New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today repeated his calls for the city to immediately and aggressively address the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis throughout the five boroughs in the city’s upcoming budget. In testimony submitted to a hearing of the Committee on Housing and Buildings, the Public Advocate stressed the need to make major investments to help tenants, homeowners, and homeless New Yorkers recover from the pandemic in safe and deeply affordable housing. The urgent call for safe, deeply affordable housing options comes as five unhoused people in New York and Washington D.C. have been attacked by a gunman in recent days, two fatally.
“The City of New York has been in a perpetual housing crisis suffering from landlord abandonment and neglect to the current state of speculation by developers,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “At the center of this crisis is the affordability of NYC’s existing housing stock, the need for more supportive and special needs housing, as well as more housing for low, extremely low, and middle-income New Yorkers.”
The Public Advocate called for both expanding and creating new programs in the City’s FY 2023 budget. He spoke in support of the Moving On program, which would provide supporting housing residents the resources they need to find permanent housing; the HomeFirst program, which would enable HPD to more than double its grant amounts to qualified homebuyers; and MESH, which, with the additional funding requested, will provide low-cost internet services for up to 350 households. The Public Advocate emphasized that “all three programs will provide the extra needed support to our most vulnerable communities who face housing insecurity and inequities.”
New Yorkers are also facing another crisis that threatens their safety and housing security: catastrophic fires. “While creating new viable permanent housing options, NYC must turn its attention to what is trending in all five boroughs—fires. During the past two years, we have seen a drastic increase in building fires and fatalities.” The Public Advocate called for better access to services and relief for all fire victims. "Earlier this year, the Bronx experienced one of the deadliest fires in decades. Many of these tenants were displaced and unable to return back to their homes. As a result, NYC provided temporary shelter, relocation assistance, and emergency housing vouchers. We need to ensure that there is ample funding to continue to provide these vital services to those residents who have survived a fire.”
He concluded by reiterating his call for additional staffing in key HPD and DOB positions. “We cannot afford a headcount reduction that will slow down the production of much needed permanent and affordable housing, nor inspectors who assist in the preservation of our housing stock.”
The Public Advocate's full testimony is below.
TESTIMONY OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS
TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
COMMITTEE ON HOUSING & BUILDINGS
MARCH 14, 2022
Good afternoon,
My name is Jumaane D. Williams and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Chair Sanchez, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony at the Preliminary Budget Hearing for the Committee on Housing & Buildings. My testimony will address housing issues and construction/building safety issues as overseen, respectively, by the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (hereinafter “HPD”), and the Department of Buildings (“DOB”).
The City of New York has been in a perpetual housing crisis suffering from landlord abandonment and neglect to the current state of speculation by developers. At the center of this crisis is the affordability of NYC’s existing housing stock, the need for more supportive and special needs housing, as well as more housing for low, extremely low, and middle-income New Yorkers. According to a 2017 Housing Vacancy Survey, most New Yorkers were paying more than 30% of their income towards rent and one-third of New Yorkers were paying as much as 50% towards their rent.
Three HPD programs totaling $5.8M in the FY2023 budget will assist in partially addressing some existing issues that were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Moving On Program, a $800,000 pilot program, is an initial step in the right direction for the City to tackle the homelessness crisis by taking tangible actions. This program provides supportive housing residents the resources they need to find permanent housing—an extremely difficult task pre-pandemic and one that risked exposure during. The second, HomeFirst, is a down payment program that will enable HPD to more than double its grant amounts for qualified homebuyers to $100,000. The additional $4M in federal funds will allow more New Yorkers the opportunity to become homeowners. Hopefully, this will lessen the homeownership gap among marginalized communities. The third program will put an additional $1M into MESH by providing low-cost internet services for up to 350 households in rental assistance programs in Coney Island and in Far Rockaway. This program can be the bridge to the digital divide that countless New Yorkers still face and creating opportunities for some New Yorkers to work from home who could not do so before. I believe all three programs will provide the extra needed support to our most vulnerable communities who face housing insecurity and inequities.
While creating new viable permanent housing options, NYC must turn its attention to what is trending in all five boroughs—fires. During the past two years, we have seen a drastic increase in building fires and fatalities. Earlier this year, the Bronx experienced one of the deadliest fires in decades. Many of these tenants were displaced and unable to return back to their homes. As a result, NYC provided temporary shelter, relocation assistance, and emergency housing vouchers. We need to ensure that there is ample funding to continue to provide these vital services to those residents who have survived a fire. We need more inspectors who can identify violations that can potentially cause a fire, as well as to address the increase of emergency complaints. Emergency complaints such as lack of heat and hot water put lives in danger. In fact, the Twin Parks Fire in the Bronx was a result of faulty portable heaters being used because of lack of heat in the building.
Meanwhile, NYC saw an 33% increase in emergency complaints from 2020 to 2021. As a result, HPD inspectors issued 43% more violations and 31% more emergency violations. It is important that HPD inspectors not be part of any proposed headcount reduction since the reality is that we need more boots on the ground.
The FY2023 preliminary budget implements a headcount reduction of 28 positions and to fully understand the impact to the agency, we need to know what positions are being eliminated and from what units. Housing advocates have reported a delay in the production of affordable and supportive housing units that can be associated with the de Blasio Administration’s hiring freeze and a sluggish rehiring process. We cannot afford a headcount reduction that will slow down the production of much needed permanent and affordable housing, nor inspectors who assist in the preservation of our housing stock.
Lastly, construction in NYC came to a standstill as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and although there are some stalled constructions sites, many sites resumed work once emergency orders were lifted. Notwithstanding, DOB’s projected revenues in FY2023 still falls short of the pre-pandemic levels. I wonder how much of the shortfall is related to a slower rebound of the construction industry and if it’s a result of the current 21% staff vacancy rate. I would like to know whether a fully staffed DOB would generate additional revenues beyond the current headcount vacancy savings. Moreover, I would like to know what positions are currently vacant and whether those vacant positions compromise workplace and construction safety.
In conclusion, we cannot have unsafe buildings and work sites that place the lives of New Yorkers at risk. To ensure the safety of all New Yorkers, I am calling on the HPD and DOB to increase the number of inspectors. While the headcount for each agency cannot be decreased, it also cannot remain fixed at its current levels.
Thank you.
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