Hochul Blocks New Housing Around Penn Station While Promising to Boost Supply in Budget Proposal

Governor's Hypocrisy on Full Display as Hochul Blocks Thousands of Urgently Needed Affordable Units Over Commercial Donor Deal

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NEW YORK, NY (01/16/2024) (readMedia)-- Following Governor Kathy Hochul's Executive Budget proposal in which she again promised to expand New York's housing supply, the End Hochul's Hoax coalition is calling on the Governor to honor her promise and support thousands of new affordable housing units in the Penn Neighborhood over an outdated and reckless commercial real estate scheme in New York City. Governor Hochul continues to stand by a plan to reserve 18 million square feet of space around Penn Station largely to benefit a major campaign donor to develop luxury commercial and office towers-betraying New Yorkers desperate for the thousands of new affordable housing units that could be created there instead.

The Governor's Executive Budget proposal specifically calls for several housing supply provisions-including a continuation of her $25 billion five-year housing plan and $250 million to support the redevelopment of underutilized sites for housing. Yet the Governor's Penn-area real estate deal undermines her budget proposal by preventing thousands of units from being built so that megadeveloper Vornado Realty Trust can build new office towers.

"Hochul must do everything possible to deliver new affordable units, and that means putting an end to her commercial real estate hoax in the Penn neighborhood. New Yorkers deserve relief now, and making one of the most ready to develop areas in the entire state available to residential construction is crucial to addressing this crisis as soon as possible. It's time for the Governor to quit prioritizing her donor, put regular New Yorkers first, and give urgent relief to struggling families now," said Paige Havener, Campaign Manager of End Hochul's Hoax.

"For years now, Governor Hochul has claimed she would do anything and everything to support housing in New York and get our state's affordability crisis under control. But that isn't true-the Governor has been a steadfast supporter of a plan that would do the very opposite by using urgently needed land for glitzy office towers that have no chance of coming soon. The Governor needs to get serious, stop pretending to be an ally to housing advocates, and recognize that her plan is squandering a golden opportunity to help alleviate the crisis now," said Diana Gonzalez, Executive Director of New Yorkers for a Better Penn Plan.

For the second time in two weeks, Governor Hochul claimed to prioritize housing while remaining one of the largest opponents to new construction in New York. Last week, the End Hochul's Hoax coalition highlighted Hochul's unconscionable decision to prioritize her real estate plan while she called on New York lawmakers during her State of the State address to incentivize new housing

Today's Governor's budget proposal also comes just one month after a coalition of community members, small business owners, housing advocates, the Office of the New York City Public Advocate, and other organizations launched "End Hochul's Hoax", a campaign formally demanding that Governor Hochul abandon support for the plan to hand the right to build 18 million square feet of luxury commercial space over to real estate developer Vornado Realty Trust. The coalition called on Governor Hochul to stand with her constituents and focus on a plan for the area that delivers affordable housing in the neighborhood near Penn Station-as the Governor has promised she would do where possible.

Hochul's plan currently prohibits any affordable housing from being built on most of the land owned by Vornado and requires less than 2% of the total square footage be used for affordable housing. The deal also provides minimal public space, and includes few considerations for mass transit. Her defense of the plan is especially egregious given the acute housing shortage in New York City, where the city's housing stock continues to decline. Governor Hochul is right: New York needs housing now, and the State must do everything it can to deliver on that. Hochul must stay true to her word and stop blocking the creation of housing that New Yorkers need now.