The link to the article above titled "High Stakes: The Looming Battle Over New York's Housing Laws" by Jarrett Murphy discusses and investigates the current administrative initiative of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasco to build and preserve around 200,000 units of affordable housing by pushing for housing regulation reform in the NY state legislature.
In order to achieve the goal of a more affordable city, the mayor has set out an ambitious $4.1 billion dollar initiative to effectively strengthen rent regulations. The primary purpose of this initiative is to carve out a place for the working class and prevent lower- and moderate-income people to continue getting priced out of neighborhoods such as the five boroughs.
The first restrictions on rent pricing or "rent control" in NYC began after WWI amid the housing shortage which benefited many of the cities lower income residents, but since then NYC housing regulations have been strengthened and weakened over the years but have most recently heavily swing in the landlords favor. The effect of these shifts has caused a major decline in the number of regulated apartments throughout NYC.
Mayor Bill de Blasco's current stand on the NYC housing debate is clearly pro-tenant, but there are inherent problems with his strategy as stated by the author:
"He wants stronger rent regulations to preserve existing affordability, but he also needs to create new affordable housing by leveraging private sector money, and investors might see permanent rent regulations as a disincentive to committing equity to projects."
The outcomes of his policy initiatives might prove futile due to bi-partisan opposition in pushing his legislation as well as affordability. It will ultimately depend on a broad consensus on the urgency or "need" of affordable housing and the severity of the housing crisis.
In order to achieve the goal of a more affordable city, the mayor has set out an ambitious $4.1 billion dollar initiative to effectively strengthen rent regulations. The primary purpose of this initiative is to carve out a place for the working class and prevent lower- and moderate-income people to continue getting priced out of neighborhoods such as the five boroughs.
The first restrictions on rent pricing or "rent control" in NYC began after WWI amid the housing shortage which benefited many of the cities lower income residents, but since then NYC housing regulations have been strengthened and weakened over the years but have most recently heavily swing in the landlords favor. The effect of these shifts has caused a major decline in the number of regulated apartments throughout NYC.
Mayor Bill de Blasco's current stand on the NYC housing debate is clearly pro-tenant, but there are inherent problems with his strategy as stated by the author:
"He wants stronger rent regulations to preserve existing affordability, but he also needs to create new affordable housing by leveraging private sector money, and investors might see permanent rent regulations as a disincentive to committing equity to projects."
The outcomes of his policy initiatives might prove futile due to bi-partisan opposition in pushing his legislation as well as affordability. It will ultimately depend on a broad consensus on the urgency or "need" of affordable housing and the severity of the housing crisis.
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