Though mayoral campaign discourse has focused on crime or even the politics of RCV, too little has been said about housing, rent, and land use

The closing days of the mayoral race have departed farther from the issues, with the topline discussion yesterday whether candidates Kathryn Garcia and Andrew Yang teaming up to encourage ranked-choice voting constituted, as supporters of Eric Adams suggested, voter suppression, and Adams asserting, when asked if he's not claiming a stolen election, “Yes I do, I assure voters that no one is going to steal the election from me.” 

Thanks especially to the New York Post, the mayoral race has focused on crime, with ex-cop Brooklyn Borough President Adams promoted as the best candidate to tackle crime while managing the police. (Also on the moderate side are former city Sanitation Commissioner Garcia and tech entrepreneur Yang, while former mayoral aide and MSNBC commentator Maya Wiley would like to redeploy $1 billion from the police budget.)

Tuesday's tabs, NYC Primary Election Day edition pic.twitter.com/mWfjKsOEeR

— Azi (@Azi) June 22, 2021

Is the focus legitimate? FAIR Media Watch acknowledged that murders and shootings are up, while "robberies are at their lowest point in decades, and misdemeanor assaults are sharply down the past two years." 

(In contrast, New York Post columnist Nicole Gelinas points out "violent felonies on the subways [went] from 64 in April to 116 in May, more than three times higher than in 2019, when adjusted for ridership.")

Fully half of NYC's renters are considered rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent. New Yorkers’ odds of being in extreme debt to a landlord are about 1 in 9.https://t.co/QAELfnHq7h

— FAIR (@FAIRmediawatch) June 21, 2021

Meanwhile, as independent journalist Ross Barkan wrote, Yang said he was open to a rent freeze via mayoral appointees to the Rent Guidelines Board, while Adams--claiming it might affect the wealth of Black and brown property owners--was wary, even though landlords of, say, a row house with five or fewer apartments aren't subject to rent regulation.

Lots of other issues haven't gotten discussed. For example, Shaun Donovan, who I've criticized regarding his unwise promotion of Atlantic Yards as a template, may be the only candidate to stress that the next mayor also must push for increased density near transit in the suburbs. 

And Eric Levitz, citing Alex Yablon, notes that only Garcia has advocated for eliminating single-family zoning citywide. 

And let's not forget the bigger picture on the race:

Wise advice from @nahmias: "rank your picks for mayor by whose experience and platform give you some confidence they are capable of fixing not just one problem, but all of the above— tackling the economy, crime, the affordable housing shortage and COVID— all at the same time. " https://t.co/7KW46oc6hb

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) June 22, 2021

Points of agreement on housing

That said, as I wrote, the main candidates all agree on a blueprint, from the coalition United for Housing, involveing an investment of at least $4 billion per year, including $1.5 billion for the New York City Housing Authority and $2.5 billion into rental and for-sale affordable units. 

And they agree on ending "member deference," thus preventing individual Council Members from blocking a local project, and increased density.

Michelle Neugebauer is the Executive Director of Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, write 4/9/21 in Bklyner, Opinion: Brooklyn has a Housing Crisis. Here is the Plan the Next Mayor Needs to Follow. that the United for Housing program is aimed at the neediest renters in terms of construction, involves $200 million in rental assistance, and proposes a "new down payment assistance program to help Black and Latinx households access the capital they need to buy a home."

As Erik Engquist wrote 6/18/21 in the real-estate publication The Real Deal, Real estate looks like a winner in mayor’s race, given that Adams, a beneficiary of real-estate funding, has a pro-landlord perspective, and Garcia wants to build more than regulate.

"Real estate’s lone concern is Wiley," wrote Engquist:

Wiley’s housing platform is based on fantastic, unachievable promises that pander to anti-capitalists. She “guarantees” that in a Wiley administration, no New Yorkers will pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent — something 44 percent of renter households currently do. One-quarter spend more than half of their earnings on rent.

On Adams

Developers like Adams, according to Engquist:

He vows “aggressive” housing construction, declaring, “Housing — including affordable housing — can and should be put anywhere it can go, as long as it benefits those who need it.”

City Limits reported that Adams has had a somewhat mixed record:

“I’d say he’s been pretty balanced,” between the desires of developers and community concerns, says one Brooklyn housing advocate. But it’s unclear whether that reflects a consistent yet nuanced philosophy or an episodic approach. “He’s a bit of an enigma,” the advocate adds.

I'd suggest that, on projects like 80 Flatbush at least, he managed to appear critical--calling for a reduction in bulk--while essentially encouraging the project.

Policy summaries

The United for Housing website cites topline proposals from the candidates, as shown in the first excerpt for each candidate below, followed by my condensation of some of their platform proposals.

Eric Adams:

Build in wealthier areas with a high quality of life, allowing lower-and middle-income New Yorkers to move in by adding affordable housing and eliminating the community preference rule.
Aggressively seek to partner with community land trusts by offering properties to organizations that commit to building permanently affordable housing.
Sell the developable “air rights” over NYCHA properties to builders within the same community district, which will raise up to $8 billion that can be used to make badly needed repairs and quality of life improvements for NYCHA tenants.

Adams also suggests ending the community preference rule in housing lotteries--which has been a carrot to get neighborhoods to accept development, but also stymies those from farther away--converting city office buildings to affordable housing, allowing micro-units, selling NYCHA air rights, improving rent subsidies, combat discrimination, and tackle property tax reform, among other proposals.

