Adams and Hochul unveil action plan for housing, business district

The mayor and governor shared a stage — no, really — to unveil an action plan Wednesday for New York, outlining a series of steps to create housing and improve the office market’s bleak outlook.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams’ “‘New’ New York: Making New York Work for Everyone” action plan includes 40 proposals aimed at, among other things, increasing housing supply and making business districts more attractive.

At an event held by the Association for a Better New York, they emphasized that unlike previous administrations, which made headlines for trading barbs or ignoring each other, they would fight for the proposals together.

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“The era of the governor of New York and the mayor of New York fighting each other is over,” Hochul said. “Instead we are going to fight for the people we represent.”

In the plan, the mayor and governor reinforce their support for replacing the property tax break 421a with a program that “enables multifamily rental development while requiring affordable housing.” The report also proposes an incentive like the expired J-51 program to finance renovations in multifamily housing.

(NYC Mayor Office)

Citing high office vacancy rates, the report emphasizes the need to make it easier for developers to convert outdated office space in Midtown and other business districts into housing.

It indicates that the city and state will explore incentive programs for such conversions, as well as to encourage businesses to improve existing office stock and support the growth of businesses in “high-priority” sectors.

The city and state will also push to increase mass transit options and housing around employment hubs to cut commute times — potentially encouraging workers to make the trek to the office. However, the report floated making libraries more attractive for remote work.

Other proposals include removing the cap on the residential floor area ratio as well as allowing accessory dwelling units — two ideas that Hochul tried to sell to state legislators last spring.

The report also suggests mandating new design specifications for sidewalk sheds to “increase street openness and vibrancy without sacrificing safety.” The Adams administration plans to create a new “director of public realm” position focusing on quality-of-life and other issues in business districts.

(NYC Mayor Office)

The governor and mayor may agree on these changes, but that does not mean lawmakers will cooperate. Many of the housing proposals are recycled from the agenda unveiled by the governor in January. The city is pursuing citywide text amendments and other zoning changes to encourage the creation of more affordable housing, but many of the other initiatives — such removing the FAR cap — require state action.

Both executives acknowledged that enacting the plan’s proposals would not be easy.

“Good ideas don’t always make it over the finish line in Albany,” Hochul said.

In the past two weeks, the governor and mayor have positioned themselves as pro-housing champions and have outlined, in broad strokes, their priorities in this arena. The mayor announced a goal of creating 500,000 homes in the city over the next decade through various changes to speed development.

(NYC Mayor Office)

The governor this month promised a “bold and audacious” housing plan, to be revealed during her State of the State address Jan. 10. On Wednesday, she set a goal of creating 800,000 new homes over the next decade. These housing targets, however, face an uphill battle, given New York’s status as “a national leader in blocking housing,” as Hochul put it recently.

The report was inspired by recommendations from a panel led by former deputy mayors Richard Buery and Dan Doctoroff and including various real estate professionals, among them the Real Estate Board of New York’s Jim Whelan, Tishman Speyer’s Rob Speyer, CBRE’s Mary Ann Tighe and SL Green Realty’s Marc Holliday.