“For many nonprofit building owners like us, it is not a question of if we will be able to keep these buildings as supportive housing; rather, it is a question of how long we can afford to.”
While the total won’t be clear until remaining applications for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) are processed, a majority of the $391 in aid will likely go to the housing authority and other public housing tenants, with $35 million specifically earmarked for NYCHA. Still, thousands of New Yorkers living in public or subsidized housing did not apply for ERAP but continue to struggle with mounting debt.
The bill determines how money generated from the program will be spent but fails to include protective measures for disadvantaged communities, environmentalists warn.
Gov. Hochul’s plan to ramp up construction across the state has emerged as a sticking point in delayed budget talks—making now the time, some lawmakers say, to push for the deal to include renter protections like “good cause” eviction. “You try to resolve some thorny issues within a final budget if you can,” said Manhattan Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal.
“New York can address our perennial housing crisis, but only if we tax the rich and prioritize the public interest over private gain.”
As the state’s budget deadline approaches, Queens democratic lawmakers are at odds over whether it should include a path for legalizing the city’s basement and cellar apartments.
“In New York, poverty wages and lack of healthcare access reduce the availability of child care for families and lead to high turnover, destabilizing the lives of young children when they need continuity the most to thrive.”
“For many asylum seekers like me, the United States is a beacon of hope, providing refuge and safety from the violence many of us experience at home. Yet the sense of relief and security we find here quickly evaporates as we navigate an expensive and confusing court system by ourselves.”
A new data tool by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University breaks down a trove of housing-related data for each of the state’s Senate and Assembly districts. It comes just over a week before the state budget deadline, in a year dominated by debates over how elected officials should address New York’s affordable housing shortage.
In a budget resolution unveiled last week, the State Senate earmarked $389 million for public housing and Section 8 tenants statewide who applied for, but were left out from, New York’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). The Assembly proposed $385 million for the same purpose.
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