In an era demanding bold action, New York’s latest housing legislation emerges as a disheartening testament to political timidity. As the state grapples with an escalating housing crisis, the recent agreement announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul with state legislators, while a step forward, illustrates a preference for half-measures over real change.
The crisis itself is stark: soaring rents and home prices pushing residents to the brink, a growing mismatch between the booming job market and the lagging housing supply. Since 2010, the city has added 800,000 people but only 200,000 homes. The state's response? A watered-down agreement that seems more about political convenience than solving these critical issues. It's a classic example of box-checking — a way for legislators to arm themselves with talking points for re-election campaigns, rather than deploying the political courage necessary.
The centerpiece of the deal is a replacement for the 421-a tax break — now known as 485-x — which gives developers a property tax exemption for building new multifamily residential housing. The 485-x program would raise construction workers’ wages, expand high-wage positions to more neighborhoods and apply them to buildings as small as 150 units — more generous than the previous 300-unit cutoff.
“The new tax exemption program for housing production, 485-x, will produce less rental housing than its predecessor, 421-a,” James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, has said.
What’s more, the version of the “good cause” eviction protections out of Albany only evoked derision from both tenants and landlords.
Finally, this legislative package is New York City-centric. Suburban voters have pushed back so hard on new housing that their representatives in the state Legislature fear for their seats. This omission underscores a lack of comprehensive strategic thinking. What’s needed is a unified area-wide approach to the housing shortage.
Hochul initially proposed a bold vision to tackle the housing crisis, and now she appears to have retreated into safer political territory, settling for a deal that sidesteps potential backlash. If the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had had the same hesitation about congestion pricing, for example, this transformative project would never see the light of day.
This legislative package, while it may bring some relief, falls short of the decisive action needed to address the housing crisis. It’s a continuation of the status quo that benefits a select few while the broader populace continues to struggle with affordability.
Legislators should feel not just the weight of missed opportunities but the urgency to rectify this tepid approach in future sessions.
WEED COUNSELING: The state’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports released a cannabis toolkit on Friday to help parents and mentors talk to young people about the risks of underage cannabis use. The toolkit is part of a state effort to prevent harmful effects of cannabis, and includes tips for conversations around the potency of weed, the types of products available and impacts on the development brain.
HEALTH CONTRACT: The city Health Department awarded a $900,000 contract to the East Harlem nonprofit Center for Urban Community Services to provide supportive housing services, according to a notice in the City Record on Friday. The center, founded in 1993, provides affordable housing, employment resources, financial support and medical and mental health care to 50,000 people a year in New York City and nationwide.
MAMMOGRAM MACHINE: New York City Health and Hospitals’ Gotham Health facility in East New York announced Friday that a 3-D mammogram machine is available at the facility to improve breast imaging services for patients. The machine captures a fuller picture of breast tissue compared to traditional 2-D mammography and may offer better detection of breast cancer, the health system said. H+H’s Gotham Health facilities offer primary care services to New Yorkers.
A Bronx-based social services nonprofit plans to open a $12 million housing development in Morrisania this week for older adults leaving the prison system.
The Osborne Association is scheduled to open the Fulton Community Reentry Center on Wednesday, a 140-bed temporary residence designed to help older adult men leaving the prison system get stable housing after release.
In addition to housing, the center will offer employment assistance, case management and substance use counseling and a community for formerly incarcerated men over 50. The shelter plans to serve older individuals coming out of long periods of incarceration – a population that may face struggles getting a job or reintegrating into their community after release, said Jon Monsalve, interim president and CEO of the Osborne Association.
The Fulton Center will provide transitional housing and Osborne’s aim is to find permanent residences for people living there. But Monsalve said that immediate housing is critical for community reintegration for formerly incarcerated people, as it offers a path to finding employment and preserving health and well-being.
“This is the thing that folks worry about the most – where they are going to put their head at night,” Monsalve said.
The Economic Development Corporation provided $6 million to build the Fulton Center, with additional capital funds flowing from the City Council and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.
Osborne received a $138 million contract from the city’s Department of Social Services to operate the Fulton Center through 2040. The contract will provide roughly $6.8 million in city funds each year.
