Gov. Hochul making another attempt at a NYS affordable housing initiative

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul began a new game plan last week to greatly expand housing affordability statewide after her more aggressive effort last year was thrown for a loss by the State Legislature.

“Now,” she said at her budget presentation Tuesday, “it’s a game of a lot of first downs.”

Hochul’s latest plan includes incentives, rather than mandates, for local governments, particularly in suburbs on Long Island, to embrace apartment and housing projects. It’s already attracting some strong support as well as opposition.

Hochul and fellow Democrats who control the Senate and Assembly soon will negotiate the issue as part of the state budget due by April 1.

Much of the potential housing development statewide, particularly in the suburbs, has been blocked for decades by local officials allied with state legislators of both parties. The officials say they want to maintain the character of neighborhoods and avoid overcrowding neighborhoods now zoned for single families, as well as fearing increased traffic. Hochul and many of her supporters say long-standing racism is also an undercurrent in some of the practices to keep mostly white suburbs as they are.

The governor said many local governments are excited to join the new effort and will be part of a list of “pro-housing communities” she will release in the coming weeks.

Hochul’s new proposal would put local government officials who oppose her housing initiative in a difficult position. She proposes that if local governments want any part of the $650 million in state grants she controls, they would have to meet requirements to be “certified pro-housing communities.” Municipalities would have to approve housing projects or embrace efforts to attract more housing to be certified.

The grants come from state programs, including the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and the Long Island Investment Fund, and provide money for new infrastructure and other programs that local governments use to enhance neighborhoods without relying solely on local tax revenue.

In July, Hochul issued an executive order that does much the same thing, but it is voluntary. Municipalities that qualified for the grants were given a priority in awarding the money. She has said some municipalities have been enticed, but the voluntary program wasn’t enough to tackle the need for more housing.

“I will make a pro-housing designation a requirement — not an option — but a requirement for municipalities to access over $650 million in discretionary funds,” Hochul said Tuesday. “We’ll also dedicate $500 million in capital funds to develop up to 15,000 housing units on state-owned property.”

She also plans to continue to encourage developers to erect “transit-oriented developments” near commuter rail stations. These projects can attract residents with few automobiles, reducing potential traffic congestion that has been a major concern of opponents of her housing proposals. Projects in Westchester and in Hicksville were announced last year.

Meanwhile, Hochul is girding for another fight.

The opposition is expected to be led by the suburban officials who persuaded their political allies in the State Legislature to reject her “housing compact” last year. Hochul had proposed to create 800,000 new units over 10 years, but that proposal included a state panel empowered to override local zoning decisions. The panel was opposed by local officials and enough state legislators to derail the proposal.

The panel isn’t part of her new plan, but her ideas still face opposition.

“It’s just as bad as the first one,” State Sen. Alexis Weik (R-Sayville) said. She said no single plan works across the diverse state and that Hochul’s efforts to improve affordability should target taxes instead.

“There are areas upstate that welcome this and others on Long Island who say, ‘Stay the hell out,’ ” Weik said. “She should stop trying to force housing down the throats of local government.”

Weik and other Republicans and suburban elected officials also successfully blocked Hochul’s 2022 proposal to authorize more “accessory dwelling units” regardless of local zoning prohibitions. ADUs include “in-law apartments” and backyard cottages created in neighborhoods zoned for single-family use.

Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth, a Republican, said the issue is more complicated than it may seem. He said his community has housing proposals that could be approved, but the town needs the state’s money to build sewers first. He said projects are bottled up because of a lack of sewers required by the county Health Department.

“We keep an open mind on everything, but every development project has to start with sewers,” he said. “Right after the check clears for infrastructure, we’ll have a housing conversation with the governor.”

Smyth and Joseph Saladino, Republican town supervisor in Oyster Bay, said they also remain protective of local control, but each cracked the door open a bit by saying they are willing to discuss Hochul’s new proposal.

“Her first two attempts at pushing housing policy in suburban communities crashed and burned before they even got onto the runway,” said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies. “They just didn’t recognize the political appeal of local control that Democrats and Republicans feel strongly about.

“Her new approach has a good chance of not only getting off the runway, but actually getting in the air,” Levy added. “It recognizes that using carrots, not sticks, can work with communities looking to develop housing … if they have the resources to deal with sewers and other important infrastructure.”

Hochul’s goal has some potent political and public support.

Progressive Democratic voters and advocates for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers as well as politically influential developers and building trade unions support her current proposal.

In September, a poll showed 77% of Democratic voters, 71% of Republican voters and 82% of voters not enrolled in a major party said the lack of affordable housing was one of the state’s major problems. Drilling down, the Siena College poll also found 75% of suburban voters believed housing affordability was a major problem.

“I don’t think we have another option here on Long Island,” said Hunter Gross, president of the Huntington Township Housing Coalition. For nearly 25 years, the nonprofit group has tried to spur development of affordable new and rehabilitated homes and apartments for low- and moderate-income families.

“For decades we’ve had a major housing crisis on Long Island,” Gross said. “The gradual pace is not going to cut it.”

The independent Citizens Budget Commission supports Hochul’s new proposal, although the group is “still disappointed the legislature apparently doesn't have the appetite for something like the compact,” said Patrick Orecki, the commission’s director of state studies.

Some progressive advocates also say Hochul’s new proposal doesn’t go far enough. The Fiscal Policy Institute and Housing For All group criticized the plan as timid, when mandates and greater funding is needed to force structural change to create more housing.

They note that other states facing housing affordability crises, including New Jersey, found that incentives alone don’t work. California and Minneapolis, as examples, are among the states and cities that have abolished single-family zoning to allow more multifamily dwellings.

“Incentive-oriented programs here and in other states haven’t worked,” Gross said. “But if it is the plan coming from the state, hopefully our local municipalities will finally do the right thing … if they don’t, it’s really a disservice.”

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.