Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces New Executive Action on Housing Crisis to Increase Supply, Create Affordable Housing, and Promote Broader Housing Growth

"Oh, thank you everyone. Thank you. It is so incredible to be in this space. It's called The Powerhouse. I feel the power. I feel the power and the history that surrounds the space, and how brilliant people like Eric Shiner preserved a time in our city's history, maybe eighties and nineties, when people just encamped here, in a nice way.

Artists came here. They left signs of their artistry, but a reminder that this has always been an edgy and fascinating community. Amen. Amen to that. Amen to that. And I want to thank everyone who made this place possible. It is - it is amazing that they just had the ribbon cutting just a few weeks ago where - is that right? Just a couple weeks ago. Sorry, I missed it, but it's really, really exciting to be here and I wanted to acknowledge some individuals who are such an important part of my team as we're going to make some announcements here today.

RuthAnne Visnauskas is the Commissioner of Homes and Community Renewal, and I want to thank her for her vision and that can-do spirit that I embrace in my administration. When there's a roadblock, you go over here and you zigzag around. Right? So that's - that's what we're very good at here.

Also, Hope Knight, our Commissioner of Empire State Development, I want to thank her. Andrew Gounardes, thank you. This is your home district. You have your office literally out the window, so you're going to be very focused on watching the progress in this community, and I know if it slows down at all, you'll be all over us. So, I know you want to see this done. Let's give a round of applause, Andrew Gounardes.

Very proud to have representation from City Hall. Our mayor - we speak often - couldn't make it today, but we have in his place, our New York City Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. So, thank you for being here as well.

Michelle de la Uz, the Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee. Michelle, thank you for being here. And I got the feeling that 32BJ was in the house with Manny Pastreich. Thank you. We always know when you're here.

So, there's so much history here, as I said, in this building, and it's been known as the bat cave, and it's, you know, it's really reborn as a hub for art production.

So, rebirth has happened here. And in my opinion, this entire community is poised for rebirth as well, a rebirth that embraces my vision for housing because where some see neglect, I see neighborhoods. Where some see blight, I see beauty. Where some see pavement, I see parks. And where some see a hellhole, I see homes.

So, I am so excited to make a major announcement that's going to affect not just where we are today, but communities all across the State of New York. And I'm going to outline a series of executive actions that are necessary to jumpstart housing growth, including a new program that'll create thousands of houses and homes for people right here in Gowanus.

That's why today is so significant. And you'll remember that earlier this year, I submitted a bold plan to address New York's housing shortage. It is not just a shortage, it is a crisis. That has become one of the number one reasons people leave our state, because we ask them, literally heard today as I was driving here, someone who works with my husband said, "I couldn't find a place in New York. I love New York, but I have to go to Connecticut." I don't want to hear that anymore. I don't want to hear that. Because people do want to be here, but we've not kept up with the need for building housing for decades, and we're going to address that starting here today.

We announced this bold plan. The legislature was not ready for it and would not commit at the time to the transformative change that New Yorkers so desperately need and deserve.

But I still believe that we need a comprehensive solution to meet the scale of this housing crisis. And we're still pursuing it. We're still going to make progress, but that does not mean that we have to freeze in time trapped by inertia, and anyone knows how I'm hardwired. That's not how I work. We will wait no longer. We press on because New Yorkers need houses built now. And we're going to start driving down the cost because guess what? It is basic supply and demand. You build more housing, the prices drop, and we have not been building, and the prices are going up and it's hurting our residents. So that's what we're talking about.

And as a governor, I'm going use all the tools that are at my disposal, starting right here in Gowanus. And as I mentioned, The Powerhouse is part of a bigger evolution going on here. The city, and I praise the leaders who saw the vision here have rezoned back in 2021, over 80 blocks. That is a new start in life, and that'll clear the way for infrastructure improvements in waterfront parks in more than 8,500 housing units.

But all those great plans, that great vision were stopped dead in their tracks. And now too many people are worried, worried that the housing projects will be scrapped for good.

When the State legislature let the 421-A tax incentive program expire, it effectively killed thousands of housing units right in this neighborhood, and they brought all this great momentum, all this energy, all this excitement to a screeching halt.

We're not going to let that happen any longer. Not on my watch. So, today we're going to launch a series of measures to bring these projects back to life. And for Gowanus, in this rezoned area, the projects that qualified for 421-A under the deadline, we're going to have a program that mirrors the same incentives that the legislature stopped in both the benefits and in the requirements. It'll ensure that the housing units will finally get built in this neighborhood, so that'd be 7,500 new units on top of 1,000 permanently affordable housing units, and many of them will be affordable.

