The Daily Dirt: Housing plan déjà vu

Kathy Hochul is once again asking for the legislature’s help in replacing 421a. 

The governor on Tuesday unveiled her 2024 housing agenda, and it looks a lot like last year’s, except there is less of it. As previously announced, the governor is not re-upping her housing growth mandates this year.

She still wants to replace 421a, and would work with the Adams administration to figure out the contours of the new program. Hochul also wants to extend the expired program’s construction deadline. The legislature did not want to do either of these things in the past two years.

This year, the Democratic leaders of the Senate and Assembly have already made clear that they want new tenant protections as part of a broader housing plan.

The governor’s speech and 181-page State of the State Book did not mention tenant protection in this context, and did not even include the word “eviction.” The governor could touch on this issue in her executive budget next week, but it would be very surprising if she included good cause eviction, given her reluctance to speak about the policy publicly.

Some lawmakers were unimpressed.

“Padding developer profits with tax breaks isn’t the only way to create the affordable housing New York so desperately needs. In fact, it’s a pretty inefficient way to do it,” Assembly member Emily Gallagher tweeted after the speech. “Stay tuned for a very different approach.”

For now, it seems the governor and legislature are on separate tracks.

The governor’s 2024 housing agenda included a few new items. Among them:

— A unit to investigate Section 8 discrimination claims

— New criteria for localities seeking discretionary funds. They will need to get certified as “pro-housing.”

— A bill to bar insurance companies from basing coverage of buildings on the source of tenants’ income or existence of affordable housing.

What we’re thinking about: Who will take over 180 Maiden Lane? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: In 1842, Charles Dickens traveled to New York as part of a five-month trip to various U.S. cities. The New York City chapter of the book that resulted from his journey, “American Notes,” described wild pigs roaming Broadway.

Elsewhere in New York…

— Five people were injured Tuesday when a crane collapsed at 3880 Ninth Avenue in Inwood, Gothamist reports. One person was seriously injured, with the others reported minor injuries.

— A report by the city’s Department of Investigation found that the Adams administration failed to provide beds for at least 11 homeless families in 2022, violating the city’s right to shelter mandate, Politico New York reports. City Hall confirmed only five of those violations, according to the report. The report alleges that the Adams and de Blasio administration committed unreported violations of the mandate, kept poor records and manipulated statistics from the Department of Homeless Services.

— The City Council and Legal Aid Society are poised to sue the Adams administration over its refusal to implement an expansion to the city’s housing voucher program passed over the mayor’s veto, Crain’s reports. 

Closing Time

Residential: The priciest residential closing Tuesday was $6.3 million for a house at 445 Fifth Street in Park Slope.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $57 million for a five-story building at 350 East 10th Street, formerly P.S. 64, in the East Village.New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Tuesday was a condo at 845 United Nations Plaza in Turtle Bay asking $15 million. Serhant has the listing. — Jay Young