City Commissions Report on Housing Crisis; Report Estimated to Cost $800,000 and Take Eighteen Months
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
New Yorkers Spend Record Amounts on Rent, City Responds With Comprehensive Study of Record Spending on Rent
NEW YORK, NY — New York City renters are spending a historically high proportion of their income on housing costs, a situation that housing advocates describe as a “crisis” and city officials describe as “an issue requiring a comprehensive, data-driven response framework developed in consultation with key stakeholders over a timeline that reflects the complexity of the challenge.”
The mayor’s office has announced a housing affordability task force, which will produce a report by the end of next year. The report will recommend additional study, followed by pilot programs, followed by policy proposals, followed by legislative action requiring Albany’s approval, followed by implementation, which is estimated to begin sometime after the next mayoral election.
The Current State of Affairs
The median one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan now costs approximately $4,200 per month, a figure that represents either 70 to 140 percent of the monthly take-home pay of a New Yorker earning the city’s median household income, depending on which median you use and how many jobs they are working. In the outer boroughs, rents are lower in the way that everything in New York is lower than Manhattan: still significantly higher than every city that is not New York.
Mayor Mamdani has proposed a vacancy tax on empty properties, a measure that Bohiney has covered as targeting the emptiness of the city’s most expensive real estate. The proposal requires state legislation. The state has not passed it. Real estate lawyers have described it as “interesting.” Britain’s billionaire count continues rising while housing affordability declines in London as well; New York has discovered this is a global phenomenon and not a local policy failure, which is comforting unless you are currently paying $4,200 for a one-bedroom.
The Task Force
The housing affordability task force will be chaired by a deputy mayor and include representatives from real estate, tenant advocacy, construction, finance, and “community voices.” Its composition ensures that the report will contain sections strongly supporting more housing supply, sections strongly supporting stronger rent protections, and a conclusion recommending “a balanced approach that considers all perspectives,” which is report language for “we couldn’t agree and here is a list of the disagreements with a bow on them.” New Yorkers will continue renting in the interim.