Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered a big public thank you to labor leaders Tuesday for their help getting her controversial — and at times seemingly elusive — housing package over the finish line.
“I will tell you, it also helped to have labor on our side,” Hochul said Tuesday during a rally at Service Employees International Union 32BJ’s headquarters on West 18th Street.
Hochul secured deals tied to developer incentives she says will help build more desperately needed housing. New Yorkers have complained about the lowest vacancy rate in decades coupled with high rent prices.
“The doors to their next opportunity, their next home, have been closed because there's such a shortage of supply — literally no room at the inn. People could not find a place to live. But today, everything changes,” Hochul said.
After her massive housing proposal failed last year, Hochul needed a new ingredient.
This year, she sought buy-in from key unions: the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and 32BJ.
“Yes, I was the first governor in half a century to touch the lightning rod and put housing front and center, but it happened because I had willing partners,” Hochul said.
Mayor Eric Adams also joined Hochul Tuesday, crediting her for delivering key policies to New York City like loosened housing restrictions, stiffer regulations around the illegal cannabis market and an extension of mayoral control.
“These are your issues. You have blue-collar people running the blue-collar union state, getting the issues and presenting the issues that are important,” Adams said, speaking directly to the union members in the room Tuesday.
The real estate industry and labor unions influenced Hochul’s decision to revive a developer tax incentive program now called 485x that includes construction wage requirements.
“I think 485x is a big compromise that's going to lead to a certain number of housing units, but definitely not at the level of affordable housing that we need to be building right now,” said State Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat serving as the chair of the Committee on Labor.
It’s a concern also voiced by the powerful Real Estate Board of New York.
“You have to start somewhere, right?” Hochul argued Tuesday when pressed on the topic. “All I know is that we are at a static situation where nothing is being built. And I know that more will be built.”
A Siena College poll released Monday showed New Yorkers support a state override of local opposition to building new housing.
“We're just taking our breath from what we accomplished this year, which was quite extraordinary and unexpected in the scale of what we did,” Hochul said when asked if she will revive that fight.
“But we're always encouraging surrounding areas and certainly upstate, Long Island, Westchester, to build more of it,” Hochul added.
Tenant advocates also argue that more work can be done.
“The bill that we were fighting for was a broad, near universal right to renew your lease and protections against price-gouging for tenants all over the state,” said Cea Weaver, the co-founder of the tenant rights group Housing Justice for All.
All 213 members of the state legislature are up for reelection and some face primaries in June. Housing is expected to be a key issue that factors into those races.