastrophic," Hochul said.

A lack of housing and a dramatic increase in rental costs have led to what can potentially become an "out-migration crisis," Hochul said.

Hochul wants to give kids the same opportunity for advancement earlier generations enjoyed.

"This is our opportunity to seize," she said. "This doesn’t have to be our destiny. Stop letting the old ways be our ways. We need to have this common vision."

She added: "I actually like a good fight, and I'm up for the task. There has been NIMBYism on steroids, those who said, 'Don't come to my community, because you don't look like me. I don't want you her.' That has to be over," she said. "We need to act boldly. There's no kicking the can up the road. I'm picking up this can and saying, 'We're going to fix this.' I will not be deterred."