In their FY 2023 Budget Response the City Council called on Mayor Eric Adams to honor his campaign promise to allocate $4 billion for affordable housing capital per year, including $2.5 billion for HPD and $1.5 billion for NYCHA. The Council’s proposal is worth reading in full:

“Mayor Adams signed a campaign pledge to commit $4 billion per year in capital funding for housing preservation, new affordable and supportive housing construction, and public housing developments. These projects should include deeper levels of affordability and focus on older adults (including LGBTQIA+ elders), those experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic violence, and other vulnerable populations. The Council urges the Mayor to abide by his campaign promise and advance the urgent needs of New Yorkers and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents in the Executive Budget. The Administration should increase the annual capital commitment plans of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and NYCHA to $2.5 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.”

The Council’s budget response is where they publicly lay out their budget priorities in response to the mayor’s preliminary budget. That the City Council included the need for $4 billion for affordable housing capital shows widespread and growing support for a robust investment to fight the housing crisis. The recommendation originated with United for Housing, the coalition of more than 90 organizations led by the New York Housing Conference.

The Council also included in their budget response several other important housing needs that should be addressed in the mayor’s budget. They rightly call on the City to restore the $1 million cut for 28 full-time positions. Earlier this year NYHC and 87 partners called on Mayor Adams to exempt HPD from the budget cuts because HPD cannot afford to lose staffing.

The Council also called on the Mayor to ensure the Human Resources Administration has adequate staffing to review and process public assistance benefits, rental vouchers, and supportive housing. NYHC and our partners have identified staffing shortages at HRA, which are reportedly affecting homelessness and re-housing.

The Council also called for $114.9 million to expand funding for drop-in centers, safe haven beds & stabilization beds to match the number of people that are homeless and unsheltered, adding 2,376 new Safe Haven and Stabilization beds. The mayor’s plan to clear homeless encampments has been controversial and the Council’s plan would create enough low threshold shelters, shelter types that people who are unsheltered more often accept, for the number of people that were most recently estimated to be living unsheltered in New York City. Mayor Adams most recent plan called for 150 Safe Haven beds and 350 Stabilization beds.

Below is a list of additional priorities of the Council related to housing:

  • $90 million property tax rebate to homeowners,
  • $40.5 million to baseline prevailing wages for security guards,
  • $47.9 million to fully fund HASA SROs,
  • $49.4 million to convert hotels to housing for the homeless,
  • $41.6 million to increase domestic violence shelter capacity,
  • $6 million for more runaway homeless youth beds, and
  • $28.4 million for supportive housing for justice involved people.

We want to thank all the advocates and partners that have reached out to City Council members asking for their support for important housing issues including $4 billion for housing investment. And we want to thank Speaker Adrienne Adams, Housing and Buildings Chair Pierina Sanchez, Land Use Chair Rafael Salamanca and other members of the Council for supporting robust housing investment.