The New York City Council passed groundbreaking legislation on December 19, 2019, that will create more permanent housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
The legislation (Intro 1211-A), sponsored by Council Member Rafael Salamanca, Jr. (D), will require most City-financed new construction projects with 41 or more apartments to set aside at least 15% of them for households experiencing homelessness. The House Our Future NY Campaign, led by 69 organizations including Coalition for the Homeless, an NLIHC state partner, built momentum for the legislation by organizing rallies and participating in hearings highlighting the dire need for more permanent, affordable housing for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
More than 62,000 people, including more than 22,000 children, sleep in shelters each night in New York City. In 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) launched Housing New York 2.0, a plan to address the city’s affordable housing crisis by creating or preserving 300,000 affordable homes by 2026. Of these 300,000 apartments, only 15,000 were explicitly targeted to people experiencing homelessness, 6,000 to be developed through new construction and the remaining 9,000 to be rehabbed apartments.
Since 2014, half of all City-assisted housing developments have created no apartments for people experiencing homelessness. Over the last two years, the House Our Future NY Campaign has urged Mayor Blasio to align his Housing New York 2.0 plan with the reality of the homelessness crisis. They asked him for 30,000 deeply subsidized, affordable apartments for homeless New Yorkers by 2026, with 24,000 of them to be created through new construction.
In December of 2018, the campaign’s advocates joined with Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. and staged a sit-in at City Hall to put pressure on the mayor to adopt their housing plan for people experiencing homelessness. One year later, the same advocates applauded Council Member Salamanca Jr., Speaker Corey Johnson, and their many Council allies for passage of the bill.
Intro 1211-A will create an estimated 1,000 additional apartments for homeless New Yorkers per year. These new apartments will add much-needed housing to the City’s current commitment of 15,000 units by 2026 outlined in the Mayor’s housing plan.
“The Council has been a crucial ally in pushing the administration to do what’s right, and the agreement announced today will give hope to the more than 62,000 New Yorkers currently in shelters and thousands more on the streets – many of whom have been on the frontlines of this campaign,” stated Giselle Routhier, policy director at Coalition for the Homeless.
For more information about the House Our Future NY Campaign, visit: https://bit.ly/2FzAgFT