Advocates push housing legislation to fix New York's housing crisis

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — The New York State Capitol saw a busy day as advocates pushed legislation targeting the housing crisis. Between the State Senate, activists, and faith groups, three housing events took place on February 4, 2025.

The Senate Majority introduced a package of bills targeting affordable housing. Separately, a coalition of homelessness advocates unveiled a policy platform calling for increased rental assistance, cash assistance reform, and improved shelter conditions. Finally, faith leaders launched a campaign for streamlining the process for religious organizations to build affordable housing on their land.

State Senate Democratic push

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins held a press conference—alongside fellow Democratic State Senators Jeremy Cooney and Brian Kavanagh—to announce their legislative package:

• S1157 creates a first-time home buyers program, letting them open savings accounts for buying homes. They can save tax-free and deduct deposits from state income taxes. The law sets rules for managing accounts, limits contributions to $100,000, and requires using funds for a primary residence for at least two years. It requires financial organizations to report withdrawals, imposes penalties for early or nonqualified distributions, and mandates annual statements for account owners.
• S265 requires the state board of real property tax services to study real property tax saturation—the economic impact on a municipality caused by a high percentage of tax-exempt real property. The law mandates reviewing and reporting on counties' tax-exempt properties and the effects on housing, businesses, jobs, and park land.
• S2124 lets landlords transfer state tax credits for restoring historic buildings to tenants or investors, separate from federal tax credits. It also allows selling or reallocating these credits. The state must report how many credits taxpayers claim each year and publish the data online.
• S2627/A1625 creates a Homeowner Protection Program to fund free legal and housing counseling for New Yorkers facing foreclosure, scams, or other threats to homeownership. The Department of Law would give grants to nonprofits every year to give homeowners free help with foreclosures, estate planning, and financial assistance applications.
• S3190 expands eligibility for New York’s low-interest mortgage program. Graduates of college, apprenticeships, or workforce training could get a 1.5% mortgage reduction for seven years if they buy and live in a home in struggling areas outside New York City.
• S2534 lets eligible seniors and disabled tenants in New York City get rent freeze benefits. If they apply within two years of becoming eligible, benefits would start from that eligibility date. If they apply later, the benefits would retroactively start two years before the application, but any past rent beyond that benchmark wouldn't be refunded.
• S228 requires owners of manufactured home park—someone who owns land leased to accommodate three or more manufactured homes, like mobile homes, that are occupied year-round—justify any rent hikes. Any amount over 3% must be explained in writing and owners have to provide a financial record if requested. Any increase for maintenance or repairs could only cover necessary work and would have to match actual, reasonable costs.

“Last year, our comptroller issued a sobering report showing that one in five New Yorkers spend over half of their income on housing. This was a stark reminder that we are painfully overdue for a housing deal that struck a chord between tenant protections, promoting new construction, and addressing the statewide affordability crisis,” Stewart-Cousins said. “And we got it done.”

With Democrats in control of the State Senate and the Majority Leader backing these bills, they'll likely advance through the legislature. Gov. Kathy Hochul has not revealed to what extent she would back the legislation or how likely she is to sign off on the measures.

Advocates demand action

Meanwhile, activists from VOCAL-NY also highlighted New York’s housing crisis, citing 158,010 homeless people and nearly 180,000 active eviction cases in 2024. They want more action to address rising rents, insufficient aid programs outside of New York City, and long-term housing instability. Their policy platform, including bills from previous legislative sessions, aimed to help ease homelessness advocates for expanded rental assistance, eviction prevention, and affordable housing:

• S72/A1704 lets the state give vouchers to help homeless and at-risk people pay rent through a new Housing Access Voucher Program. The state has to create rules for who gets vouchers, how much money is given, and how the program operates.
• S442/A3355 requires social services to give emergency shelter, transportation, and nutrition for homeless people with HIV. It prevents eligible New Yorkers from having to pay more than 30% of income on rent. The bill also funds for HIV-related housing costs, including rent of up to 110% of fair market value.
• S1127/A106 increases home energy grants and monthly assistance for public aid recipients.
• S113/A108 increases monthly assistance for people receiving temporary housing or shelter with three meals per day.
• S4561A/A5649A/A1755 requires all temporary housing facilities in New York to give free high-speed internet and Wi-Fi to residents. The law also creates a ConnectAll digital equity grant program to help fund this internet access.
• S2514/A9165 requires the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to perform unannounced quarterly inspections of each homeless shelter in the state every year.
• S8494/A9088 creates a Social Housing Development Authority that would build, preserve, and manage affordable homes using a 100% union workforce.

Faith leaders back rezoning

Faith leaders also participated in the Housing Advocacy Day through a campaign to pass the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act campaign. With residents regularly spending more than 30% of their income on rent and 100,000 people sleeping in shelters every night, supporters argued that the law could address housing crisis while revitalizing local religious institutions. Instead of backing an entire legislative suite, they focused on one only bill:

S3397/A3647 allows residential buildings on religious land for affordable housing in urban areas. Cities must approve permits within 60 days, no extra fees can be charged, and developers have to complete real estate training before selling or leasing the land.

By removing zoning restrictions, the bill would simplify the approval process for religious organizations to build affordable housing on their underused land. According to the coalition, the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act would create 60,000 homes over the next decade, housing up to 180,000 New Yorkers.

Advocates warned that without more legislative action, homelessness will keep rising. Affordable housing solutions and direct aid would help stabilize communities, advocates and lawmakers agreed.