Mayor Eric Adams is agreeing to unlock $5 billion in city funding to secure a deal on his sweeping housing plan, according to three city officials with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The last-minute deal includes funding for sewers, streets and open spaces, along with additional staffing at housing agencies, the sources said. The money will also subsidize affordable housing construction and preservation, in exchange for City Council support for the housing plan, according to the same officials. They all requested anonymity to discuss the plan ahead of an official announcement.
The investments were part of a complementary housing package proposed by Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who said zoning reforms alone weren’t enough to create housing affordable to most New Yorkers or address many neighborhoods’ needs.
The mayor’s plan would change zoning restrictions throughout the city to allow for larger development near transit stations and along commercial corridors; make it easy to convert offices into apartments and allow owners of one- and two-family homes to add an extra unit to their lots. The Department of City Planning estimated that their original proposal could fuel the creation of more than 100,000 new apartments over the next 15 years, though modifications included in the proposal before councilmembers will lower that amount. The city’s housing capacity has always been dire but has reached crisis levels in recent years.
Administration officials agreed to the Council’s funding demands during the final stretch of negotiations on Thursday morning, after talks were held up overnight, according to two of the officials. The deal comes as two Council committees are set to vote on the proposal on Thursday.
Four people familiar with the negotiations said Gov. Kathy Hochul has committed $1 billion to help the city fund the investments contained in the agreement, after Adams administration officials appealed to her for assistance. Hochul will include the funding in her state budget proposal in January, and it will be spread out over multiple years, according to a source familiar with her plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly.
Under a Hochul initiative, the state has begun rewarding municipalities that update zoning codes to allow for more housing.
The full Council is expected to vote on the proposal next month.
Jon Campbell contributed reporting. This is a developing story and will be updated.