WHAT DID NYC GET?

STATE OF THE STATE 2023

and pledged to build 800,000 housing units over the next decade to meet the state’s housing shortage. She called the initiative the New York Housing Compact, which focused largely on zoning and regulatory changes to make it easier to build. Though she acknowledged the need to incentivize the construction of affordable housing, a plan to replace the expired 421-a tax break for developers was missing from her proposal. The governor said she plans to work with the Legislature to find a replacement for the “critical piece of the puzzle”. An eighth of the units Hochul wants to build will be reliant on a similar incentive program to 421-a, which ended in June. The governor also did not re-up her proposal from last year to legalize accessory dwelling units in the suburbs.

According to Hochul’s office, the plan centered on increasing supply and protecting tenants as well as homeowners. The housing plan would rely on every locality across the state working toward a target amount of new homes. Regulatory changes would include legalizing basement apartments in New York City, streamlining environmental reviews for transit-oriented developments and permitting greater density by lifting the floor area ratio cap in New York City.

EDUCATION The governor plans to increase funding for Foundation Aid to school districts by $2.7 billion, bringing the total investment to $24 billion, and increase funding for full-day kindergarten. Hochul also plans to establish tutoring programs across the state with a focus on reading and math and create a pathway to careers and higher education. The governor proposed annual tuition increases for SUNY and CUNY schools, which will be determined by the Higher Education Price Index or 3%, whichever was lower.

MINIMUM WAGE Hochul proposed matching future minimum wage increases to inflation. The governor noted the rising prices of goods and services since the start of the pandemic and explained that people making minimum wage across the state have lost their “purchasing power.” Hochul hopes increasing the minimum wage will help low-income workers, including families of women and people of color. The governor also pointed to data showing how higher wages can result in increased consumer spending and improve work productivity and retention.

MTA FUNDING While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority faces a financial crisis and the impending threat of a fiscal cliff, Hochul said she was committed to finding a “comprehensive set of solutions” but did not detail specifics on how to address the agency’s financial challenges. Hochul proposed creating a new transit connection between Brooklyn and Queens, expanding electric vehicle transit infrastructure, improving bus reliability and lowering the speed limit in New York City. ■

Bail reform is once again going to be on the Legislature’s to‑do list, if leaders agree to make changes.

Hochul wants to further invest in early childhood education.

to work collaboratively with lawmakers to figure out what that replacement will look like, which represented a break from last year when she proposed a replacement on her own, but this still sets up her clash with lawmakers who considered the tax break a non-starter during budget negotiations last year. At the time, some lawmakers suggested that they may support replacement to 421-a so long as it paired with tenant protections – namely “good cause” eviction – but the absence of such proposals in Hochul’s State of the State was a strong indicator that her position on those ideas hasn’t changed much in the past year. “I do agree that there needs to be some changes to our zoning, but the meat and juice of it is that people are just really, really struggling with affordability of housing,” socialist Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest told City & State.

Perhaps the biggest fight Hochul set up with lawmakers this year was once again making changes to the state’s bail laws. She took a more direct approach than last year, when she surprised legislative leaders and rank-and-file members alike with a 10point criminal justice plan shortly before the budget was due that included rolling back the 2019 bail reform laws. In her State of the State this year, Hochul proposed removing the “least restrictive means” standard for setting pretrial conditions for the most serious crimes that were already bail eligible, giving judges more discretion to set bail or detain someone pretrial. “I have great worries about her wanting to relitigate bail yet again, four years in a row,” Democratic Assembly Member Robert Carroll told City & State. “I don’t think they are at all connected to any rises in crime” – a reality the governor also acknowledged, saying bail reform was “not a primary driver” of a crime increase. State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said Hochul’s plan to revisit bail once again was “not good” in a text message. When asked about the governor’s plan to address bail, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie – a staunch supporter of the law who has resisted making changes in the past – told reporters, “I haven’t looked at the proposal.” But he added he was “happy to hear that she wants to focus on the drivers of crime.” But that’s not to say that Hochul has exhausted goodwill with lawmakers or even those ideologically to the left. Her plan to index the state’s minimum wage to inflation was met with applause in the Assembly chamber and was generally well-received by Democratic lawmakers who approve of automatically increasing pay to rise with the cost of living. Hochul also received praise for her attention on both mental health and access to health care, even if some lawmakers disagreed with her specifics. Democratic state Sen. Gustavo Rivera even said that while he would like to raise taxes on the wealthy as a source of revenue for various initiatives, including those proposed by the governor, he appreciated her upfront declaration that she has no intention to raise income taxes. “She’s not somebody who lies for a living, so I can believe her when she says she’s not going to raise income taxes, she’s not going to raise income taxes,” Rivera told City & State. “There’s a possibility of other tax raises? Then I’m all for it.” ■

ERIK MCGREGOR/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES; OFFICE OF GOV. KATHY HOCHUL

Building big 800,000 homes? Given the median size of an apartment is 795 square feet, Hochul’s proposal would add 8,904,000,000 cubic feet of new housing stock. Or over 240 Empire State Buildings.

STATE OF THE STATE 2023

What’s in it for New York City? Mayor Eric Adams might get the bail reform changes he’s been asking for.

By Annie McDonough

In Midtown, vacant office buildings could be converted to apartments.

