As your State Senator, I will fight for a housing agenda that balances production while prioritizing preservation, an agenda that welcomes newcomers without displacement of Black families and the working class. A housing agenda that provides working-class people an opportunity for ownership, and prioritizes getting people in our shelter system permanent housing.

Crack Down on the Worst Landlord, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

The vision for NYCHA in the 1930s was very similar, if not identical, to the proposed Social Housing. Public Housing, like Social Housing, was intended to be affordable housing for the working class with low rents. However, the Federal government, state, and city failed to invest in NYCHA to the point where we are today: Capital repair needs are almost $80 billion; individual developments have been privatized; Public Housing Preservation Trust was passed but gotten off to a slow and unclear start; and there are recent proposals for social housing but nothing to address the existing problems in NYCHA. In addition to the capital deficit, the maintenance and living conditions of NYCHA continue to be borderline inhumane. There are constant complaints of no heat and hot water, cases of black mold, and overall dehumanizing management of government-run housing. There has been no plan to integrate NYCHA into any affordable housing strategy or tenant protection efforts; we continue to treat NYCHA as an afterthought: “oh - and NYCHA too.”  We need to preserve NYCHA and ensure the 600,000 residents (a growing senior population) have dignified and safe housing. My plan will:

1. Create a steady capital budget plan that leverages increased allocations of public housing capital funds from the state and city, debt financing, Section 9, and maintaining the portability of Section 8, along with a strategy to reduce inefficient operating costs.

2. With the drastic change in the federal government and the forthcoming steep cuts, it is time for the state and city to take responsibility for the stability and preservation of NYCHA by increasing the state’s allocation to NYCHA’s operating budget to at least $500 million.

3. Give NYCHA residents autonomy and decision-making authority to decide on conversion to a Public Housing Preservation Trust, any transfers to public/private partnerships, use of infill developments, or any contract that impacts the use of space on NYCHA’s property or management of NYCHA. The government at all levels has failed to invest in NYCHA, so we need to protect residents’ autonomy to define what dignified housing means to them.

Housing  & Protecting Homeownership

At both ends of the housing issue, people are struggling with the affordability crisis. We have a growing number of people in the shelter system (56% of which is Black), a growing number of people unhoused, and on the other end, homeowners who are also trying to keep up with rising costs but stagnated wages. I remain committed to supporting my community in addressing concerns related to unscrupulous landlords and developers. However, it is important to engage in a substantive discussion regarding the allocation of newly constructed housing and the limited accessibility of homeownership. We must pursue a balanced and equitable strategy for expanding access to housing while safeguarding the homes that individuals have diligently earned. In addition, we need to hold bad actors accountable for predatory activities that target Black homeowners and encourage displacement and gentrification, such as deed theft and discriminatory mortgage lending. My plan will:

1. Increase investment and expand services for free legal counseling and representation for homeowners when navigating criminal forfeiture proceedings or civil cause of action cases, and housing support for victims who may not be able to remain in their homes during these drawn-out judicial proceedings.

2. Increase investments for non-profits to do mass community door-to-door outreach and support homeowners with estate planning, including free drafting of wills and trusts.

3. Legislative reform for homeowners to make it easier to regain title to their property.

4. Advocate for budget allocations to provide financial support that allows Black tenants equal ownership and financial opportunity to participate in community land trusts and Tenant and Community Opportunity to Purchase. We need equitable production of more affordable housing free from displacement.

5. Make mortgages more obtainable by incorporating timely rent payments into credit history and credit scores.

6. As we build, we need to simultaneously ensure deep investments in infrastructure such as our power grids, sewer and water system, water mains, roads, resilient infrastructure, and flood mitigation, to name just a few. We need to:

   1. Reduce infrastructure cost by reducing the time to design and approve construction contracts.

   2. Align infrastructure investments with economic development and housing development goals, similar to the Pro-housing Supply Fund, which relates to infrastructure projects (sewer, electrical, and water system upgrades) that directly support the creation of new housing developments.

   3. Create an infrastructure bank to leverage public funds and state bonds, and to attract private investments to address aging infrastructure and promote economic development.

