Hochul's 2023 'State Of The State': 3 Big Takeaways For NYC

NEW YORK CITY — Big changes are in store for the Big Apple this year — or so promises Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Hochul only name-checked New York City four times during her nearly 50-minute 2023 "State of the State" address Tuesday in Albany.

But the city still loomed large as she addressed a "pervasive unease" over public safety, concerns about housing and the plight of thousands of mentally ill New Yorkers living on the streets or in subways.

"My goals are straightforward and clear," she said.

"We will make New York safer. We will make New York more affordable. We will create more jobs and opportunities for the New Yorkers of today and tomorrow."

Here are three major proposals outlined by Hochul and how they could affect New York City.

Housing

An effort to build 800,000 new homes in the state over the next decade arguably was the centerpiece of Hochul's proposals.

Hochul evoked her own family background — a mother and father who were activists for a housing organization, and who scrimped and saved to move from a trailer park to nicer homes — as she outlined the necessity for housing.

New York has created 1.2 million jobs in the past decade, but only 400,000 new homes, she said.

"When it comes to New York City, other metro areas are creating new housing at two to four times the rate that we are," she said.

I’m proud to introduce the New York Housing Compact — a groundbreaking strategy to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade. pic.twitter.com/qXO1SRkX85
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) January 10, 2023

Hochul's Compact would require New York City and other downstate localities to increase their housing stock by 3 percent every three years.

To do so, Hochul said state officials would cut red tape and fast-track good-faith proposed housing projects that have languished.

The Compact would also require any municipality with a train station to rezone the area within a half-mile of those stations with the next three years, Hochul said. She also called for a new incentive program for affordable housing to replace the now-expired 421-a credit.

Mayor Eric Adams, who attended the speech in Albany, said the plan dovetails with his own effort to build 500,000 new homes in the city.

"But we cannot meet that goal alone — we need some key state legislative changes to provide us the tools to build everywhere, faster, and with all our communities," he said in a statement.

"The governor’s commitment to ensuring that our state finally builds the housing needed to address the affordability crisis is the type of bold leadership we need, and acknowledges that our neighboring suburbs must do much more to solve what is ultimately a regional problem."

Annemarie Gray, the new executive director for Open New York, said that Hochul's proposals would help build much-needed new housing.

"But we need those tools to be as strong as possible—and we can and must go further," Gray said in a statement.

"That means complementing efforts to increase housing supply with tenant protections and using the full power of the state to keep local municipalities accountable for meeting housing goals. Anything short of that simply won’t meet the moment."

Bail reform

Public safety, or at least fears over it, featured large in Hochul's address.

Hochul signaled an openness to tweak the state's recent bail reform law — a priority for Adams.

“This bail reform law as written leaves room for improvement,” she said.

But Hochul also acknowledged — and largely supported — what criminal justice reform advocates have said: bail reform isn't to blame for rising crime.

She said the state has seen crime rates rise because of several national factors, including the coronavirus pandemic. New York lawmakers must have a "thoughtful conversation" on crime, but also invest in education, housing and mental health, she said.

Mental health

Like Adams, Hochul turned to imagery of homeless New Yorkers on the subway to push for mental health reform.

Nearly 3,200 New Yorkers with severe mental illness live on the street and subways, where they often cannot care for themselves, cause harm to others or are victimized, Hochul said.

“I’m declaring the era of ignoring the needs of these individuals is over,” she said.

Hochul outlined a $1 billion mental health plan that she said will add 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds and 3,500 supportive residential units.

“This will be the most significant change since the de-institution era of the 1970s.”