By Forum Staff
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Friday announced City for All, the legislative body’s housing plan to “holistically” address New Yorkers’ wide range of housing challenges with policy actions and investments.
The council plan promises to advance a more affordable, livable, and sustainable city for all New Yorkers, calling for deeper affordability in housing, increased affordable homeownership and housing preservation efforts, investments in community infrastructure, stronger tenant protections, better use of housing vouchers, and increased capacity for housing agencies. The housing proposal is the council’s response to Mayor Eric Adams’ City of Yes zoning-reform plan, which, according to the speaker, lacks “complementary housing investments and policies that confront the housing issues facing New Yorkers and their neighborhoods.”
City for All calls for:
Deepen Affordability of Housing Production
- Significantly Increase Funding in HPD Five-Year Capital Plan for Affordable Housing Programs and Deeper Affordability
- Deepen Affordability Targets
- Make Deep Affordability Option 3 of MIH Stand-Alone
- Require Affordability in Large Transit Oriented Developments and Town Center Developments
- Strengthen Support for Faith- and Community-Based Organizations Affordable Housing Development
- Increase Funding and Support to Strengthen Community Land Trusts
Support Affordable Homeownership
- Double funding for HPD HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program
- Expand Funding for HPD HomeFix to provide financing to working- and middle-class homeowners for maintenance and repairs to preserve homeownership
- Increase Affordable Homeownership Production through increased funding
- Increase Funding of Legal Services for Homeowners
Invest in Infrastructure to Support Growth
- Commit Significant Capital Funding for DEP Infrastructure, Open Space and Street Upgrades
- Make increased investments in public transit, including infrastructure, access to reduced fare programs, bus service, etc.
Strengthen Affordable Housing Preservation
- Significantly Increase Capital Funding for NYCHA Section 9 Units
- Increase Funding for HPD Preservation
- Incentivize Return of Vacant Units
- Significantly Increase Funding for Mitchell-Lamas Preservation
Bolster Utilization of Housing Vouchers
- Use Vouchers to Help New Yorkers at Greatest Risk and Fix Bureaucratic Issues
- Establish Voucher Incentives and Set-Asides
- Significantly Increase Funding to Combat Housing Discrimination
Protect Tenants
- Significantly Enhance Right to Counsel Funding
- Restore and Strengthen Anti-Harassment Tenant Protection (AHTP) Program
- Increase Funding for Non-profit Tenant Organizing
Fund Housing Agency Capacity
- Enhance HPD Development Capacity
- Strengthen DOB and HPD Housing Inspections
- Increase Funding for Neighborhood Plans
The Big Apple is facing a severe housing crisis, with a citywide housing vacancy rate of 1.4 percent– the lowest percentage since 1968. The lack of housing is greatest for the most affordable homes, and most New York City renters are rent-burdened (paying 30 percent or more of their income on rent). Record homelessness, rising evictions, and widespread housing insecurity are impacting New Yorkers across the city, resulting in less safety and stability for communities.
“In order to ensure everyone in our city has safe and stable housing to continue contributing to the strength of our city and its economy, we must go beyond zoning reforms to address all the unrelenting housing pressures that leave New Yorkers struggling to afford finding or staying in homes,” Speaker Adams said.