ONLY A HANDFUL of the dozens of local and state elected officials gathered at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address got a personal shout-out in the governor’s speech. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was one of them.

Reflecting the outwardly friendly relationship between the two executives – at least friendlier than their two predecessors – Hochul thanked Adams for his partnership over their first year in office. “We’ve worked together very closely, Mayor Adams, and we have more battles ahead – but fortunately not with each other,” Hochul said in her introduction to a crowded Assembly chamber in the state Capitol. Adams’ public schedule said he also planned to meet with members of the state Legislature behind closed doors before the address.

But Hochul’s address paid more than lip service to New York City. The State of the State, which outlined broad priorities for the state legislative session in a 277page document, included several proposals that directly targeted New York City or ones that have lingered on Adams’ Albany wishlist. Going along with Hochul’s primary focus on housing, several of the New York City focused items were aimed at removing barriers to housing production and incentivizing the creation of more affordable units. Other items addressed one of Adams’ primary focuses: public safety. Of course, it’s still an open question whether the state Legislature will get behind Hochul’s proposals – for example, to amend the state’s bail reform laws.

Here are some of the more significant items in the State of the State that could directly affect New York City.

REMOVING BARRIERS TO RESIDENTIAL BUILDING AND CONVERSION

Housing took center stage in the address, with the governor announcing a New York Housing Compact that would include rezoning for higher density in neighborhoods near train stations, fast-tracking project approvals in localities with lagging development and legalizing basement apartment units in New York City, among other priorities.

Office space that could be converted

SQUARE FOOTAGE OF SPACE (sq. ft. in millions) 400 ..................................................................................................................................... 336 MILLION 350 ..................................................................................................................................... square feet under recommended 300 ..................................................................................................................................... regulations

This is approximately a 60% INCREASE in square footage

250 .....................................................................................................................................

200 200 ..................................................................................................................................... MILLION square feet under existing 150 ...................................................................................................................................... regulations

100 ......................................................................................................................................

50 .....................................................................................................................................

EXISTING AND RECOMMENDED REGULATIONS

Hochul also included several proposals to ease restrictions on building in the city, such as amending a state restriction on maximum residential density and removing barriers to converting office buildings to residential units. The latter followed Adams’ release the day before of recommendations from a city task force on how to facilitate those conversions. Hochul also proposed a property tax exemption to incentivize the inclusion of affordable units in office to residential conversions.

Finally, Hochul said she would work with the Legislature to find a replacement for 421-a, the tax abatement program that incentivized the inclusion of some affordable units in new housing production in New York City. Last year, Adams advocated for a replacement for the program before it expired and a replacement proposed by Hochul failed to get support from the Legislature. “As I said in my plan to ‘Get Stuff Built,’ this administration is prepared to help meet the need for 500,000 additional homes in New York City over the next decade,” Adams said in an emailed statement. “But we cannot meet that goal alone – we need some key state legislative changes to provide us the tools to build everywhere, faster, and with all our communities.”

AMENDING BAIL REFORM

Hochul isn’t quite going back to the drawing board on the state’s 2019 bail reforms. But while she stood by what she described as the original goal of bail reform – ensuring that the size of one’s bank account doesn’t determine whether a person sits in jail. Hochul said that it’s not perfect. “I would say we can agree that the bail reform law as written leaves room for improvement,” she said.

Adams has been one of the most persistently critical voices on bail reform in the Democratic Party, and while the state did roll back parts of the law last year, it didn’t go as far as the mayor wanted. One major aspect Adams has advocated for would be to allow judges to consider a person’s “dangerousness” when deciding on bail or potential release.

Hochul did not speak in great detail about what aspects of bail reform she wanted to take a second look at this year, but she said she wanted to eliminate the “least restrictive means” standard for serious crimes. Judges use it to determine pretrial conditions, and Hochul pitched the change as a way to give judges more discretion in sending people to jail. Adams didn’t immediately address it in his statement sent after the speech.

SLOWING DOWN DRIVERS

Allowing 24/7 speed camera enforcement was just the beginning. In another bid to give New York City more control over its streets, Hochul plans to introduce legislation to allow the city to adjust its speed limits below the current floors of 25 miles per hour citywide and 15 miles per hour near schools. “Giving New York City the autonomy to change its speed limit can help the City determine how best to safeguard its own streets,” the State of the State book read.

Last year, Adams and the city Department of Transportation advocated for state legislation that would allow the city to operate its 2,000 speed cameras around the clock. Hochul signed the legislation in July.

INVESTMENTS IN MENTAL HEALTH CARE

Citing a mental health crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hochul’s State of the State included several proposals to improve mental health care for adults and children. Among them was a commitment to opening 150 new adult beds in state psychiatric hospitals, with 100 of the new beds coming to New York City. Hochul also said the state would bring about 850 currently “offline” inpatient beds at private hospitals across New York back in operation. The additional beds could complement Adams’ directive late last year to involuntarily hospitalize people experiencing severe mental illness.

The State of the State also committed to creating 3,500 new housing units that offer supportive services and expanding mental health outreach teams for people experiencing homelessness. “New Yorkers see the mounting mental health crises around them every day, and solving this requires all levels of government,” Adams said in a statement. “I applaud the governor’s expansive investments in New York City’s continuum of care.” ■