Mayor Eric Adams Touts Affordable Housing Efforts In NYC's New Budget
NYC Mayor Eric Adams delivered remarks about housing provisions included in the newly passed budget.
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NewsTranscript
00:00My name is Maria Torres Springer, and I'm the Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce.
00:07Thanks to everyone for joining us this morning at the Williamsburg Houses to celebrate a record investment in housing in this city,
00:17an additional $2 billion via the budget deal reached last week, making this administration's commitment to housing a historic $26 billion.
00:30We have a lot to celebrate in this budget, funding to make New York City safer, to bolster our economy, increase livability, and much more.
00:43And while I'll admit that I'm biased, I'm particularly excited to be here with all of you today to celebrate and amplify the major infusion of funding into housing.
00:56Now, this is far from the first step that this administration has taken to increase housing supply and improve housing quality.
01:05Early in the mayor's time in office, we set a bold but necessary moonshot of 500,000 new homes over the course of the next decade.
01:15And we put our improvements and our attention to NYCHA residents, really made sure that that was at the top of our priority list.
01:25And we've continued to push this agenda through a number of programs, like our City of Yes for Housing opportunity, the landmark Albany housing deal,
01:36our 24 in 24 public sites going into affordable housing, our five neighborhood plans, record production at HPD and at NYCHA, and so much more,
01:48because we know that having a safe, affordable, quality home is the foundation that a family needs to grow and to thrive.
01:58And what we are celebrating here today is an investment in the future of New York City homes, communities, and families.
02:07And we're able to do that because of the leadership of the person I now have the honor of introducing.
02:13Some people call him the public safety mayor. Some people call him the jobs mayor.
02:19But I also think that the record books will reflect that he is the greatest housing mayor of this city, the 110th mayor of New York City, Mayor Eric Adams.
02:30Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, dear. And no one does it like you.
02:38I think behind the scenes in the administration, we're well aware of the work that Deputy Mayor Maria Torres Springer has done around housing on so many levels.
02:50And under her portfolio is also our job push.
02:54More jobs in the history of the city of New York, more small businesses are open now and operating.
03:03When you look at the record level of financing, more housing in one year in the history of the city.
03:09Transitioning more people out of shelters into permanent housing in the history of the city in one year.
03:16More people using our FEPS vouchers in one year in the history of the program.
03:22And you see more money, $26 billion being put in place into affordable housing.
03:30This is all under her portfolio. And for years, NYCHA has been denied and ignored and abandoned under this administration.
03:40Difficult times, 112.4 billion dollars that we were able to pass.
03:45We dealt with the issues of the sunsetting of covid dollars to keep in place necessary programs.
03:51Fifty three million dollars in our cultural institutions. Fifty eight million dollars in our libraries.
03:57Able to save some are rising and others. And you know what? I love seeing these brothers in hard hats.
04:02You know, good to see you. Good to see you. Housing is more than a place to live.
04:09It is a job. And it's good to see good union page paying jobs in the process.
04:14And so the fight facing these unprecedented challenges, we were able to forge ahead and push forward.
04:21And we invested in three primary areas that are important to the residents of the city.
04:29Housing, child care and health care. These were huge lifts and sustain how we could continue the trajectory of the success that the city is facing.
04:40But we're clear the popularity must turn into prosperity for every New Yorker.
04:45So when we reached a budget deal that invests in the future of the city, it was a real win for the city.
04:51And because we made the smart and tough decisions at the beginning of our term in office that we were able to sustain a four point nine billion dollar onslaught of the migrant and asylum seekers.
05:02We had made the right decision in finding efficiencies.
05:06We protecting public safety, revitalizing our economy and making the city more livable and affordable for working class people.
05:14And part of that means building more affordable housing and for more people.
05:21Our city and our nation, we're facing a massive housing crisis.
05:26When you think about it, one point four percent vacancy rate and almost zero.
05:31When you look at affordable units, if we don't lean into this in real way, we won't be able to address this crisis.
05:38But more than half of the renters are rent burdened.
05:42And everywhere you go, you hear the stories of people who are losing their homes or price out of their homes or being left behind.
05:49And I know what it's like as a child to be on the verge of homelessness.
05:54So that's why this is not professional. This is personal.
05:57And every day we're going to fight hard for the people of this city, particularly around housing.
06:03We are saying clearly with this investment of a historic two billion dollars in capital funds to the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development and to public housing and NYCHA.
06:13We're saying that we are serious. And if you didn't hear me, I didn't say two million.
06:18I said two billion dollars in economic.
06:24It was a point to go that D.M. Maria Torres Springer talked about the moonshot goal of five hundred thousand new homes by 2032, as well as a commitment to transforming NYCHA.
06:35So every New York has a clean, safe place to call home.
06:40And this brings our investment in affordable housing, as I indicated, to twenty six billion dollars.
06:46That's a record level. It has never been done before. And it's just a reinforcement of our commitment.
06:52This is the most pro housing zoning proposal in our city of yes, which is part of this initiative.
06:59The city of yes is the perfect match for this.
07:02And all over the city, we have great places where we have access to healthy food, access to good schools, access to good health care, access to good quality transportation.
07:13Yet we're not building the housing in those communities.
