With the passage of good cause eviction, the DSA is turning its attention to social housing.
On Friday, the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America launched a new campaign: House the Future.
Its focus is the Social Housing Authority bill introduced this year by Assembly member Emily Galllagher and Sen. Cordell Cleare. The measure would create a public benefit corporation to renovate buildings or acquire land to construct permanently affordable housing.
Across the authority’s portfolio, no more than one-third of units could go to households earning more than 100 percent of the area median income. At least 25 percent must be made up of homes for those earning 130 percent of the area median income or less. Overall, AMI would be limited to 165 percent and annual rent increases capped at 2 percent for affordable units.
Setting aside, for a moment, the challenges of financing such housing, the campaign has its work cut out for it in changing public housing’s image. When people think about public housing, they think of decades of disinvestment and the well-documented mismanagement of the New York City Housing Authority.
Bringing the word “social” into the mix also does not play well with some audiences.
The stated reason for the bill, and a premise of DSA’s support, is that the private housing market has “failed to build enough housing to create affordability across all levels of income in New York.”
“We believe that housing should be a public good, and we should have a say in how it is built, and how our rents are used,” Genevieve Rand, one of the campaign’s organizers, told me this week.
Of course, for the state to take on the role of developer at scale, a lot would have to happen. The state would need to dedicate significant funds to the authority (the initial ask this year was $5 billion). New York previously had a public benefits corporation that built tens of thousands of homes in the 1960s, but it relied on substantial federal funding, which by law can no longer be used to build public housing.
The Social Housing Authority also would not cut out the private market entirely: Private investors would buy the bonds issued by the authority to finance projects. Work would be contracted out to experienced builders, designers and developers.
Real estate professionals have been critical of the bill and similar efforts.
“Socialists can’t spend all day attacking how the state runs and then immediately say the state is the only one that can solve our problems and be taken seriously,” Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program, tweeted on X this week.
State Democrats showed support for social housing models in this year’s state budget process. Ultimately they included the New York Housing for the Future Homeownership Program in the budget, setting aside $75 million for the program. It aims to create limited equity co-ops on land controlled by the state, a municipality, a nonprofit or a community land trust. It was billed as Mitchell Lama 2.0.
That measure, along with the Social Housing Authority bill, has garnered support from some of the city’s construction unions. It is too early to say if it will gain traction next legislative session, but supporters are getting an early start. Social housing may also play a role in the mayoral race next year. Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against Adams, told me he hopes to promote affordable homeownership models, including limited equity co-ops.
What we’re thinking about: Back from the Hamptons? Coming to terms with the end of summer? Tell us what we should be covering as everyone gets back to business. Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: There is a show about something that could kill me. “Lifeline,” a musical about penicillin, debuted off-Broadway this week. It features a chorus of actual city health care workers.
Elsewhere in New York…
— To curb the rat population, the city has outfitted some parks with trash containers shaped to fit pizza boxes, Gothamist reports. The first one was installed in Father Demo Square in Greenwich Village (across from a Joe’s Pizza). Others will follow at Loreto Playground in the Bronx, Sobelsohn Park Playground in Queens, Jennifer’s Playground on Staten Island and Saratoga Park in Brooklyn.
— Officials are investigating an explosion in a Brooklyn basement that injured at least four people. The blast, which originated in a basement in a two-family home on East 37th Street, was likely caused by a gas leak, CBS News reports. The Department of Buildings issued a vacate order for three addresses on the block and a violation for a basement apartment.
— The state Department of Financial Services approved increases to health insurance premiums that will raise rates by an average of 12.7 percent for individual plans and 8.4 percent for small group policies, the Times Union reports.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Friday was $4.2 million for a 3,622-square-foot townhouse at 66 Reade Street in Tribeca. Leonard Steinberg of Compass had the listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $65 million for a development site at 91 Pacific Street in Cobble Hill. The Real Deal last month reported the sale between Madison Realty Capital and Rockrose Development.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $4.3 million for a 1,512-square-foot condominium at 80 East 10th Street in the East Village. Pierre Fraiture of Level Group has the listing. — Matthew Elo