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New York|N.Y. Democrats, at Odds Over Tenant Protections, Fail to Reach Housing
Deal

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/nyregion/housing-good-cause-eviction.html
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N.Y. DEMOCRATS, AT ODDS OVER TENANT PROTECTIONS, FAIL TO REACH HOUSING DEAL

State lawmakers will leave Albany, N.Y., this week without passing any housing
policies, sparking a new round of finger-pointing among Democrats.

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Legislative leaders characterized Gov. Kathy Hochul as an obstacle in reaching a
three-way deal on various housing initiatives.Credit...Cindy Schultz for The New
York Times


By Luis Ferré-Sadurní

Reporting from the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y.

June 8, 2023Updated 8:41 p.m. ET

Democratic lawmakers in New York had scrambled this week to assemble a plan to
tackle the state’s housing crisis: They said it included measures to protect
tenants from eviction and cap rent increases, incentives to remodel empty
offices into apartments and an extension of a tax break for developers to build
affordable housing.

But it all unraveled on Thursday, when Democrats who control the State
Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul failed to reach a deal, leading to a new round
of finger pointing among Democrats in Albany.

Lawmakers blamed Ms. Hochul for opposing their housing measures, particularly
those to protect tenants, while the governor said lawmakers never presented her
with any housing bills to approve.

The one unarguable point was that Democrats were bound to finish the 2023
legislative session this week without addressing the state’s housing crisis for
the second time this year, despite proclaiming the issue a top priority.



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Mayor Eric Adams of New York City sharply criticized Albany’s failure to act.
“Without action from the state, we will not be able to come close to achieving
our moonshot goal of 500,000 additional homes or fully address this housing
crisis.”

The lack of a resolution underscored the lingering fissures between Ms. Hochul,
a moderate Democrat recently elected to her first full term, and more
left-leaning Democrats in the Legislature who have clashed with the governor
over everything from the state’s bail laws to her chief judge nomination.

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The last-ditch effort to address the state’s high living costs and housing
shortage collapsed on Thursday when Senate and Assembly leaders claimed they had
reached a two-way agreement on a package of housing policies, even though they
did not unveil any legislation or provide details. But in a rare joint
statement, the Democratic legislative leaders sought to blame Ms. Hochul for
opposing their plan.

“Unfortunately, it was clear that we could not come to an agreement with the
governor on this plan,” Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Democratic majority leader
in the State Senate, and Carl E. Heastie, the Assembly speaker, said in the
statement.

The governor’s office shot back by suggesting that both houses had not actually
reached an agreement, noting that lawmakers could have introduced or passed
legislation for Ms. Hochul to review, but did not.



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“In the final hours of the legislative session, the Assembly and the Senate are
blaming the governor for their own failure to act,” Julie Wood, the governor’s
communications director, said in a statement. “Absolutely nothing stood in the
Legislature’s way.”



The failure came less than two months after lawmakers opposed Ms. Hochul’s more
ambitious plan to build over 800,000 units of new housing by imposing
construction mandates on local communities, a contentious proposal that drew
intense backlash from suburban lawmakers.

After the governor’s plan fell apart during state budget negotiations, lawmakers
vowed to revisit housing before the end of the legislative session.

Legislators met late into the night this week to discuss policies to convert
commercial building into housing, a housing voucher program and, according to
the joint statement, “the creation of a local affordable housing plan.”

To help boost housing production, legislators were coalescing around a proposal
that would have extended a contentious tax exemption, known as 421a, that served
as an incentive for developers to build affordable housing.



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Extending the program, which progressives have criticized as a giveaway for
developers, has been a priority of both Ms. Hochul and Mr. Adams, as well as the
Real Estate Board of New York, an influential lobbying group.

The main priority for lawmakers appeared to be a so-called good cause eviction
measure, a contentious left-wing goal opposed by the real estate industry that
would limit a landlord’s ability to raise rents and evict tenants. Instead of
imposing it statewide, lawmakers were looking to have the protections apply only
to New York City.

While legislative Democrats have mostly focused their attention on tenant
protections, Ms. Hochul has opposed the good cause eviction measure, instead
anchoring her efforts on increasing housing production to boost supply and ease
prices.

The situation appeared to worsen on Wednesday in a meeting where the governor
threatened that she would veto the housing legislation because it included the
eviction measure, according to two people briefed on the discussions.

In theory, Democrats could have pushed through legislation and dared the
governor to veto it — a move that left-leaning tenant activists were clamoring
for.



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“Governor Hochul would not veto a wildly popular omnibus bill in the midst of a
historic housing crisis,” Housing Justice for All, an organization that
advocates on behalf of tenants said in a statement. “We urge the State
Legislature to call her bluff.”

With supermajorities in both houses, Democrats have the ability to potentially
override a veto from the governor, though it would require minimal defections
from lawmakers, which could have proved challenging.

“All New Yorkers get today is a statement saying that a proposed compromise
won’t even be brought to the floor for a vote,” said Carlo A. Scissura, the
president and chief executive officer of the New York Building Congress. “You
can’t enact legislation you don’t vote on or dismiss out of hand.”

Grace Ashford contributed reporting.



Luis Ferré-Sadurní is the Albany bureau chief and covers New York State
politics. He joined The Times in 2017 and previously wrote about housing for the
Metro desk. He is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. @luisferre

A version of this article appears in print on June 9, 2023, Section A, Page 17
of the New York edition with the headline: New York Democratic Leaders Fail to
Reach Housing Deal. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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