The state’s own expert council, tasked with planning the law’s implementation, told the legislature to pass a gas ban this year. They were ignored.
As part of an initiative by Mayor Eric Adams, the city has swept the encampment where Jose Hernandez would often sleep nearly 10 times this year.
The state legislature has passed a measure intended to counter a court ruling that made it easier for lenders to win cases against homeowners.
The state’s grand plan to convert unused hotels into affordable housing hasn’t gotten off the ground. Lawmakers just boosted funding — but developers and housing advocates say that won’t help without lifting onerous zoning restrictions.
The legislature wants to spend $250 million to combat homelessness. Hochul says it’ll actually cost $6 billion.
Experts say the state needs to spend at least $1 billion a year to cut pollution from buildings. Legislators are trying to get the governor closer to that figure.
Advocates organizing for similar laws say loopholes in Hochul’s proposal make it “virtually meaningless,” and are encouraging the governor to withdraw the measure.
“By April 1, it will be out or modified. It will not be this program,” one legislator predicted.
How a lack of stable housing, combined with bureaucratic hurdles in New York’s labyrinthine re-entry process, kept one man at Rikers during the height of its crisis.
The Court of Appeals found in favor of banks that complained cases were dropped on technicalities. Now homeowners across the state are bracing for new attempts to take away their homes.
Millions of New Yorkers are behind on their utility bills, and advocates say the state is doing a poor job distributing federal assistance.
The fight heated up at a hearing Wednesday, with debate centered on when, not if, a gas ban should go into effect.
Two progressive organizers opposed to the 485-a program just won City Council races but won’t take their seats until next year. Mayor Lovely Warren has directed the Council to vote on the renewal this week.
The moratorium expires in December. But New York hasn’t distributed a single dollar of the $70 million of federal water assistance.
There’s a growing trend of landlords changing locks and shutting off utilities to get tenants out without going to court, tenant organizers say.
Critics of New York City’s tax lien sales system say it encourages landlords to evict tenants and ignore building violations.
“Staff at OTDA seem to be ignoring the plain meaning of the law,” said Senate Housing Committee Chair Brian Kavanagh.
The $115 million state contract for administering the program required a paper application. Without it, tenants who can’t access technology may be getting left behind.
Renters broke decisively for India Walton in Buffalo’s June Democratic primary, favoring an affordable housing advocate with a tenant-centered housing platform over a developer-friendly incumbent.
Where does the housing justice movement go from here?