With the new year comes an event that New York housing advocates should face with dread: the annual session of the state legislature.
Dread, of course, because the legislature’s Democratic supermajorities are dominated by socialists who dream of government and — better yet — nonprofits entirely dependent on government taking over most housing in New York City.
Punitive rent controls and economically unworkable requirements to supply a large proportion of units in new apartment buildings at rents way below market levels are way stations to this glorious future.
Their housing cause for 2024 is “good cause eviction,” effectively statewide rent control where none yet exists.
That would teach investors who hoped to get a profit out of New York housing never to do so again.
Moreover, it would exacerbate housing shortages.
You’d think even left-leaning legislators would be OK with capitalist developers making hay in high-income parts of NYC and in the suburbs, where few poor people can be found.
But no — those are the parts of the state where Democrats and Republicans actually compete in legislative elections, threatening those supermajorities.
Elections are won by assuring current affluent residents that the leafy calm of their neighborhoods won’t be disturbed by anything as intrusive as an apartment building.
In the 2023 session, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a veritable land use revolution in the New York region. But she got none of her proposals enacted. AP
So what’s a hapless governor to do?
In the 2023 session, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a veritable land use revolution in the New York region. Recalcitrant local governments would have had apartments galore forced upon them.
It was a dream for YIMBYs (“Yes In My Backyard”, the housing movement favoring new developments) — but a political nonstarter.
She got none of her proposals enacted.
In a new brief for the Manhattan Institute, I propose that Hochul be targeted in her proposals, and pragmatic.
First, she should ask the legislature to support NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ ambitious zoning reform plan, called “Zoning for Housing Opportunity.”
The city needs three specific pieces of legislation, of which the most important is the reinstatement of the Section 421a tax exemption for new apartment buildings that include a percentage of units at below-market rents.
One proposal that could help put the affordable housing issue front and center: Letting New York City design its own tax breaks. TTstudio – stock.adobe.com
Indeed, in her State of the State Address, the Governor called for the reinstatement of some version of 421a, but the legislature tends to botch periodic 421a renewals, which costs the city money.
Thus, I propose that the city be allowed to design its own tax breaks.
That properly makes discussion of tax incentives part of the city’s own budget process, where affordable housing gets ranked against many other priorities threatened by budget cuts.
Second, the legislature should help the city in its future zoning reform efforts.
Adams’ current proposal must be the first of many to come.
However, by state law, each zoning reform effort comes with an expensive and time-consuming environmental study with thousands of pages.
These studies mainly benefit the consultants who prepare them, offering little useful information to the public.
In November 2023, NYC’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development announced the launch of its Plus One ADU pilot program, which will fund the creation of additional living space for growing and multigenerational families. Courtesy New York City Department of City Planning
ADUs, as illustrated in this sketch from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development, allows
second units on lots already occupied by single-family homes. Courtesy New York City Department of City Planning
What the public wants and needs is more housing, faster.
The legislature should waive the environmental study requirement in the city and set a high unit threshold for requiring such a study in the suburbs.
Third, the legislature should make clear to suburban communities that, while their concerns about
Hochul’s 2023 proposals have been heard, they’re not off the hook entirely for helping to solve the
state’s housing crisis.
I suggest two specific actions overriding local zoning.
One is to allow Accessory Dwelling Units, second units on lots now occupied by single-family homes.
Another way Hochul could help the city’s housing crisis: Ask state legislature to support NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ ambitious zoning reform plan, “Zoning for Housing Opportunity.” J. Messerschmidt for NY Post
The second is to cap minimum lot size, so that very large existing house lots can be subdivided.
These reforms would mirror those taken in several other states.
They would allow smaller units to be constructed that would be appealing to young adults starting out and seniors who want to “downsize” but stay in their communities.
Hochul’s actual legislative proposals in connection with the state budget give the city some, but not all, of the changes it wants.
On the critical property tax incentive, Hochul threw a spanner into the works: a requirement that the real estate industry and construction unions agree on wage rates by January 1, 2025.
That gives labor a first shot at the cornucopia of city tax breaks before anyone even begins to talk about affordable housing.
Hochul may be right about whose political support counts in Albany, but the legislature should let the city, not private interests, decide how much tax revenue it wants to give away, and to whom.
The pragmatic package of reforms proposed in my report wouldn’t solve the state’s housing problems, but represents a good start.
New Yorkers should also insist that legislators not link any good reforms to bad actions, like good cause eviction. We’ve spent decades digging the hole we’re in, and now it’s time to start climbing out.
Eric Kober is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2024/01/20/opinion/heres-what-could-actually-help-nycs-housing-crisis/