Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Signs Legislation Creating New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul signed new legislation S.9409-A/A.7805-D establishing the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust and paving the way for the overdue repair, rehabilitation, and modernization of 25,000 apartments under control of the New York City Housing Authority. Governor Hochul signed the bills today alongside New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Assembly Member Steven Cymbrowitz, and State Senator Julia Salazar.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Oh, there's a lot of energy in this room. I'm feeling the love, feeling the love here. Well, we need to give you that love right back. And that's what today is all about. I, first of all, want to acknowledge some extraordinary individuals who joined us today to talk about this nation-leading announcement to lift all of us up.

But first, let me start with someone who has been an amazing partner to me already in his short time as the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. I want to thank you for your vision for this city. We're going to keep working together. We're just getting started. So thank you, Mayor Adams.

Also, the Chair of NYCHA, Greg Russ, Mr. Chairman. Steven Cymbrowitz, the Assemblymember in the coast, the sponsor of this in the assembly. You'll be hearing from him shortly. Senator Salazar, who is the sponsor in the Senate, Senator Salazar.

Adriene Holder, the Chief Attorney for the Legal Aid Societies had a major role in making sure we did this right. Serena Chandler, you'll be hearing from also, the President of Polo Ground Houses Tenants Association, Serena.

I also want to give a shout-out to some members of my team and boy, they work hard. I'll tell you, I know they do. Our Secretary of State, Robert Rodriguez. Let's give him a round of applause, Robert Rodriguez. Our Commissioner of Housing Community Renewal, RuthAnne Visnauskas. Thank you, RuthAnne.

Our Director of State Operations, who handles everything that's going on in the State of New York that is Kathryn Garcia. Thank you for being such a great leader.

Greg Floyd from the Teamsters. Is labor in the house? Thank you and all the men and women of labor who will be building back the future of NYCHA. Thank you, friends and labor.

We are here today because my philosophy is when you see a problem, doing nothing is not an option and it is not an option any longer. When we look at NYCHA and it's the home of over 400,000 New Yorkers, that's extraordinary. And to come to a place like this, the Polo Grounds and it had a great history.

Professional sports were once played here in the late 1800s. Anybody remember that? I didn't think so. You did not go to those games, darling. You didn't, don't tell me you were at those games. But it's got a great history. And in 1935, when our nation was in the depths of depression, Franklin Roosevelt, former Governor of New York, President Roosevelt decided that we need to lift people up with affordable housing and the dignity of a roof over people's heads. And this was founded. This building where we are today, 1968, Serena, your husband's family lived here. The first people to live here in 1968, having their lives transformed after having to leave a fire at St. Ann's in the Bronx, they found a life here. So, to you and all the others who call this their home, I say, this is going to be a turning point in your lives. It is long overdue because good, decent, affordable housing is a human right. Let's just accept that as a basic fact, it is a human right.

And it's not a right though if you're living in substandard conditions. It's not a right if you're living with elevators broken and boilers broken, when the heat doesn't work in the wintertime, when you're so hot in the summertime and there's lead paint on the walls and there's mold and there's infestation, then it's not the right that everyone deserves.

So that's what we're going after here today, we've already made some investments. Our most recent budget had $350 million, the largest single investment in NYCHA in state history, to start solving some of these problems immediately because the time has passed to make excuses any longer, but we are also taking significant steps and saying, this is a new era for New York, and you are such an important part of the New York family.

This is our announcement today. And I will say it happened because we have incredible partners. Partners people who've dreamed up ideas like this before. Greg was telling me how many years this has been thought of and thought about how this could just be there to lift people up and say, you know what? We're not going to have you subjected to the whims of every year's budget. Is there enough money to fix this or not? All the excuses.

Let's have a long-term, and I mean decades into the future funding source to make sure the excuses end right here, right now. That's what this is about. So never again, never again, will conditions ever be able to deteriorate the way they have, because I've walked through these halls, I've hugged people. I hug every little kid and every senior citizen, I see. I just do. It was tough during COVID I missed all the hugging, but I'm making up for lost time. I walk through and I think these people are tough. They're resilience. They put up with so much, but why should they have to, why should they have to, why do they have to endure so much?