Shaun Donovan:

Create a new, flexible rental assistance program that could serve 200,000 low-income households per year. Commit $330 million from reducing reliance on shelter, with an additional $500 million coming from state matching funds, and $1 billion from the federal government.
Commit up to $2 billion per year in City capital dollars to accelerate repairs across NYCHA’s portfolio.
Commit $2 billion in annual investment to create new affordable housing programs and expand existing programs for an overall production goals of 30,000+ units per year.

Donovan also proposes and improved system of emergency rental assistance, create develop a flexible mortgage assistance program, pursue "[e]ffective and collaborative code enforcement," launch a downpayment assistance program for prospective homebuyers in formerly redlined areas, and offer Equity Bonds for each child, streamline ULURP for 100% affordable housing, adopt citywide inclusionary zoning, allow larger buildings for affordable units, and get the state to "curb exclusionary zoning in New York City suburbs."

Kathryn Garcia:

Leverage substantial federal money available in Section 8, RAD, and other programs to fix NYCHA units.
Focus investment where it’s needed most and create 50,000 units of deeply affordable housing for households earning 30% or less of the AMI.
Comprehensively zone for more affordable housing citywide, focusing on neighborhoods rich in transit, jobs, and schools.

Garcia also proposes to upzone for affordable housing citywide, accelerate approvals rezonings, offer targeted property tax forgiveness to landlords who forgive rent, and green NYCHA.

Ray McGuire:

Work with the Biden-Harris administration to secure additional funding for NYCHA, leverage public-private partnerships to improve services, and update administrative rules and procedures that can stand in the way.
Invest in transitional housing and full wrap-around services in shelters and supportive housing for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Better manage city operations regarding siting permanent or temporary shelters to improve planning, transparency, and listening to community concerns.

McGuire also proposes increasing city spending on rental subsidies and vouchers from approximately $130 million up to $400 million, dedicate up to $500 million in city capital funding to create affordable housing for low-income seniors, reduce the cost of construction by streamlining approvals and modernizing building codes, "advance a citywide rezoning" for new residential construction and community investment, and offer low-interest loans to buyers.

Dianne Morales:

Provide more secure and guaranteed pathways toward permanent residence, including the prompt conversion of hotels into permanent support housing and services for families of our 100,000 unhoused school-aged youth within the first 100 days.
Appoint a Deputy Mayor responsible for leading and coordinating a citywide, cross-sector effort addressing housing, opportunity and social mobility, including shifting the $3 billion annual shelter budget towards preventative measures, and implementing preventative models that effectively responds to housing displacement and vulnerability.
Work to put an end to all current and future plans for the privatization of NYCHA, including A Blueprint for Change. Reject Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) projects aimed at privatizing section 8 housing and advance an aggressive state and federal campaign calling for $35 billion in funding from the authority.

Morales also would "declare housing a right," convert hotels into housing for "families of our 100,000 unhoused school-aged youth," "favor nonprofit and mission-driven organizations," advocate for "a balance between neighborhood and city-wide needs, and eliminate tax incentives like 421-a.

Scott Stringer:

Mandate Universal Affordable Housing (UAH) to require every developer to set aside 25 percent of its units for permanent, low-income housing.
End wasteful tax giveaways to private developers and establish and tailor a new subsidy program to fund deep, permanent affordability on a discretionary basis.
Set aside 15 percent of all city-funded units to house the formerly homeless, in order to reduce the shelter population.

Stringer also proposes converting vacant hotels and commercial spaces into shelters, supportive housing, and affordable housing, building on city-owned vacant lots, replacing "the Mortgage Recording Tax with a progressive Real Property Transfer Tax" to enable affordable housing, creating "a new operating subsidy program to finance deep affordability," and replacing "developer-driven rezonings with comprehensive planning."

Maya Wiley:

Promote community planning and ownership by including community land trusts, support for first-time home ownership, and protections for long-term homeowners.
Look for opportunities to expand our affordable housing stock by converting tax liens, buying up properties left behind in the wake of COVID and stimulating more non-profit housing development.
Create an ambitious citywide rent and tax relief program for small landlords and nonprofit landlords.
Create a rapid rehousing program designed to address some of the adverse impacts of the eviction crisis caused by the pandemic.

Wiley also proposes "developing city-owned land; moving aggressively to acquire distressed commercial properties like hotels, upzoning where appropriate, creating a City Land Bank to help finance the acquisition of land, and building the capacity of non-profit and faith-based developers of affordable housing."

Andrew Yang:

Allow communities to lead the charge in creating rezoning and development plans so that communities maintain their identity while expanding our affordable housing stock.
Proactively support Community Land Trusts (CLTs) with City Hall not just allocating funds to them but prioritizing them for land acquisition and the allocation of vacant public lots.
Take advantage of vacant hotel rooms to provide a short-term solution to homelessness with an eye towards providing transitional services to help all New Yorkers keep a roof over their heads.

Yang also proposes converting hotels to housing, "create a StreetEasy/Zillow for Rent-Stabilized units so landlords can list upcoming vacancies," incentivize landlords to put units back rent stabilization, "[e]mbrace comprehensive planning," use city land for afforcable housing, and encouraging microunits.

I'd note that the issue of "maintain their identity while expanding our affordable housing stock" is of course what splits communities, disabling consensus. So that issue deserved a lot more discussion.