“The governor’s bill maintains many of the core aspects of 421-a that have been vital to our city’s economic success and is a positive first step.”
Last year, 640 unhoused people died in shelters, hospitals or the streets, 4 percent higher than in 2020, when COVID-19 first struck New York City. The rise in fatalities was fueled by an uptick in drug overdoses, and occurred even as the city’s shelter population reached its lowest level in a decade.
