NYC NOW - July 19, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

Mayor Adams responds to the ongoing migrant crisis with a proposal to limit stays at individual homeless shelters. His administration is also considering Creedmoor Psychiatric Center as a migrant housing site, facing opposition from advocates calling for its use as affordable housing. Finally, following the fall-through of her previous housing plan, Governor Kathy Hochul has pivoted her strategy to expand housing for New Yorkers. For a deeper understanding, WNYC’s Albany reporter Jon Campbell discusses these developments with Michael Hill.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, July 19th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Facing an ongoing migrant crisis, Mayor Eric Adams is looking to set limits on how long people can stay in any individual homeless shelter in New York City. According to several people with knowledge of the discussions, the plan would require people staying longer than 60 days in a shelter to, move out. People could reapply for shelter at an intake center. It's unclear which shelter such would apply to and whether it would affect both single adults and families. Adams is planning to make an announcement about migrants this afternoon. City officials have struggled to house newly arriving migrants. Advocates have been calling on New York City to build affordable housing at

Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, but the city's eyeing another plan for the site. WNYC's Neil Mata reports. The Adams administration is looking at the campus of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens to house migrants to the city in sprawling tent structures. But residents near the facility have mixed thoughts on the shelter plans. Most residents that spoke to WNYC say that they welcome the newcomers, but some, like Dennis McCann, are worried that there isn't enough space to house hundreds, possibly thousands of people. It's got to go somewhere about a residential.

neighborhood, I don't think so. It's two populated. Queensboro President Donovan Richards says that the planned shelter highlights the need for more permanent housing in the borough. Aeronel.gov rates the city's air quality as unhealthy for sensitive groups due to drifting wildfire smoke. 75 with scattered thunderstorms now. Shower's likely today, possibly a thunderstorm, a high of 79. NYC. Governor Kathy Hokel has been pushing to expand housing for New Yorkers.

When an earlier plan to expand housing development in the New York City suburbs did not come together in the last legislative session, Hockel switched strategy. She's now trying to use executive action to push for more development. The governor says without action, the state could lose residents. They shouldn't be going to other states because they don't have a place to live here. I don't want them to take their talents elsewhere. And those other states are wide open. Joining us now to talk about the governor's latest plan is WNIC's Albany reporter, John Campbell.

So what exactly did the governor announce yesterday and how was what she announced different from her earlier plan? Well, earlier this year, the governor announced a plan to create what she said would be 800,000 units over the next decade. and she would do that largely by forcing local governments to meet housing targets, 1% over 3% over 3 years upstate. What she did yesterday was a series of executive actions after she and the legislature couldn't reach agreements on that plan. And among those actions is a measure that she would allow so-called pro-housing communities to be first in line for about $650 million.

in existing state grants. Those would be cities, towns, villages that enact zoning laws or other regulations that encourage housing growth. It's similar to her original housing plan and that it's trying to spur growth at the local level. But it's different in a very key way, and that is it offers incentives to local governments rather than punishing them if they miss the mark. She made this announcement in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

John, why there? That's because this is another key part of her new housing plan, and it focuses specifically on Gowanus. There is this huge series of housing developments planned in that section of Brooklyn, about 8,000 units that was made possible by a city rezoning effort in 2021. These were already in the pipeline, and they were slated to get this super lucrative tax break known as 421A. and that tax break was available to housing developers for years, but it was very controversial because critics saw it as a giveaway to the real estate industry. Lawmakers allowed that to expire last year. That put these Gowanish projects in limbo, so Hockel's plan kind of figured out a way to make

those benefits available to these big Gowanus housing developments. Here's what she said about it yesterday. Look at the scale of Gowanus. I mean, this is a strong statement of our commitment to building more housing. affordable housing, market rate housing, doing infrastructure, waterfront parks. I mean, this area has been screaming for attention for well over a decade. To do this, the state's actually going to buy the property and lease it back to the developers. That way, the state's economic development branch can issue the same tax benefits,

even though that law expired. Do lawmakers play a role in getting this through at all, John? according to the Hockel administration, they don't. Everything Hockel announced yesterday was an executive action, which means it doesn't require legislative approval. She had been warning for months that she was going to do this, and she finally followed through. That said, Hockel herself admitted that this isn't as ambitious as her regular plan,

and lawmakers didn't seem terribly impressed by it either, so there will almost certainly be more negotiations. to expand this beginning in January. John, what are the next steps here? So the state's economic development agency is known as Empire State Development. The Empire State Development Board is going to have to approve this plan for the Gowanus development in particular. Hockel's office says that'll come before the board later this week. It's largely expected to pass.

The governor appoints the members of that board, so there's not a lot of suspense here. Is the plan getting any pushback do we know yet? Is anyone complaining about it? This is New York, Michael. Of course there is. Of course they are. Tenant advocates, they're basically calling this a handout to the real estate industry. They've spent years trying to push for new protections for renters, and Hokkel's plan really includes nothing of the sort. They want, and a lot of progressive Democrats in the legislature want this too, a cap on annual renting. increases and they want to require landlords to have what's known as good cause to evict anyone. They're also looking for a statewide housing voucher program for people who are income eligible and

can't afford to pay rent. Nothing like that is in Hokel's plan. Among the governor's efforts here is redeveloping parts of Javitt Center into housing as well as a prison in Fishkill, New York. How are people reacting to that idea, John? In both cases, this is something that people have been experienced. expecting for a while. In the case of the Javits Center, we're talking about a plot of state-owned land right near Hudson Yards in Manhattan. In Fishkill, it's the state prison that was closed once the state's prison population fell. And the governor's kind of saying, look, I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I'm willing to develop state properties for housing and local governments should

be doing all they can do to support new housing too. John, you mentioned the governor says she'll send discretionary funds to towns that show a commitment to promoting housing growth. How would one qualify for that? Is it clear at this point? It is. The governor's office laid out some criteria to qualify for that. Basically, a city, town, village, they would have to take steps to encourage housing growth, and they'll have to put together a plan to boost their housing stock. They'll get bonus points, basically, for sharing information with the state about their local regulations, their zoning laws. They'll also get bonus points if they hit those housing targets that Governor Hockel originally wanted in her January plan. And this basically gets to the governor's

claim that the only way to spur actual housing growth is by making local zoning laws more favorable to housing. That's a really tough sell in the city suburbs, and that's a big reason why her original plan failed to gain any traction in the legislature. Our John Campbell, Albany reporter, keeping an eye on the governor's moves when it comes to creating more housing and affordable housing in New York. John, thank you. Thank you, Michael. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'll be back this evening.