Read the full article here.

New York, NY — The New York City Council Progressive Caucus today joined Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the Association of Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), Housing Justice for All, New York City Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI), the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY (PSC-CUNY), CIR-SEIU, UAW-9A, United Federation of Teachers (UFT), and dozens of grassroots housing organizations to launch Homes Now, Homes for Generations—a city-focused affordable housing campaign for the Fiscal Year 2025 budget cycle. City progressives joined forces in light of the worst affordability crisis New Yorkers have faced in decades—driven in large part by housing costs—to put forward common-sense investments in affordable home ownership and tenant protections.

The Homes Now, Homes for Generation campaign aims to quadruple the City’s investment in affordable homeownership (through investing in NYC Department of Housing & Preservation Development’s (HPD) Open Door program) and make good on the City’s promise from 2018 to prevent the displacement of tenants by preserving 7,000 rent-stabilized units (through revitalizing HPD’s Neighborhood Pillars Program).

“Cities like New York are cities of opportunity, and if we don’t provide spaces for people to come and live and stay—and stay for generations—then we’re failing. The market will never deliver homes at the affordability levels that low-income and working-class New Yorkers need, and the investments we call for in this campaign present an opportunity to permanently create and preserve homes for them, ensuring our city remains a city of opportunity,” said Council Member Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings.

​​”New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet, with many feeling rent-burdened and others at the brink of homelessness. As we navigate the housing crisis, we must consider long-term solutions to create better pathways to home ownership and housing stability. My district has the largest number of rent-stabilized housing, yet 48% of households are rent-burdened. Homes Now, Homes for Generations is a way to uplift existing programs and increase housing stock that is dignified and stable,” said Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, Chair of the Committee on Civil Service and Labor.

“The greatest challenge for New Yorkers is how to afford living in New York City—and the number one expense is housing,” said NYC Comptroller Brad Lander. “As the city faces fewer and fewer units of available affordable housing and rising rents push more and more low-income and working class New Yorkers out of the five boroughs, the City must finance housing programs that will ensure generations of New Yorkers who have lived in and built New York City can stay here. We’re proud to launch the Homes Now, Homes for Generations campaign alongside the Progressive Caucus and a strong coalition of housing advocates, faith leaders, and labor because together, we can chart a path out of the housing crisis.”

While the Mayor has prioritized loosening zoning regulations, private market solutions alone won’t fix this crisis. The most powerful tool the City has to address the housing crisis is the ability to finance and preserve new, permanently affordable housing. This $2 billion, spent over 4 years, would lay the groundwork for the City to scale up its long legacy of permanently affordable housing. These two programs will create new homeownership opportunities for an additional 3,500 New York families and preserve and rehabilitate rent-stabilized units for nearly 7,000 households.

Background on Neighborhood Pillars 

  • HPD’s Neighborhood Pillars Program started in December 2018 and was intended to help affordable housing developers and community-based groups compete in the private real estate market.
  • Neighborhood Pillars provides loans and tax exemptions so mission-driven organizations can rehabilitate and maintain rent-stabilized units at risk of deregulation as permanently affordable housing.
  • The City put this program on the back burner in June 2019 and preserved less than 400 units since the program was launched in December 2018. Increased funding would scale this program back up to its original vision, which is to preserve nearly 7000 rent-stabilized units.
  • The City should revitalize the program and update its term sheets to more effectively facilitate the removal for housing from the speculative marketplace, renovate, and retrofit units to improve living conditions, achieve climate goals, and put regulatory agreements in place to ensure ongoing affordability. For more on Neighborhood Pillars, see here.

Background on Open Door:

  • The City currently finances very little homeownership – less than 1,500 units since 2017.
  • Additional funding for new construction could create wealth-building opportunities especially for communities of color who have been historically excluded from homeownership.
  • The city has existing models for multi-family homeownership development such as the Open Doors program; however, this program is currently funded at a minimal amount of $100M per year.
  • We are proposing increasing the annual Open Door budget by four times, which would create new homeownership opportunities for an additional 3,500 New York families.

“Working class and people of color are being squeezed out of New York because there isn’t enough affordable housing,” said Council Member and Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Sandy Nurse. “Despite billions in subsidies and exemptions over the last few decades, the private market has failed to deliver on its affordable housing promises and it is clear that the City must put more resources into creating affordable housing. Today’s launch of the Homes Now, Homes for Generations campaign is not only a positive vision for community-controlled and permanently affordable housing – it is also a rejection of the Mayor’s cruel austerity budget games. There is no greater challenge facing our City than affordable housing and I look forward to securing more housing for all working class New Yorkers.