While DSS provides operating funding for the facility, the Osborne Association owns it, said DSS Commissioner Molly Park. She said the new center represents a “three-way win:” it offers a high-quality residence for the community, it allows the nonprofit to operate and own the building and it provides the city with a new shelter at a fixed rent cost.
Park added that Fulton will offer stable housing and connections to permanent residences for a population that often slips through the cracks.
The Osborne Association provides social services such as employment counseling and housing assistance in New York City, Westchester and Buffalo. The nonprofit will hold a ribbon-cutting for the Fulton center on Wednesday.
State lawmakers passed a budget Saturday that will funnel Medicaid dollars to hospitals and nursing homes while overhauling the state’s home care program.
The final budget deal, passed nearly three weeks late, comes after months of negotiations between Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators about how to control Medicaid spending while preserving access to services. Hochul’s proposals centered on ways to cut Medicaid spending, specifically in the long-term care sector. But lawmakers pushed back on those cuts, ultimately proposing new ways to unlock federal funds to bolster the Medicaid program.
Here are the notable health care policies in the state’s $237 billion budget deal.
Millions flow to hospitals and nursing homes
The health budget reverses most of Hochul’s proposed $1.2 billion cuts to the Medicaid program, restoring $800 million for hospitals and nursing homes. Hospitals will get $525 million in Medicaid payment increases, while nursing homes and assisted living facilities will receive $300 million.
It’s still unclear how much of a Medicaid bump individual facilities will receive. Policymakers are still deciding whether to implement an across-the-board Medicaid rate increase or target payments based on each facility’s financial need, said Tim Ruffinen, a spokesman for the state budget office.
The final Medicaid rate increases also remain to be determined because they hinge on a state plan to tax health plans and bring in billions of federal dollars for health care. The budget directs state officials to submit an application to the federal government to create a managed care organization tax, but it’s not clear how much revenue the tax would generate or when it would be available to hospitals and nursing homes. Legislators initially estimated that the tax could generate $4 billion a year, but the total will likely be less than that.
The budget establishes a “health care stability fund” for all revenue generated by the managed care organization tax, estimating that $350 million will be available in the 2025 fiscal year. It remains to be seen whether that number could increase once the tax is approved.
Upcoming cuts to home care
Hochul did uphold her budget promise to cut administrative spending in the consumer-directed personal assistance program, a $9 billion home care program that allows New Yorkers to hire family members or friends as caregivers. New York will appoint a single entity to manage payroll and administrative tasks for the 250,000 people who participate in the program statewide – a reduction from the 700 organizations, which are called fiscal intermediaries, that do that job currently. Hochul said that the move could save the state up to $500 million a year.
Although the state will move to a single fiscal intermediary to manage the entire consumer-directed personal assistance program, there are some caveats that allow existing entities to preserve their status. For example, the state will offer subcontracts to the state’s 11 independent living centers, which are nonprofits that serve and are run by people with disabilities, so that they can continue operating as fiscal intermediaries.
Despite changes to the consumer-directed personal assistance program, the final budget did not include wage cuts for personal care aides that Hochul proposed in January.
Programs for safety-net hospitals
The budget outlines $500 million in additional funds for safety-net hospitals, according to the Greater New York Hospital Association. These funds are earmarked for financially distressed facilities.
The plan also creates a specific program for safety-net institutions to partner with financially stable hospitals to shrink their deficits. The health care “transformation” program offers $300 million in funding for safety-net facilities that partner with other hospitals, physician organizations or health plans through mergers or acquisitions to improve their financial status.
In addition to opening up funds for safety-net hospitals, the budget also includes specific plans for one struggling Brooklyn safety-net facility: SUNY Downstate’s University Hospital. The deal between lawmakers and the Hochul administration will halt the closure of the East Flatbush teaching hospital while officials appoint an advisory commission to examine the facility's services and financial status, which will have a year to produce recommendations about the hospital's future.
Mental health and insurance changes
The state budget also requires commercial insurers to increase their rates to outpatient facilities that provide mental health and substance use services. Medicaid pays higher than commercial insurers for behavioral health care which prevents agencies from serving large swaths of patients on commercial plans. The budget mandates that commercial insurers pay the same rate as Medicaid does, a policy that advocates say will improve access to mental health care.