07:16Fifty nine community boards, 10 are building more housing in one year than the forty nine combined.
07:22That's wrong. That needs to stop the things that we have in the city belongs to all New Yorkers.
07:28And so we need everyone to say yes. Building in my backyard.
07:32Yes. On my block. Yes. To a little more housing in every neighborhood across the city.
07:37And even the faith community is joining us and saying yes in God's backyard of building more housing.
07:44So we must open the doors to new solution and to new housing in our city.
07:49When we build housing for working class people, families, immigrants and young people, we allow everyone to have the opportunity to pursue the American dream.
07:59So I'm really pleased together we can build a city that is more affordable and that provides opportunity and security for all.
08:07Job well done. I want to thank the entire team here.
08:10And as always, we joined by our assemblywoman who also know how important this is.
08:15Albany has been extremely helpful to us around our housing initiative.
08:20We got every housing request that we needed up in Albany.
08:25And again, we want to thank our partners in Albany as well as in the city council.
08:28Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mayor, for your leadership.
08:36I just wanted to add a couple of small details, but important details about how the two billion will be invested because of this additional funding for HPD and for NYCHA.
08:47We will be able to build and preserve more deeply affordable housing for low income New Yorkers through our critical programs like Ella and Neighborhood Pillars.
08:57We will add opportunities for New Yorkers to become homeowners, fostering wealth across generations through programs like Open Door.
09:06We will build new supportive housing units which will offer care and stability to New Yorkers who are beginning a new phase in their lives.
09:15And of course, we will preserve thousands of additional NYCHA units through PACT and the Public Housing Preservation Trust programs over the course of the next couple of fiscal years.
09:26Improving conditions for NYCHA residents like all of the terrific work that has been done through the PACT program right here at Williamsburg Houses.
09:37Now, this major investment, the records that the Mayor discussed, and the work ahead, we certainly cannot do alone.
09:45I'd like to thank the Speaker of the City Council and all of her colleagues for the tremendous partnership in getting a budget deal and a focus on housing.
09:54Of course, Assemblymember Rajkumar for her amazing advocacy in Albany with the housing package.
10:02I want to thank our government partners who are here today.
10:05Our HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carreon and his amazing team.
10:09Eric Enderlin at the Housing Development Corporation.
10:12Lisa Bova-Hyatt at NYCHA, and I know her team members are here.
10:17Leila Bozorg, who's the City's Executive Director for Housing.
10:22And finally, the incredible constellation of advocates and housing developers and partners on this mission that we have as a city to finally tackle our housing crisis.
10:37There are so many who have been relentless advocates over the course of the last generation, really, making sure that the right attention was paid by a mayoral administration to NYCHA and to affordable housing.
10:53And so our next speaker is just one of those leaders in the housing world, and I'd like to call up the Executive Director of the New York Housing Conference, Rachel Fee.
11:04Thank you so much.
11:07Good morning, everybody.
11:08My name is Rachel Fee.
11:09I'm Executive Director of the New York Housing Conference and proud to be called a relentless advocate for affordable housing by the Deputy Mayor.
11:18As Mayor Adams said, we're in the midst of an affordable housing crisis.
11:23The problem is simple.
11:24We're just not building enough affordable housing.
11:27But it's getting harder and harder as construction and operating costs rise.
11:32It costs more to build each and every unit.
11:35That's why this spring we called on this mayor and this council to add a billion dollars to make sure that we continue to produce new affordable housing.
11:45And this mayor and this council has delivered.
11:49We are so thrilled to be here today to celebrate this historic investment of an additional billion dollars in capital funding for affordable housing and public housing this fiscal year and next.
12:02But we can't stop there.
12:04We know that budget alone isn't going to solve our housing crisis, and that's why New York Housing Conference has formed the Yes to Housing Coalition.
12:14We have more than 130 organizations that support zoning reforms to make sure that each and every neighborhood across New York City will build affordable housing for New Yorkers.
12:27Last year, this city built more than 14,000 units of affordable housing.
12:33We want to hold that record and break it this year, Mr. Mayor.
12:40And this investment is really going to help get us there.
12:43So again, I want to thank Mayor Adams, Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer, and the New York City Council for this historic investment.
12:49Thank you.
12:55Thank you so much, Rachel.
12:57I want to acknowledge our dear friend Shams, who is always with us.
13:01And an important really sea change in how this administration thinks about housing, that it's not just government bureaucrats or advocates or developers.
13:13It's really impacted individuals who really can speak firsthand to the needs of the city.
13:18And so thank you for all of your leadership.
13:21Also, I want to acknowledge the development team for all of the work that has happened here at Williamsburg Houses.
13:27RDC Development, which is a joint venture of MDG Design and Wavecrest.
13:32Also, so many other partners like the St. Nick's Alliance, Grand Street Settlement, Our Brothers Guardian, and of course the Williamsburg Houses Tenants Association for hosting us this morning.
13:44Okay.
13:46So, as the Mayor said, he, with the Speaker of the City Council, landed the plane, an incredible budget, lots of investments on so many things that New Yorkers care about.
13:59And first and foremost, $2 billion additional dollars in housing, creating a $26 billion investment in the lives and well-being and future of New Yorkers.
14:12Thanks to all of you for being here.
14:14Thanks so much.