New York Governor Ho Chu announced on April 15 that a preliminary agreement has been reached with state legislative leaders on the budget for the 2025 fiscal year (from April of this year to March of next year), totaling $237 billion. One of the most notable aspects of this agreement is the large-scale reform of housing policies.
Governor Ho Chu held a press conference in the state capitol building that afternoon to announce the preliminary agreement totaling $237 billion, which is $40 billion more than the $233 billion administrative budget she proposed in January. Majority Leader of the State Senate Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie will respectively submit the agreed budget to the State Assembly and Senate for a vote. It is expected to receive enough support and may only undergo minor adjustments in specific details. The goal is to pass it before the 19th and send it to Governor Ho Chu for signing into effect.
On April 12, Governor Ho Chu, Speaker Heastie, and Leader Stewart-Cousins reached a significant agreement on housing policies. This includes providing new tax breaks for new housing construction to replace the expired 421-a program, introducing the “Good Cause Eviction Act” to protect tenants, allowing landlords of renovated rent-stabilized apartments to significantly raise rents, increasing the residential floor area ratio limit in New York City, and encouraging the conversion of office buildings into residential units. Additionally, $500 million will be allocated to build 15,000 new housing units on state-owned land.
While the “Good Cause Eviction Act” is included in the budget agreement, certain restrictions have been placed on the original proposal. Apartments with rents exceeding 245% of the market average (about $6,000 for a one-bedroom apartment) will be exempt from the yearly rent increase limit. Apartments below this threshold will be subject to an annual increase not exceeding 10% or 5% plus inflation rate, whichever is lower. The question of whether small landlords with less than 10 apartments should be exempt from the restrictions of the “Good Cause Eviction Act” will be determined in further discussions at the state legislature.
Despite Mayor Adams of New York City calling for increased state aid to address the immigration crisis in the city, the agreement maintains the initial $2.4 billion proposed earlier this year. However, the mayor was able to secure a two-year extension of control over public school governance in the budget negotiations. The budget agreement also includes measures to enhance assistance in shutting down illegal marijuana shops at the local level and allocates $40 million to combat in-store theft and increase penalties for assaulting retail workers. While both the State Assembly and Senate had hoped to tax millionaires, Governor Ho Chu remained opposed, and the proposal was not included in the agreement.