People want to live here. Think about the first-year teacher, they don't make great salaries. They want to live in the community where they're teaching. Someone who is a brand-new police officer, firefighter, they're just starting out. They don't have big salaries. There are artists, our custodians, our janitors, our building superintendents, anybody know any of them? Thought you did? And to qualify, the products have to have at least 50 units. Let's go bigger. And those that are designated affordable must remain affordable. This will not change.

In my vision over the next decade, we'll witness a transformation that has always been talked about, dreamed of, always achievable, and it was put in motion years ago by then, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, and Councilmember Brad Lander, who believed in this so much and how disappointed they were to see this sidetracked after they put all this energy into it. And all that was stymied until now. And now we're going to finally unlock the full potential of this incredible neighborhood.

It's not just about Gowanus. We'll get Gowanus underway. It's all about the entire State of New York. It's about encouraging housing production from Brookhaven to Brooklyn to Buffalo. And this is the possibility that lies right before us. But how are we going to get started? First of all, it's one step at a time. One step at a time. And I'll be signing an Executive Order that'll now prioritize over $650 million in State discretionary funds. And instead of just giving it out to people, communities that apply, we are now going to be targeting that toward pro-housing communities. That is going to be signed in an Executive Order. We're changing how we're going to do business, and we're sending a very simple message that communities that do their part to build housing will get priority for funding over those who will not. How do you like that?

So, here's how it's going to work. Our Commissioner, we talked about this as we were coming down from Orange County, literally just drove in after trying to provide assistance for a thousand homeowners that were devastated with last week's flood. So, we've been on the road a little bit. She'll be releasing criteria that'll define what a pro-housing community should be, and all those communities will have to sign commitments. They'll have to pass resolutions that are binding them by law, and they will have to demonstrate how they will take concrete steps to support more housing. And things like streamlining permits and adopting rezonings like we've done right here. Because a lot of communities, they all could do this, and they just won't. That's part of our problem statewide.

So also, we're going to require communities to share data, share their housing and growth and zoning data so we can identify and track their progress. Don't just tell me you're going to do it. I'm going to check up on you and make sure it gets done. So very simply, towns and cities and communities will have priority over those who do not.

Now, what are we looking for? The same growth targets we talked about before. Let's talk about three years. I don't think it's asking too much to have three percent growth over three years. If you do the math, that's one percent a year. It's not that much. It's doable. Upstate communities, one percent. And pro-housing communities will get special consideration for major state initiatives like the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the New York Forward Program, the Regional Council Capital Fund, the New York Main Street Program, the New York Market Grants, the Long Island Momentum Fund, the Mid-Hudson Momentum Fund, the Public Transportation Fund.

We have identified, because I said, go through our entire budget and find all the programs that right now we're just saying, okay, you qualify, you get it. This is how we drive change. If you want to participate and get this assistance from the state for all these great programs, you're going to have to demonstrate to us that you're fulfilling our desire, our need, our sense of urgency around building housing. I think that's going to work. And if you don't support more housing, you're just going to have a harder time accessing those funding streams.

So, we're committed. We are committed to making this happen, making progress. So, in addition to today's executive order, I'm also signing another one that's calling on all of our state agencies, and I am looking everywhere, identifying all the abandoned, reusable, vacant properties that we can repurpose for housing. I don't have to wait for anybody else. This state has a lot of land. A lot of spaces that people would look at, go by, like they never envision a community there or housing. Whereas I do. I look at properties very differently. I see life, I see families, I see small businesses. And for example, we already have RFPs out for the former Downstate Correctional Facility at Fishkill, the Javits Center.

We just announced Site K is now available. Bring out the plans, bring out your vision for these, and it's going to include housing and there's many, many more sites that come. That's how we're going to spend the next few weeks identifying sites all over the state. And I'm directing all state and public authorities to take housing into account when they're adopting their policies and making sure that they're not doing anything in conflict with building more housing.

And so, when you build housing, sometimes we get a lot of complaints. Well, the regulations are just so burdensome and so onerous, it's just not worth it. Now, we're going to always make sure we protect public health and safety. Full stop. But I'm asking the DEC and Department of State to just - can you streamline a little bit? Do we have to really be the toughest state for doing all this? It's not necessary. And we can strike the right balance between promoting growth and protecting the environment and protecting the integrity of our communities. I know we can.

So also, we're going to be doubling down on data. Again, how do we measure success? Don't just tell me you're doing it. I want proof. So, the more work we do on this, the more the public will be engaged. They'll see our progress and access to that data is critical. So, we're announcing a housing data dashboard where you can follow the progress in your hometown or across the state or anywhere you care to. We'll track housing growth and zoning trends across the state. Again, zoning is everything. We would not be here today if there was not a rezoning because the intended use for land a century ago, 50 years ago, 30 years ago, you know, life changes, right? Needs change, communities change, and you have to constantly be evolving and push yourselves.