“The housing crisis is threatening the ability of so many New Yorkers to remain in the City that they love,” said Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Shahana Hanif. “From the renters being pushed out of their longtime neighborhoods, to the asylum seekers being evicted from shelter, to families seeing their dreams of homeownership falling further out of reach—this is affecting all of us. In this urgent moment, I’m proud that the Progressive Caucus is leading the Homes Now, Homes for Generations campaign alongside the Comptroller, the Public Advocate, and our partners from the labor and housing movements. With this powerful coalition fighting shoulder to shoulder, I know we’re going to win.”

“According to the NYC Housing Tracker, over half of residents in District 38 are rent burdened. Plus, with last year’s Fiscal Policy Institute report showing working class people are choosing to pack their bags and go rather than stick it out, status quo housing policies are radically transforming our city into a playground for the very rich. Our people are hurting and the City of New York must use all of the tools in the box to guide us out of a mess manufactured by the greed of the real estate industry. With inaction in Washington and Albany, the Homes Now, Homes for Generations campaign allows us to lead by example, preserving and building the kinds of dignified housing that advocates have been rallying for for years. Let’s get this done,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés.

“I support this initiative. We need an all-of-the-above approach: social housing, zoning for density near transit, tenant protections, eliminating parking minimums, accessory dwelling units, abundant supply, and more,” said Council Member Erik Bottcher. “Let’s reject the either/or scarcity mindset and act with urgency to produce hundreds of thousands of units of housing for all incomes.”

“To achieve the public safety outcomes everyday New Yorkers need and deserve, the time is now to invest in permanently affordable homes, democratically owned and controlled by the people who live there, in conjunction with the public,” said Council Member Tiffany Cabán. “The essence of public safety isn’t obedience extracted under the threat of violence, but healthy communities, with the local resources, public goods, and economic security necessary for residents to form rich social bonds with those around them. That’s what investing in social housing gets us.”

“New Yorkers can only thrive if they have access to affordable, safe, and dignified housing. Keeping people in their homes is a necessity for our city’s vitality. Homes Now, Homes for Generations isn’t a novel concept; it’s a call to invest in proven programs. Investments in housing not only provide shelter, but also foster stronger, more diverse communities. By honoring our promises to preserve and build affordable housing, we ensure a healthier future for all residents,” said Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez.

“The Homes Now, Homes for Generations Campaign will be an important component in alleviating New York’s crushing housing crisis,” said City Council Member Chi Ossé. “We face trouble on multiple fronts, from a crippling housing shortage to a decline in rent-stabilized stock. Working-class people are being driven out of the city that they and their families built in a trend we are obligated to stop. By emphasizing the importance of long-term family-oriented solutions like investment in homeownership and rehabilitating rent-stabilized units, this plan will be one bold progressive step toward an end to this crisis.”

“New York City is becoming more and more unaffordable. We need to prioritize major new investments in affordable housing to create the affordable housing our constituents urgently need,” said City Council Member Lincoln Restler.

“The housing shortage and affordability crisis deserve urgent action and are resulting in displacement and impacting the collective identity of our city. Stable housing is a pillar of wellbeing, and City leadership is taking action to address supply needs, explore zoning changes, and invest in community ownership opportunities to get housing back in the hands of New Yorkers,” said Council Member Carlina Rivera. “I’m proud of my work to advance community land trusts and social housing policies and look forward to working with City leadership and the Progressive Caucus on the Homes for Now, Homes for Generations campaign.”

“If our city is to solve this housing crisis, we must treat housing as a basic right of all New Yorkers. This plan does exactly that. By investing $2 billion over the next four years, we will make sure that the city does its part to provide New Yorkers with affordable homes and opportunities for affordable homeownership. I am proud to stand with the Progressive Caucus, the NYC Comptroller and housing advocates across this city to call for Homes Now, Homes for Generations,” said Council Member Shekar Krishnan.

“I know first-hand what it’s like to be evicted from your home—it’s what my family went through when I was a kid, it’s what my clients went through when I was a tenant lawyer, and it’s what I still see happening every day in Upper Manhattan. For too long, our city has restricted the amount of housing, driven down affordability, and stripped families of the dignity of staying in their homes,” said Council Member Shaun Abreu. “The solution is well known: to house New Yorkers, we need to protect rent stabilized units and we need to build. That is what we are doing today by calling for the revival of and reinvestment in the Neighborhood Pillars and Open Door programs.”