Douglaston Residents Come Out Against Hochul’s Affordable Housing Plan

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A group of Douglaston residents convened last week to oppose Gov. Kathy Hochul’s bills to create more affordable housing in New York by eliminating more single-family zoning.

The Douglaston Civic Association called on the governor to stop the New York Housing Compact, a plan that would create 800,000 new homes over the next decade. Over 200 people attended the event on Friday with several representatives from eastern Queens.

“Single-family homes are so critically important to the culture of a neighborhood,” said Stefano Forte, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2022, on Friday. “They want to change our middle-class community that we have here and, frankly, they want to punish us.”

Last year, Hochul announced a $25 billion, five-year housing plan that would build and preserve 100,0000 affordable homes in both urban and rural communities throughout the state.

New York City and surrounding suburbs will be required to see a 3 percent growth in housing stock every three years, according to the plan.

To reach that goal, local governments would have to update their zoning codes, incentivize new houses, and other measures, which would be the first step toward eliminating single-family zoning in areas like suburban Douglaston.

Council Member Vickie Paladino, who represents Douglaston, has publicly expressed she opposes the plan.

“All decisions must be made at the local level, not at the whim of the governor,” Paladino wrote in a letter to residents. “We now must explore all options, both legislatively and through litigation, to stop this assault on our neighborhoods and way of life.”

While over the last decade, New York has created 1.2 million jobs, only 400,000 new homes have been built. Land-use policies statewide are some of the most restrictive in the nation, Hochul said in her State of the State address in January.

In the New York City metro area, rents have risen 30 percent since 2015 and home prices have risen 50 percent over the same period, according to the Population Reference Bureau.