And I spent 14 years in as a councilmember myself. I know a lot about zoning. And sometimes it's resisted because people say, "Well, we've always done it this way. You know, change is sometimes scary." Change unlocks the greatest potential in all of us and in our communities. We can no longer let zoning hold that back. The current zoning or the zoning that's intended sometimes to keep people out because we're better than that.

So, I'm excited about these possibilities and I'm going to have a dashboard that's going to monitor zoning in this state. And are we making progress and opening up? And finally, I'll continue on the listening tour that I started. I sat down with Republican supervisors 10 from Long Island a few months ago. I sat down with people in Westchester and businesses, I sat down with people in the City, I sat down people in Brooklyn. I talked to anybody. I'm more than talking, I like to listen. So, I'm going to listen to people, but don't just tell me what you don't like, because that goes to my bad ear. My dad always said, "That's my bad ear. I can't hear you." If you want to get my good ear, tell me how you want to be part of solving the problem. Tell me your ideas and how we can work together. And I'll continue engaging the local partners, even in some of the communities that didn't think they were going to be sitting down with me, I'll be there. I'll show up because doing nothing is not an option any longer.

And I want support from the local elected officials and the advocates. I need the advocates on my side. I need labor on my side to build the momentum as we head into the next legislative session. And I'm grateful to have partners like Senator Gounardes who don't need to be led to the right conclusion because he knows, he understands what housing means to people - to have the dignity of a home that's yours. Maybe it's that first apartment, just you feel so proud, you finally get out. You got a little paycheck, you have an apartment. And maybe someday you're thinking about, "Gosh, can I ever own something?"

My parents used to live in a trailer park. You know, they came a long way. There was always a progression of their success, because then when I came, a year later, my brother lived in a little trailer park. I came a year later, we lived in an upstairs flat, you know, just tiny, right next to the steel plant. The pollution was everywhere.

And then the little Cape Cod. And then just throughout life, my parents' success was measured in how much space they could put their family of eight in. At first it was really tight. I want that for everybody. That wasn't just for me, the granddaughter of poor immigrants. That's for our immigrants who are arriving today, people who have been here a long time. It's for families. They deserve that. Small businesses and our teachers and retail workers and construction, and - these are the people who make our communities have the identity they have. They shouldn't be going to other states because they don't have a place to live here.

I don't want them to take their talents elsewhere. And those other states are wide open. They're building just across the river. They're building more and they're saying, "Come here. Come here. You can afford it." I'm going to stop that. I want us to be more affordable so we can be the great state we were intended to be.

So, in the meantime, I'm moving forward. I'm not waiting any longer. I'm not the type to throw up my hands and say, "Okay, we'll just, we didn't get everything we wanted last time. We'll see you next year, legislature." It's a long way off. Too much time is wasting. That's why we're here today in the summer, because as I said, people deserve more than that.

I will not wait, this neighborhood will not wait, and the State of New York will not wait. So, I'm going to do everything I can within my powers, using every tool I can find, the ones I'm announcing today and the ones we haven't even thought of yet. We're going to jumpstart housing now. And any legislator who wants to be a part of the solution, who shares this vision and this sense of urgency, I believe you'll be rewarded by your constituents because they want you to step up on their behalf.

Because at the end of the day, what kind of state do you want to be? That's what this comes down to. A state where young people can launch their careers, who want to launch their careers, can't even find a studio apartment. We want to be that kind of place? No. A place where the dream of home ownership is so elusive, you don't even think about it anymore. It's just, "Maybe my next life." A state where kids are born and raised in a neighborhood, they want to raise their kids so they can be close to grandparents and they have to say, "I'm sorry, we have to leave." We know we don't want that. So, what are we prepared to do about it?

If we don't step up now and start taking bold action, who will? Who will? It was written that no governor has taken on housing since Nelson Rockefeller. You know why? Because it gets a little hot in the kitchen sometimes, right? Yeah, I've been burned, but I'm still here. It's alright. Give and take, you build, you try again, you go another path.

I can promise you this: as long as I'm the governor, I'm going to focus every single day on making New York State more desirable, more livable, and more affordable because the future rewards those who persevere. All of us are part of this movement. And on housing, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Thank you very much for your support. Thank you. Go forth and talk about how we are changing the world, starting right here in Gowanus. Thank you very much. I want to invite someone up, our great Senator Andrew Gounardes, who has been a champion for this project, so thank you everyone."

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