Eric Adams promises to “clean up order” in New York
Last year, we declared that New York would lead America's housing industry. Our city must remain a place where every New Yorker can find a place to live. We've set a goal of building 500 new homes for New Yorkers over the next decade, and to achieve that goal we must fight for new housing, new zoning, and innovation.
People say that in New York there is not enough space to build new houses, but if you look hard enough, you can find it, because after the pandemic there are a lot of empty office buildings or even entire floors. We can turn them into housing that New Yorkers of all income levels can afford. Converting empty offices into apartments will bring life back to our business districts and allow people to live close to where they work. The New Plan for New York, which Governor Hochul and I introduced last year, is an office redevelopment to revitalize our downtowns and maintain the vitality of the city. In addition, we have made affordable housing a central part of our workforce program.
We introduced our Housing Our Neighbors program to help New Yorkers get safe homes faster. We also launched the “Get Stuff Built” program to accelerate the construction of new housing in all five boroughs. But we said from the beginning that we couldn't solve this problem without the help of New York State. That's why we are so grateful for Governor Hochul's partnership. She included in her proposed budget a number of key investments and policies that will help us solve the housing crisis. These investments should be included in the budget that the state will adopt in the coming weeks. As state legislators consider the budget, we will continue to push Albany, New York, to repeal regulations that prevent office conversions and lift state restrictions that prevent us from building more housing in midtown Manhattan. We will also insist on helping property owners make needed repairs in exchange for future housing affordability.
We've already spoken with our partners in the State Legislature in Albany; without their help, we simply cannot build affordable housing at the rate we need to. But if we work together, we can achieve the necessary support for residents, secure basements and basements, and make a number of other important changes.
Since 1920, we have built 750 new homes - more than triple the number in the last 000 years. We can do this again. We must do it again for the sake of New York and all New Yorkers.
Author: Irina Proskurina
