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“Proposals 2 through 5 are common-sense, targeted reforms that will help us build the smaller, more affordable housing New Yorkers need—across every borough.”
As I travel across the city and talk to New Yorkers in every borough, I hear over and over again the anguished stories of families who can’t afford the rent. Parents who fear their children will never be able to live in the neighborhood they grew up in. Lifelong residents wondering if New York is pushing them out.
We are in the midst of the worst housing affordability crisis in our city’s history. And unless we act boldly, the future is grim: the city that never sleeps risks becoming the city where no one can afford a place to rest their head.
For low-income families, the stakes are heartbreaking. Sky-high rents are driving our homelessness crisis. Families are in shelters today because they can’t afford a home. And it’s not just impacting low-income households. Nurses, teachers, bus drivers and middle class New Yorkers are getting priced out of the boroughs where they live, work and raise a family.
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There’s no skirting the truth: we need more housing. And we need it now. On Nov. 4, New Yorkers will have a chance to approve four ballot measures that will strengthen our ability to build more, faster and better homes in our city. New Yorkers can’t afford to say no if we are to meet this crisis head-on. That’s why I’ll be voting yes on ballot proposals 2 through 5.
Right now, we are seeing a citywide vacancy rate of just 1.4 percent. That means just over one in every 100 apartments in our city is available to rent. That’s a disaster for affordability and is pushing New Yorkers out of their homes.
Meanwhile, cities across the country—and the world—are showing that it can be done right. Jersey City built 13 new homes for every 1,000 residents in 2024. New York City? Just four. Any self respecting New Yorker can agree New Jersey shouldn’t beat us at anything.
We’re also falling behind cities like Denver, Austin, Washington D.C., Houston, and Boston, all of which are leaving us in the dust. We can and must do better. We have no choice.
Proposals 2 through 5 are common-sense, targeted reforms that will help us build the smaller, more affordable housing New Yorkers need—across every borough.
Proposal 2 speeds up approvals for deeply affordable housing. It puts 100 percent affordable projects—and those with at least 25 percent affordability in the 12 community districts that have built the least housing in the past five years—on a faster track: a 90-day clock instead of the current 240-day process. Community Board input is fully preserved, but unnecessary delays are not.
Proposal 3 unlocks low-rise, local-scale housing, like a few apartments above a bodega or laundromat. It makes it easier to add modest, well-integrated buildings in low- and medium-density neighborhoods, and to build smarter in areas already zoned for higher density. It’s about gentle growth, not giant towers.
Proposal 4 creates a new “housing appeals board” made up of elected officials (the mayor, City Council speaker, and the relevant borough president) to revisit only the housing components of projects that may have been blocked in the Council.
This relieves Council members of undue pressure from opponents who exploit the process to stall or kill affordable housing. Members would still have full negotiating power on critical community benefits like parks, schools, and infrastructure.
Proposal 5 brings our zoning into the 21st century. It consolidates over 8,000 physical zoning maps into one digitized official version, making it easier, faster, and clearer to plan for more housing where it makes sense.
If you support the great work the city and state have already done to address the housing crisis, you should also support the Yes on Affordable Housing proposals—because they build upon these critical efforts.
If you want New York City to continue to be the place that firefighters, nurses, teachers and families can call home, flip your ballot and vote yes on ballot measures 2 through 5 this November.
Mark Levine is a former City Council member, the current Manhattan borough president and incoming city comptroller.