Let’s Talk About Housing

New York City should be a place where everyone can afford to live and thrive. But for too many of us, rising rents and stagnant wages are making that dream impossible. Whether you’re a parent worried about keeping a roof over your kids’ heads, a young professional priced out of your neighborhood, or a senior on a fixed income, housing insecurity is affecting lives across the city. I’m running to fix this, and I won’t stop until every New Yorker has a safe, affordable place to call home.

What Needs to Change?

It’s time to take bold and transformative steps to make housing truly accessible and affordable for everyone in New York City. For too long, policies have favored profit over people, and the systems in place often exclude those most in need. Drawing on successful models from other cities and proven policies, my agenda focuses on practical solutions rooted in precedent while addressing gaps in enforcement and equity. Here’s how we’ll make it happen:

Build More Affordable Housing

Tackling the housing crisis starts with creating more affordable homes, but not just any homes. We need to ensure the housing we build is accessible to low- and middle-income New Yorkers, not just those at higher income brackets. This requires rethinking how we use our resources and spaces. By reimagining underutilized spaces like office buildings and ground-level parking lots, we can transform areas that don’t currently serve the public good into vibrant, affordable communities. Additionally, we must ensure that when residents are displaced by redevelopment, they have a guaranteed pathway back to affordable housing.

• Fully fund NYCHA to eliminate its $40 billion repair backlog and ensure public housing meets basic living standards.

• Ease zoning restrictions to facilitate the conversion of vacant office buildings into housing and mixed-use developments, as seen in successful programs in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

• Use eminent domain to repurpose ground-level parking lots for affordable housing, but restrict its use on existing housing unless current residents are rehoused into nearby equitable housing accommodations at their displaced rate & displaced tenants are offered two-year leases in the new development at the displaced tenants current rental rate when it is completed.

• Reform Inclusionary Housing policies to ensure affordable units are truly accessible to low- and middle-income families, while offering developers tax incentives and expedited permits for exceeding affordability targets.

Strengthen Tenant Protections

Affordable housing doesn’t end with building—we must also protect the homes people already have. For too long, renters have faced unjust rent increases, eviction threats, and other challenges that destabilize their lives. Strengthening tenant protections ensures that every New Yorker has a fighting chance to stay in their home and build a stable future. By capping rent increases, closing loopholes in existing laws, and providing legal support to tenants, we can make housing security a reality for millions of residents.

• Cap rent increases at the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), with a hard limit of 3.5%.

• Close loopholes in rent stabilization laws to protect tenants from displacement and housing insecurity.

• Expand free legal assistance for renters facing eviction, streamlining dispute resolution and reducing legal costs for landlords.

Enforce Housing Accountability

Housing should be treated as a human right, not a commodity for speculation and profit. Enforcing accountability ensures that those who own and develop housing meet their obligations to the city and its residents. Policies like vacancy taxes and restrictions on short-term rentals ensure that housing serves its intended purpose: providing homes for people, not investments for profit. Developers and landlords benefit from increased market stability and reduced competition from speculative investments.

• Replace ineffective programs like 421-a with new mandates that guarantee deeply affordable housing for those who need it most, while offering expedited permitting for developers meeting or exceeding affordability goals.

• Introduce a vacancy tax, to discourage leaving properties unused and increase housing availability.

• Restrict short-term rentals to owner-occupied buildings with two or fewer units, ensuring rentals preserve community integrity rather than displace residents.

Invest in Community Solutions

Housing isn’t just about buildings—it’s about the communities those buildings support. By investing in grassroots, community-driven initiatives, we can create sustainable solutions that reflect the unique needs of neighborhoods. This means empowering local organizations, leveraging public assets like Rikers Island for rehabilitation, and promoting collective ownership models like Community Land Trusts. Developers and homeowners benefit from these investments, as strong communities drive property values and attract further development opportunities.

• Provide funding and resources for Community Land Trusts (CLTs), empowering neighborhoods to manage and preserve affordable housing.

• Transform Rikers Island into a rehabilitative campus addressing chronic homelessness, mental health challenges, and substance addiction. This would offer long-term, community-driven solutions rather than temporary fixes.

• Collaborate with local organizations to create tailored housing solutions that reflect the unique needs of each community.

Explore Innovative Approaches

Solving the housing crisis requires thinking outside the box and embracing creative solutions. Innovative ideas like modular construction, shared-equity homeownership, and the use of city-owned vacant properties can expand housing options while reducing costs. These forward-thinking approaches not only make housing more affordable but also ensure it is sustainable for generations to come. Developers benefit from reduced construction costs, homeowners see more stable communities, and landlords gain access to diverse and reliable tenant markets.

• Leverage city-owned vacant properties to build affordable housing tailored to local demand.

• Promote modular and micro-unit construction to reduce building costs while expanding housing options, as seen in successful pilot programs in NYC and other cities.

• Pilot shared-equity homeownership programs, enabling more families to achieve housing stability and build generational wealth.

Why This Matters

Affordable housing is the foundation for a thriving city. When people have stable, affordable places to live, families can focus on education and growth, workers can save time and money, and seniors can age with dignity in the communities they’ve helped build. Housing is not just about shelter—it’s about creating opportunity, stability, and equity.

This agenda puts people first, ensuring that housing policies prioritize the needs of residents while fostering collaboration with homeowners, landlords, and developers to create a stronger, more sustainable New York City. By addressing these key issues, we can strengthen neighborhoods, improve public health, and create a more equitable city where everyone has a place to call home.

A Vision for NYC

Imagine a city where no one has to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table. A place where every family can stay in their home, workers can live close to their jobs, and seniors can remain in the communities they love. This is the New York City we can build together, where housing is treated as a human right and every neighborhood is empowered to thrive. Let’s make this vision a reality.