New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that his administration broke records for producing much-needed affordable housing amid a severe housing shortage throughout the city.
As private construction activity slowed following the expiration of a critical affordable housing creation tool, Mayor Adams reiterated an urgent call for state lawmakers in Albany to provide the city with critical tools, including a new affordable housing tax incentive, a pathway to make basement and cellar apartments safe and legal, a tax incentive to turn empty office buildings into affordable homes, and the lifting of a cap on density for new construction to create the new housing.
“When we came into office two years ago, we had a mission: protect public safety, revitalize the economy, and make this city more livable for hardworking New Yorkers, and making our city more livable means building more affordable housing for more people,” said Adams. “We are proud of our administration’s progress building a record number of affordable homes last year, but New York City cannot solve this affordable housing crisis alone."
New York City Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) connected more New Yorkers to homes than ever before, bringing nearly 13,000 households into affordable units in 2023. Nearly 10,000 of those connections were through Housing Connect lotteries and 3,000 households left shelters to move into HPD homeless set-aside units, an increase of more than 30% from 2022 to 2023.
Overall, HPD and the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) financed a total 27,911 units last year through new construction and preservation deals, an increase of 80% from 2022, fueled by a 47% increase in the financing of new affordable homes. The administration additionally continued to prioritize new homes for the most vulnerable New Yorkers — setting records by creating 3,926 new homes for New Yorkers who formerly experienced homelessness and 1,670 new supportive homes with restricted rents and social services.
To accelerate housing production and deliver relief to New Yorkers, the Adams administration advanced a number of solutions, including an office conversation accelerator, new proposed rules to streamline approvals for sustainable housing, a “Housing-at-Risk Task Force,” and several pilot programs to help fund the creation of accessory dwelling units, help move New Yorkers out of shelters and into renovated apartments, and fuel mixed-income development in neighborhoods across the city, among other innovative efforts.
