The Mamdani administration is tackling a wide range of strategies to increase affordable housing in New York City. The Block by Block report released last month announced initiatives, but also outlines existing work and ideas that the administration hopes to develop. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani hopes the 112-page report will move the needle toward the city’s goal of building 200,000 affordable units over the next decade and preserving the same amount over the same time frame. By comparison, 28,000 affordable units were created or preserved by 2025, according to the mayor’s management report for that fiscal year.
“This is the most detailed plan I can remember the city doing,” says Jesse Batus, senior vice president of real estate development in New York for The Community Builders Inc., a nonprofit housing developer.
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Batus says his team gauged some of what was discussed in the report through industry groups, such as the Regional Planning Association and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, which the mayor’s office reached out to for input, adding, “Everything we expected was addressed here.”
Carlo A. Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, said in a statement that its members are ready to work with city officials and communities “to move fast, build boldly and deliver the homes New Yorkers need in the five boroughs.”
Block by Block describes a number of tactics for finding funds and space, as well as ways to make the construction process cheaper. The report floated the idea of a publicly backed fund called the Subordinated Market Rate Revolving Term Loan, the proceeds of which, the administration says, will go toward more housing development. According to the report, the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea houses will be the first to rely on the program, although the tenants’ litigation against the demolition and reconstruction of the NYCHA houses is still ongoing.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development is also giving $1 million to Business Community Partners so the organization can provide predevelopment assistance to faith-based organizations, particularly those that own property with space for housing.
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The administration also wants to build more on the roughly 47,000 acres of city property. To expedite this process, NYC HPD will initiate the Neighborhood Builders Fast Track, which will have a pre-qualified list of community developers and a modified bidding process for specific city-owned sites.
In addition, a $100 million fund will go toward a city-backed insurance program for rent-stabilized housing, a plan that will ultimately translate into construction cost savings. “Currently, for every $100 increase in annual insurance costs, the City must invest $1,200 in additional capital grants when a new affordable housing project is completed,” according to the report.
Some plans are more niche. The city has increased staffing in the Asbestos Technical Review Unit, for example, so office-to-residential conversion candidates who encounter the material can move more quickly through the remediation approval process. Accelerating the process of revising the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan also incorporates the document. “No one leads with stormwater overhaul as one of their major bottlenecks;” But the review process is long enough to be a major concern for The Community Builders as a project nears closure, Batus says.
The mayor’s office also wants to re-allow single-family housing, a type of unit that councils introduced a law to pass last year, along with looking for city-owned land that can be turned into staging areas for modular construction.
The report also calls for supporting construction employment. Proposals for more city-backed construction overlap with the Construction Fairness Act, a bill passed by the City Council in December — that sets minimum wages and benefits of $40 an hour for workers who build publicly funded housing. For projects to which the policy will apply, HPD aims to make the law’s expectations clear to developers early on, such as during the financing and closing processes. The administration would also like to see city-funded affordable housing project labor agreements. A working group with the Deputy Mayor of Housing and Urban Planning and the Deputy Mayor of Economic Justice will study how it can work.
“Implementing fair wages, family support benefits and labor standards on city-funded projects, along with the opportunity for project-based labor agreements, will help ensure that housing development occurs efficiently and provide tradesmen and tradespeople with more paths to stable, middle-class careers,” said Gary LaBarbera, president of the NY Building and Construction Trades. “The building trades and our members look forward to working with the City Council, the City Council and our community partners to continue to play a role in driving more key projects to the finish line.”