So we're talking about signing a bill today. I've got a lot of nice pens for everybody. We are going to be establishing, first time this has ever happened in the United States of America, first time ever. When New York leads the rest of the nation follows. So, you'll be watching everybody else, but you'll always know you did it here first, right?

We're going to establish the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust. Does that have a nice sound to it? But you know what sounds even better? This is going to unlock billions with a B, billions of dollars in federal funding, which will allow us to fast-track long overdue repairs and make investments in NYCHA properties throughout the city.

That's what this is about, and we'll be able to double the amount of federal subsidy. Let me say that again. Double the amount of the federal subsidy that it currently receives. We'll also finally cut the red tape around the procurement rules. How long does it take to fix a light bulb? This is maddening. It's maddening when you're sitting there in the dark, or in the cold and your family and your kids are crying and you're just so anxious. You should not have to wait. This is America. This is New York. This is New York City. We deserve better than that. Our people deserve better than that. And that's what they're going to get.

So, we're going to cut all the red tape. We're going to reduce the costs and speed up the construction timelines. And I know our men and women of labor are excited about that because they can't wait to get to work right? Am I right about that?

A faster response time for all those maintenance requests, but most important we will empower tenants every step of the way because this is your home. You should be empowered to be engaged every step of the way because you are the experts. You're the ones that see what's going on day in and day out, you know, where the needs are urgent. And that's why it's critical that the tenants be front and center.

So the Trust will have an opt-in voting process, first-of-its-kind, that will allow the residents to decide whether or not they want to participate in the program. With the way I described it, I'm not sure who wouldn't want to participate, but we'll leave it up to you. You have a right to vote on proposed changes for your development. Yes. We need to listen to you. And you'll also be able to participate in the selection of vendors and decide if those companies are doing what is acceptable or not. What I call that is local empowerment. That's what it feels like to be empowered. That's how we put the power in the hands of the NYCHA residents.

These are big changes, but they're going to make a big difference in people's lives. There's also a lot that's not going to change. You will keep your same rights and protections, that's not changing. We'll guarantee you don't have to pay more than 30% of your income toward rents, ever. That's not changing either. We're also going to make this, again, a truly national model. I want people to look at what we did here and say, "Yes, they got it right." So the eyes of the nation are all of us and all of you, the people live here to give them the model for lifting people up everywhere. And I want to thank everyone who's been on this journey. As I mentioned, the Mayor, and our labor leaders and our legislative leaders, and certainly the Tenants Associations and our leader chairman here. You have done what people thought was impossible. We first started talking about this when I was a brand new governor a long, long time ago, nine months actually. Nine months. We started talking, I said, "I've been in NYCHA buildings. I said, we've got to be able to do better, right? There's got to be a way.

But I knew also because new Yorkers are smart. There are already people thinking about a plan. Okay. They knew there was some way to do better, to push ourselves, to challenge ourselves. And today, we are doing better. And on top of this, I want you to know, that this is not our only tool in the kit to better the lives of New Yorkers. We do have a severe shortage of housing everywhere. The affordability crisis is unbelievably challenging for families and individuals. So we also have a $25 billion housing plan to build a hundred thousand more units as well, as well as programs for people who have needs. And I'm really proud of that. The people who need supportive services.

We also have an opportunity to convert vacant properties and hotels into housing as well. So we're taking a lot of steps, but to me, today, this is the one that's going to make the biggest difference for the most people in the short term and the long term. It is time to give back the power to the people, but back it up with billions of dollars, to just do the right thing. That's what this is about. I promise to continue working closely with my partners and we will get it done.

And lastly, I'm so proud of all of you for what you've done, because when you come forward with your concerns and help us craft a solution, you're not just doing it for yourselves. You're doing it for other people.

And that's why those of us in our respective leadership roles and public service, and so many others, join all of you and how we can work together to not just empower people, but give them dignity. Dignity is priceless to feel you have value that you deserve to have a home over your head. That works, it works. There are no more failures. You don't have to complain anymore. That's what every person in our state in our city deserves. And that's what we're going to be delivering. I thank all of you. We're just getting started, and it started here today. You are making history. Thank you very much, everyone.

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