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NY's housing crisis is on the ballot. Here's what the candidates say they'll do about it.

By

David Brand

Published Oct 29, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET

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An affordable housing construction project in Willets Point, Queens in June 2026.

 

Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

By

David Brand

Published Oct 29, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET

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Taylor Rivers remembers scrolling through real estate listings on her phone as a high schooler in Brooklyn, dreaming of the apartments she would rent or the homes she could buy once she started working.

Now, at 24, she says those teenage dreams feel like fantasies. She’s struggling to find a place she can afford in the city she grew up in while earning $34,000 as a home health aide and part-time nanny.

New York State of Unaffordability

WNYC and Gothamist are publishing a series of podcasts and articles on the race for governor ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. Upstate public radio stations are contributing to the series through the New York Public Radio News Network.

Look for further coverage throughout October.

Previous installments:

She lives in her grandfather’s basement in East New York and said she’s thinking of moving away from the five boroughs to somewhere more affordable — like Texas, or, more likely, New Jersey.

“I'll have my keys. I'll be able to sleep in peace, and say, ‘Hey, you know what? I can actually afford the day off to sit in bed and do nothing because I know there's food in my fridge, my rent is paid, my phone is on, my Wi-Fi is on and I got everything I want,” Rivers said. “Whether it’s in New York, or not.”

An untold number of New Yorkers are making similar calculations, putting housing affordability squarely on the ballot in the governor's race. New York’s population decreased by about 200,000 people between 2020 and 2025, following steady increases over the preceding decade, according to U.S. Census data. The 1% population decline means more people are now moving out of the city and state than moving in. Many low- and middle-income New Yorkers who have left the five boroughs cite housing costs as the main driver. And a Quinnipiac poll earlier this month listed the cost of living as voters’ biggest concern ahead of Election Day.

This is the fourth installment of "New York State of Unaffordability," a podcast by WNYC and Gothamist. The four-part series explores the very different ways Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, her Republican challenger in the November election, say they’ll make the state more affordable.

Brooklyn native Taylor Rivers has an apartment budget of $1,200 a month. She said she has struggled to find a place she can afford.

David Brand

New York's housing costs have long outpaced the rest of the country, but rents and home sale prices have only soared over the past decade.

The two candidates have far different approaches to the problems pricing out longtime New Yorkers or discouraging others from moving to the state.

For Hochul, the answer is simple: “Build, baby, build.” The incumbent Democrat has made housing construction a top priority during her five years in office and says increasing the supply of new homes is the only way to meet demand for housing and curb rising costs. She has championed plans to reduce environmental reviews, streamline permitting processes, issue more state funding for affordable housing and change local zoning rules. In 2023, she proposed housing construction mandates for every town in the state, but the plan faced some pushback from local lawmakers and she withdrew it.

Hochul has not revived her push for mandates, focusing instead on loosening regulations and encouraging cities to embrace more development.

“I want to build more housing,” she told Gothamist in an interview earlier this year. “We have lacked the ambition to do this in our state for decades and decades.”

A lack of housing has been acutely felt in New York City. Just 1.4% of all apartments are vacant, according to the city’s most recent housing survey. A recent report from the city’s housing agency finds the city needs 700,000 new homes over the next decade to keep up with demand and expected population growth.

Gov. Kathy Hochul spars with her Republican opponent Bruce Blakeman at an October gubernatorial debate.

Anna Connors - Pool/Getty Images

Blakeman has rarely focused on housing on the campaign trail, except to criticize Hochul for rising home costs during her tenure while simultaneously taking credit for increasing the value of his constituents’ property in Nassau County. Median home prices in that part of Long Island have gone from about $750,000 in October 2020 to over $960,000 today, according to Federal Reserve data mirroring inflated prices across the region.

“I'm proud of the fact that I created that wealth for your family,” Blakeman said at the gubernatorial candidates’ lone debate earlier this month.

He has offered few housing policy details, but told Gothamist in August that he would focus on attracting more people to upstate cities, like Syracuse.

"We've got to get these cities back up on their feet and make sure that they become economic areas where people will want to live,” Blakeman said. “You might get the kid from Queens, but you also might get somebody who's living out in a rural area that wants to be in an urban environment. You might get someone who's in a suburban area.”

He said he would incentivize landlords to put more empty rent-stabilized apartment on the market by working to change state laws that limit rent increases. But those reforms would be a tall order given that Democrats in control of the Assembly and Senate support tenant protection rules.

$1,200 budget

Rivers said that on her budget, she could afford an apartment priced at $1,200 a month.

But, she said, even that amount “is stretching it, because at the same time, I got to pay my bills.”

Finding somewhere to live at her price point can be nearly impossible.

There was not a single apartment in New York City at that price on StreetEasy, the popular apartment search site, when Gothamist reviewed listings on Oct. 20. The closest match was a lone studio in East Harlem listed for $1,250 a month.

Median asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn reached $3,600 per month, according to StreetEasy data.

And just as in Nassau County, home sale prices have also soared in New York City.

Definitely work on lowering the rents.

Taylor Rivers, current East New York resident

A two-family rowhouse two doors down from Rivers' grandfather’s in East New York is now on the market for $1.1 million — double what the same house sold for in 2015, according to property records.

Rivers said she has applied to at least 40 units through the city’s affordable housing lottery, put her name on the New York City Housing Authority waiting list and tried to rent rooms in apartments leased by others — only to be denied because of a low credit score. She said she wants to find a place she can share with her boyfriend.

“ I'm tired. I'm stressed. Sometimes I want to stay at home and do nothing, but at the same time, if I do that, who's going to get up and grind and go make this money so we can have another meal on the table? So I know my phone is going to stay on next month, so I could go do my laundry next week,” she said. “I just got to grind my a-- off until I get to where I want to be.”

She said she is trying to stay optimistic, even as she considers her options outside the five boroughs. She noted that New Jersey isn’t far from her jobs in Manhattan.

She said she had one piece of advice for the next governor, whether it be Hochul or Blakeman.

“Lower rent,” she said. “Definitely work on lowering the rents.”

Tagged

Politics

housing

new york

David Brand

David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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