2023 Policy Agenda
Legalize “missing middle” housing across the city and state
Across New York, state and local laws prohibit new housing of many types – from backyard cottages in suburban areas to shared facilities in Manhattan to small apartment buildings in the vast majority of the state. New York cannot fix its housing crisis without removing these unnecessary and outdated barriers, which prevent the simplest and least expensive types of housing from being built.
- In New York City, we support the ongoing process to make significant changes to the City’s Zoning Resolution, known as Zoning for Housing Opportunity. Open New York will be advocating to allow three- and four-family homes and small apartment buildings throughout the city, and to eliminate existing bans on small studios and Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) residences.
Make the process to build new homes faster, cheaper, and easier
Over the past 50 years, all levels of government have made the process of building new housing more difficult – without analyzing whether these requirements provide safety, health, or other benefits. To solve our housing crisis, we must make the process of getting shovels into the ground faster, cheaper, and easier.
- In New York City, we will push the City to eliminate parking mandates that are attached to new housing developments, as part of the Zoning for Housing Opportunity initiative. Many cities and some states have recently eliminated parking mandates; New York City has the lowest car ownership rate and the best public transit in the country, and it needs to catch up with the rest of the country in prioritizing housing over parking. In addition, we support the Mayor’s proposed changes to the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) process, so small housing developments do not have to spend a year and tens of thousands of dollars on unnecessary reviews.
- In Albany, we support legislation to fast-track the construction of walkable and sustainable apartments near rail and bus stations, which quickly connect the suburbs to the biggest job and entertainment center in the country. We also support a complete overhaul of the relationship between the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) and new housing (S9607), and the elimination of parking mandates across the state (S7574/A9246).
Ensure every neighborhood contributes to New York’s housing growth
Recent patterns of housing development in New York City and State have been wildly inequitable, pushing almost all new housing into a few neighborhoods while leaving many others – including some of the best-resourced areas – untouched. The City and State must ensure that areas with access to good jobs, health care, parks, and schools are developing housing opportunities for everyone.
- In New York City, we will work with the Mayor, Speaker, and Borough Presidents to develop local housing production targets that align with elected officials’ goals of doubling housing production in the city and re-balancing inequitable development patterns.
- In Albany, we support legislation to create a new statewide process for reviewing sustainable, mixed-income housing projects (S7635A), which would enable a new State agency to move these projects forward in the face of local obstructionism. In addition, we will fight to remove arbitrary limits on residential density in New York City and create an expedited process to bring Mandatory Inclusionary Housing to the land currently affected by these limits. If implemented, these changes will encourage the creation of an unprecedented level of affordable housing in the highest-income areas of NYC. Finally, we support comprehensive property tax reform in New York City in order to address the inequitable taxes on rental apartments and homes in low-income neighborhoods.
Empower tenants with stronger rights and enforcement
Too many New Yorkers enter 2023 fearing that they will not be able to afford their next lease, while others are unable to find a home because of unchecked discrimination. Our housing options must also mean the option to stay in one’s home if they wish.
- In New York City, we will push for new local laws to expand anti-discrimination protections, including the Fair Chance for Housing Act (Intro. 632-2022), which will help hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who have criminal records find stable housing, and we will seek new transparency requirements on the co-op board application process. In addition, we will fight for more City staff to punish landlords and brokers who discriminate against New Yorkers with housing vouchers; non-profit investigators have found countless examples of this behavior across the city, while the City has let resources for this work dwindle.
- In Albany, we will support the growing coalition of New Yorkers who are fighting for "Good Cause" tenant protections in unregulated apartments (S3082/A5573), and we will push for tenants to have the first opportunity to purchase their buildings if and when they are offered for sale (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, S3157/A5971).
Strengthen government agencies to fast-track social housing
Public sector capacity is critical to achieving the housing conditions that New Yorkers need. Without government staff and resources, critical affordable housing will not be created or preserved, vacant City-owned buildings will not be re-activated, and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who apply for affordable housing will not be processed quickly.
- In New York City, we will fight for the City’s housing and homelessness agencies to be exempted from ongoing staff cuts.
- In Albany, we will advocate for legislation to give the City more flexible powers to build and preserve better affordable housing, and we will support the creation of a Social Housing Development Authority, which will develop new, government-owned housing models.
Read more about the policy agenda release here.
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