NYC's New Laws In 2024: $16 Minimum Wage & More

NEW YORK CITY — A new lease on life in New York City is coming in 2024, at least legally.

New laws affecting New Yorkers' pay, housing and more that passed in 2023 are poised to take effect Jan. 1, or shortly afterward.

Without further ado, here are some of the biggest changes to ring out the old.

Minimum wage increase
New York City’s minimum wage will increase to $16 an hour starting Jan. 1. as part of a budget deal signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

And the increase won't stop in 2024 — the minimum wage will rise to $16.50 and $17 over the following two years.

"New York's historic minimum wage increase will help to ensure that New Yorkers can continue to keep pace with rising costs," Hochul said in a statement.

"Starting January 1, minimum wage workers who do not see the increase reflected in their paychecks are urged to file a complaint with the Department of Labor to make sure that they get the wages they are owed."

New Yorkers can file those complaints here.

Rental voucher law
A new rental voucher law — which saw the City Council overturn Mayor Eric Adams' veto — is poised to go into effect in 2024.

An expanded pool of New Yorkers, including those at risk of eviction, will be eligible for rental city-funded rental vouchers under the laws.

But, as the New York Daily News recently reported, the laws’ future is uncertain given Adams’ administration officials haven’t funded them, in part because of their disputed contention they’ll cost the city $17 billion.

Whether the laws take effect could depend on a lawsuit, the Daily News reported.

Police report reform, solitary confinement ban
The rental voucher laws aren’t the only ones facing a potential challenge from Adams in 2024.

The mayor vowed to fight the twin passage of major reforms to end solitary confinement and require NYPD officers to file police reports on low-level stops.

Both are poised to become law in 2024 after they recently passed the City Council with veto-proof majorities, but Adams said he’s "reviewing all options."

The solitary confinement ban takes effect 180 days after it becomes law, which is likely sometime in January, given the mayor has 30 days to approve it or not. The police report reform takes effect immediately after it becomes law.

Diwali day off, Lunar New Year holiday
Diwali will be a day off for New York City’s public school students for the first time in 2024.

A statewide bill championed by Adams and his ally, Assembly Member Jennifer Rajkumar, is now law in New York that designates Diwali — the 15th day of the eighth month of the Indian calendar — as a holiday.

The holiday falls on Nov. 1, a Friday, in 2024.

Likewise, Hochul signed legislation that makes the Lunar New Year a holiday.

City students will have their first Lunar New Year off Jan. 29, a Wednesday.