Mayor de Blasio Offers Bold Housing Plan in State of the City Address

NEW YORK CITY—In his second State of the City address, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday his administration intends to tackle the high cost of housing in the city by building or preserving 200,000 affordable units in the next 10 years.

The de Blasio administration's goal over the next decade is also to add 160,000 market-rate housing units in the city.

“While the state of our city is strong, we face a profound challenge. If we fail to be a city for everyone, we risk losing what makes New York, New York," Mayor de Blasio said. "And nothing more clearly expresses the inequality gap—the opportunity gap—than the soaring cost of housing."

The mayor said that in 2014, 56% of rental households in New York were spending more than 30% of their income on housing—up 10 percentage points in a little more than a decade.

“Now spending more than 30% of your income on housing means you're officially 'rent-burdened,' the mayor said. “That's an apt description, since the cost of living is becoming a heavier and heavier burden—not just on wallets, but on hopes and aspirations, as well.”

The mayor targeted specific sections of Manhattan and the outer boroughs, saying that six neighborhoods—East New York (Brooklyn), Long Island City (Queens), Jerome Avenue Corridor (Bronx), Flushing West (Queens), and newly announced Bay Street Corridor (Staten Island) and East Harlem (Manhattan)—would be subject to new mandatory affordable requirements that require all new housing built in the rezoned areas to include affordable housing. City officials say that the first rezoning will enter the land use process in the spring.

“If we do not act—and act boldly—New York risks taking on the qualities of a gated community,” the mayor said. “A place defined by exclusivity, rather than opportunity. And we cannot let that happen.”

The mayor also said the city will invest $200 million in affordable housing, new infrastructure and job creation initiatives in the Lower Concourse area of the Southwest Bronx, which will include the construction of a new public open space, roads, local infrastructure upgrades, and remediation to spur development of up to 4,000 units of affordable housing. The design phase of the program will launch in the coming fiscal year.

The city also will work with communities in Queens to develop a new vision for the Sunnyside Yards. He called the development of the yards' 200 acres a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build thousands of new affordable homes. The city will engage local stakeholders, the MTA, Amtrak and private owners to launch a feasibility study this month to determine the costs and infrastructure needs required to redevelop the rail yards.

Other housing related initiatives mentioned in the State of the City address included:

• $36 million in funding to provide free legal representation in housing court to all tenants in rezoned neighborhoods facing harassment, building neglect or eviction proceedings.

• A commitment by the city to end homelessness by the end of 2015 for the approximately 1,000 veterans living in shelters and on New York City streets.

• The creation or preservation of 10,000 units of senior housing, supported by a $400-million capital investment as well as Section 8 vouchers. The first projects, many under a new Senior Affordable Rental Apartments (SARA) program, will begin in 2015.

• The Department of Cultural Affairs will invest $30 million in 1,500 affordable live/work spaces for artists in the coming decade. The city will also convert underutilized city-owned assets into 500 below-market artist workspaces, creating new cultural hubs for communities to share in performances and arts education.

Real Estate Board of New York president Steven Spinola called the mayor's goal for 160,000 market-rate units—above and beyond the 200,000 affordable units the administration plans to build or preserve over the next decade—“bold.”

“Building more new market rate and affordable housing, and preserving and enhancing our current inventory of affordable housing is the only way to address our decades-long housing shortage,” Spinola said. “Without such bold initiatives, the city's housing market will tighten further and become even more expensive. Our industry stands ready to work with the mayor and other stakeholders to put shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky to tackle this important goal.”

Added Kathryn Wylde, president & CEO of the Partnership for New York City, “The high volume of affordable housing production achieved during the Koch era was the result of robust public-private partnerships. A collaborative approach is even more important today since city government has little inventory of cheap land and construction costs have skyrocketed.

"While it was not explicit in the Mayor's speech," she continued, "I trust his administration understands that forging partnerships with the development and financial industries is the only way to accomplish his housing goals. In terms of other plans outlined today, the five borough ferry system and acceleration of bus rapid transit are transit improvements that the Partnership has long recommended and we heartily endorse.”