Suburbs still ready to pitch in on housing

MT. VERNON and other suburbs already have been constructing developments near transit, which had been a key plank of the governor’s housing plan.

BY EDDIE SMALL

When Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the details of her plan to build 800,000 new homes in New York over the next decade, the crux of which would have been state requirements for the suburbs to increase production, pro-development groups in the area were thrilled to see the housing shortage nally get the attention they thought it deserved.

“We’ve had 50 years now of leaving it to local communities to try and nd ways of solving the problem with various levels of state help, and it hasn’t worked,” said Westchester County Association President Michael Romita. “ e goal is simply to get local communities to take some action, to do something, and if they can’t, to justify the reason why.”

However, Hochul soon found the plan under attack from all sides of the political spectrum, including from some suburban lawmakers concerned about the changes it would mandate in their towns. Housing proposals were ultimately left out of New York’s budget almost entirely, although some advocates still saw bene ts to the newfound

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