Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Adams unveils housing plan but refuses to set targets
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 14, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Elizabeth Kim / Gothamist
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 14, 2022
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced his much-anticipated housing plan, promising to emphasize the needs of homeless New Yorkers and those in public housing, while refusing to set any targets for affordable units or the number of people he hopes to place in housing.
“We were focusing on these high numbers and not how many people we placed in apartments,” Adams said of during a press conference in Brooklyn.
The remark was an allusion to his predecessor Mayor Bill de Blasio, who pledged to build or preserve 200,000 affordable housing units over 10 years. He accomplished that goal ahead of schedule, at the end of his two terms in office, but was criticized by homeless advocates for overemphasizing quantity and failing to prioritize the poorest New Yorkers.
But when he was pressed by reporters on exactly how many New Yorkers he would seek to house, Adams declined to give a number, saying only “as many people as possible.”
“We want to focus on the finished product, not the pathway to that finished product,” he added.
The mayor’s plan, which he said incorporates input from homeless New Yorkers and public housing tenants, comes one day after the City Council passed a $101 billion budget that some criticized for insufficient funding for affordable housing. Although the mayor has set aside $22 billion for housing over 10 years, a historically high figure, he had campaigned on spending $4 billion a year.
Officials with the New York City Housing Authority are counting on the recent passage of a state bill that would create a trust allowing the city to tap into more federal funding. Amid waning support from the federal government, the city’s public housing developments are facing a backlog of billions of dollars in capital repairs.
New York City has for decades struggled with an affordability crisis, a problem that some say has recently become even more acute amid rising rents and housing prices. Mayors have traditionally sought to create more affordable housing with a mix of rezonings, developer incentives and housing subsidies.
Adding to concerns is the upcoming decision by the Rent Guidelines Board, which is slated to increase rents on regulated apartments by as much as 6% — the biggest hike in a decade.
Under a previously announced plan, Adams said he would try to spur the creation of housing by eliminating or rewriting zoning rules and cutting red tape for developers.
On Tuesday, he promised a raft of proposals that would make the affordable housing application process easier and create a path to home ownership. Administration officials also vowed to build 15,000 units of supportive housing — a more desirable form of housing for homeless individuals which provides resources like drug and mental health treatment — by 2030. They touted the timeline as being two years ahead of schedule.
Among the bureaucratic changes city officials highlighted was the elimination of a rule that shelter residents must wait four months before applying for affordable housing.
“There’s no reason for that,” said Jessica Katz, the city’s chief housing officer.
But even as Katz expressed the administration’s commitment to building affordable housing, she nodded at the headwinds facing the city.
“We will ensure that we're able to maintain production levels, despite rising interest rates and global supply chains and every other global crisis that the world throws at us,” she said.
Adams must dramatically expand the supply of permanent and supportive housing for homeless New Yorkers and extremely low-income households – which takes far bolder housing investments than are included in this plan
Jacquelyn Simone, a policy director with Coalition for the Homeless
Advocates praised elements of the mayor’s plan, but pressed for more funding for housing.
“Mayor Adams must dramatically expand the supply of permanent and supportive housing for homeless New Yorkers and extremely low-income households – which takes far bolder housing investments than are included in this plan,” said Jacquelyn Simone, a policy director with Coalition for the Homeless, in a statement.
The Legal Aid Society, which represents homeless New Yorkers and low-income tenants, said removing red tape would solve only part of the problem. Safe, long-term affordable housing, the group added, “is the only real solution to our city’s sprawling housing crisis.”
During the press conference, Adams once again took aim at his critics, saying he was forging ahead with his agenda despite all the “naysayers.”
Asked about a New York Times report on Houston’s success in reducing homelessness using a “housing first” model, he said he plans to reach out to that city’s mayor, who happens to be a friend.
“I would like to go visit him but whenever I leave the city to see great projects, you all write stories about why is Eric away for a day,” he said. “That’s part of the noise.”
Tagged
new york city
housing
eric adams
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .