Area lawmakers back affordable housing bill

State Sen. Shelley Mayer is a local co-sponsor of a bill supporting a new state authority to promote and create more highly-needed affordable housing. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By MARTIN WILBUR

Two local state legislators are co-sponsors of a bill that would establish a new authority to help create and maintain additional permanent affordable housing to address the insufficient supply of the units in New York.

Sen. Shelley Mayer, D-37, and Assemblymember Chris Burdick, D-93, are supporters of legislation proposed last February that would launch the Social Housing Development Authority, which would help build, acquire and renovate housing where the monthly cost would be capped at between 25% and 33% of a resident’s income.

Mayer said the legislation’s goal is for the state to find new ways to create more affordable housing along with existing programs by local and county governments to make the cost of living more reachable for families.

Some additional ideas could include having a path for residents to purchase the units they live in, converting more residences into co-ops and finding parcels of municipally owned land that can be sold to eventually develop for affordable housing.

“What excited me about it is that it created new ideas,” Mayer said. “We face challenges moving in this direction, and I continue to be frustrated that we don’t have enough new ideas and different ways to do it. This is a new idea — create a state agency invested with a significant amount of money, give it leeway to build or transfer ownership over a variety of ways and then make it clear that it is based on affordability.”

According to the Senate bill (S.5674) introduced by Manhattan state Sen. Cordell Cleare, there would be an outlay of $60 million to pay for the authority’s operating expenses and as much as a $5 billion initial capitalization. With that funding, the Social Housing Development Authority could create about 26,000 new high-quality and green units statewide that are union built.

Burdick said the legislation addresses a key need that has met multiple roadblocks throughout the state. A few years ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing compact that stressed high-density development near MTA railroad stations was met with significant opposition for its assault on local control failure to address infrastructure needs that

While it may not be ready for passage in the upcoming 2026 session, the proposal can reignite the critical conversation related to more affordable housing, Burdick said.

“This is definitely visionary legislation, and I wouldn’t be co-sponsoring it if I didn’t agree with the concepts,” said Burdick, a co-sponsor of the Assembly version of the bill. “I think it is going to take some time. There are things that we’d like to see that’s a little more applicable to those of us outside the cities.”

Mayer said the legislation is in its early stages and its supporters need to get public input, including from the Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

“There’s a lot of questions, but I’m excited about the possibility of thinking creatively for the community that I represent,” Mayer said.

Marlene Zarfes, executive director of the White Plains-based Westchester Residential Opportunities, declined to comment on the bill until the organization learns more about it.

Burdick and Mayer joined other members of the Westchester state legislative contingent that supported the bill on Dec. 18 for a forum on social housing at the White Plains Public Library. Blanca Lopez, commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Planning who provided opening remarks, said she was happy to see the legislation introduced to create additional funding for housing in Westchester and throughout the state.

The county’s 2019 housing needs assessment concluded that Westchester needed about 11,700 additional units of affordable housing and that has risen to an estimate of between 16,000 and 17,000 residences in the past few years, according to the commissioner. The Regional Plan Association recently estimated that the county needed an additional 21,000 units of all types of housing.

The vacancy rental rate in Westchester is about 1.9%, too low to make housing affordable for many, Lopez said.

“We know that while we have traditionally supported and funded various developments throughout the decades, really, our funding is not enough and a lot of developers apply to reach more funding, whether it’s through applying for housing tax credits or HSA,” Lopez said of the county’s efforts. “But, again, those funds are not enough. So the creation of this new authority would certainly increase opportunities for more money to come to Westchester County to support affordable housing development.”

Burdick said he doesn’t believe government should build housing, but provide the incentives through funding and programs so private developers, nonprofit organizations and private-public partnerships can collaborate to create more affordable units.