Stop the Foreclosure Pipeline

As a government, we cannot advocate for “freeze the rent” and simultaneously claim we want to prevent homeowners and property owners from going into foreclosure. Well-intended but poorly implemented policies, such as the eviction moratorium, have left small homeowners financially destitute.  Many owners of one- to three-family homes choose to rent out their properties, both to help provide housing for others and to receive support with mortgage payments and general upkeep.

However, over the years, this has turned into a nightmare, especially for Black working-class homeowners who have the highest rates of foreclosure. Housing law reform and advocates have deemed homeowners as capitalist landlords, leading these small property owners to foreclosure and making them vulnerable to developers that are buying them out of their communities. This has acted as government-facilitated displacement and gentrification, especially of Black neighborhoods. My plan will:

1. Provide funding to allow small homeowners to recoup rent arrears from the 2020 eviction moratorium. Any rent freeze moving forward should include a subsidy for homeowners who rent, so they have a mechanism to recover all rent arrears.

2. Fund additional housing court judges and attorneys to address the backlog.

3. Fund services to provide education on proper standards and compliance to follow as a landlord, and free legal services for homeowners who are choosing to enter a landlord-tenant relationship.

Small Property Owners as Partners to Provide Housing

Small property owners (10 or fewer units) were once seen as the “mom and pop” owners in our community. From the senior who bought a brownstone in the 1970s and rented out a floor or two, to the immigrant family who saved up, bought a home, and decided to rent out a floor, or to the small property passed down from the generation before. These property owners were our neighbors who rented local, used local plumbers and carpenters for maintenance, and provided housing to people in need. However, over the years, supposed progressive policies have lumped small property owners in with large developers and unscrupulous landlords, and created conditions that pushed them closer to foreclosure or ultimately selling to large developers who have no interest in preserving our community. My plan will:

• Reinvest in opportunities for collective ownership by creating financial pathways for people to purchase co-ops and condos, and being able to convert small properties (10 units or less) into co-ops and community-owned buildings.

• Implement subsidy programs, exemptions, and renovation grants for small property owners who contribute to the housing stock, such as the J-51 tax incentives for capital renovation, or retroactively allowing existing small properties to benefit from 485-x tax incentives.

• Require the Department of Financial Services to publish annual reports on insurance premiums, availability, and non-renewals for multi-family housing statewide. As we address the affordability crisis, we need to prioritize structural interventions to insurance costs and ensure financial relief.

Moving from “righto-to-shelter” to “right-to-housing”

While the right-to-shelter mandate is unique and provided the legal framework for temporary shelter, it simultaneously bolstered a shelter industrial complex. Year after year, billions are invested to address the homelessness crisis. Yet the homeless and unhoused population increases, there is a continued pay disparity for direct service providers, and a failed model that focuses on the number of beds rather than permanent housing. Many of our existing shelters have prison-like conditions, violence, fear of being unsafe,  poor quality of food, or no mechanism to hear the voices of shelter residents, ultimately punishing people for being in need. As non-profits have done their best to manage the results of gentrification, displacement, and the affordability crisis, the honest reality is that, as we have built moderate amounts of housing, it seems as if the homeless and displaced populations just keep increasing, particularly for Black people. We need to fundamentally transform how we approach homelessness because putting more money into a system that is structurally broken will not help our neighbors receive permanent housing:

1. Advocate for a state and city integrated housing plan to end homelessness and promote racial equity. Bring all agencies, non-profit providers, and impacted people together to coordinate efforts and strategy, develop metrics from bed numbers to number of placements in permanent housing and immediate needs, as well as (but not limited to) ways to streamline housing applications like Housing Connect with the Department of Homeless Services.

2. Pay parity for direct service providers and staff in the shelter and supportive housing system.

3. Investments to transition all shelters to dorm-style or innovative smart pods that allow for privacy and more dignified short-term living conditions.

4. Investments to convert hotels used to house migrants, vacant hotels and office buildings to permanent housing with priority for unhoused people.

5. Increased funding for the Housing Access Voucher Program, which is a four-year pilot program providing rental assistance to low-income New Yorkers(at or below 50% area median income)  who are homeless or at risk of losing housing.

6. Fund and evaluate a pilot universal basic income for young New Yorkers and people experiencing homelessness.