Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks at Governor Hochul’s Housing and Budget Announcement

April 23, 2024

Governor Kathy Hochul: Finally, we have a housing deal for New York City and the State of New York. We got it done! And I want to recognize the people who are standing with me, who worked so hard to get this over the finish line. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Come on. We were in a foxhole for a long time. But you know what, the long days, the long nights, and there was always that commitment to leave that Budget process with a housing plan that worked for New Yorkers, and I thank you for your leadership and staying with this. I want to give you another round of applause.

I have the most extraordinary team behind me, led by secretary to the governor, Karen Persichilli Keogh. Thank you. KPK is right. All my team was incredible, but I also want to thank RuthAnne Visnauskas, who could not join us here today, but she's the commissioner of Housing and Community Renewal. She has worked so hard.

We have Roberta Reardon - the commissioner of Labor with us here today. Let's give her a shout. All the elected officials who've joined us - the assembly members, the senators; those who are here, those who could not join us, the councilmembers - everybody who stuck together, who worked so closely together, and did what people do not expect out of Albany, which is actually get something seriously accomplished.

We defied the odds and we showed people that when you're willing to show respect for each other and approach with a collaborative spirit, so much could happen. But I will tell you, it also helped so much to have labor on our side.

Manny Pastreich, our host here at 32BJ. Anybody from 32BJ here? I heard you loud and clear. Rich Maroko, president of the Hotel Trades Council. Hotel Trades in the house. HTC is in the house. Gary LaBarbera could not join us. He's at a national conference. If anybody is here from the Building Trades - If you're not, well, you should be. Gary was instrumental in being right there with us to make sure that we can have jobs. Good paying jobs for union members, and that's what it's all about. So, thank you, Gary LaBarbera.

Also, Rachel Fee, Executive Director of the New York Housing Commons. Rachel, you were right there with us every step of the way getting it done. And you're also going to be hearing from Sophia Brewster, a Brooklyn resident, 32BJ member, who is going to be the voice of the people that we're helping here today as well.

You know, since I became governor two and a half years ago - is that all it's been? It has been my vision for this State to be a place that's welcoming, that people want to have the dignity of home ownership or a place to rent. Teachers, firefighters, police officers, members of the labor union can live in the communities they serve. They can afford to live where they work.

I believed in this to my core, and I knew we could get it done. So today, we think about them and the seniors who want to live in their same communities, but they might want to downsize or go somewhere else, but there's just nothing available for them.

For a long time here in this city and the state, the doors to their next opportunity, their next home, have been closed because there's such a shortage of supply. Literally no room at the end. People could not find a place to live. But today, everything changes. We rolled up our sleeves, we worked with the legislature, the electeds, and we went where no man or woman has gone before.

So today, we celebrate a historic housing agreement, which is part of the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. An agreement that will transform our State, put tenants and working families first, and allow New York to turn our vision of a better future into a reality. And we know Rome wasn't built in a day, but at least they were building, right? They were building.

And for so long, we didn't have the ambition that other places had to just break through the barriers and all those challenges. All those naysayers, all the NIMBY people who said, "No, not here, not here" because once they're in, they want to shut the door behind them and say, "No, we're good now. Nobody else can come to this neighborhood."

And that's stifled our opportunity to have more people live here. And guess what? Supply and demand is at force here. Right? Think about it: you build more supply, the prices come down. Less supply, the prices go up. And when you have a situation in the great City of New York - which should have about an eight to seven percent vacancy, or maybe five percent, that we can live with - but it's at one point four percent, which basically means there's no place to go. You are trapped. If you're not here already, you're not coming in. If you want to go somewhere else, then there's no place to go. That's the situation in the great City of New York right now.

So, we all know past leaders did not want to take this on. You can get a little bit burned when you talk about controversial issues like I just described, but I'm proud to say that the legacy of inaction has ended last week - with this landmark years in the making - deal in Albany.

And yes, I was the first governor in half a century to touch the lightning rod and put housing front and center, but it happened because I had willing partners. And again, I cannot say enough about this leader and the speaker and all the people they represented who said we must get this accomplished. And I'm so grateful for that.

We will revolutionize the landscape all across our state, create the biggest expansion in tenant rights that New York State has seen in generations. And above all, we're going to build. We're going to build, build, build, and build. That's what we have to do - thousands and thousands of new units of affordable housing. Incentives like the 485-x, extended deadline for the old incentives, and also jumpstart construction so we can get the high paying jobs for our union members.

And as I said, a lot of people said it couldn't get done, but we finally realize that if there's a will - if there's that strength behind us - we know the people want this done. It's empowering, my friends. We knew who we were fighting for every step of the way. It's the people in this room, and the people out there, and everybody who ever is a New Yorker or wants to be a New Yorker, because if you're not a New Yorker, you're a New Yorker wannabe. We know that. We got it done.

We also want to authorize the City to have a basement pilot program. Other cities have done this. This is how they're dealing with housing crises in other cities. Now people are saying, "I don't want it in my neighborhood". Okay, your kid out of school wants to live at home for a little while until they get on their feet. Oh, you're not allowed. Grandma and Grandpa can't live with you? No, you're not allowed. Let's break down these barriers and keep families together. This is what we're talking about.

Also, we're worried about our tenants who are exposed to price gouging. They're held captive. Their landlords can raise the rent any way they want. But now they can't. Now they will not be able to. There will be limits on what they can do, and people can plan for that. They can put that in their budgets. They know what to expect. The uncertainty of getting that notice, if you want to renew, all of a sudden it goes up exponentially. And you can say, "What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?" Those days are over. We took care of our tenants.

What about those predatory investors that are trying to steal your home with deed theft? We're coming after them as well. Your days are up. Forget about it. We've got you. Right, Mayor? Take them down. It's not just the City of New York. We're incentivizing mixed income affordable projects all over the state. We've got a lot to do. We're putting $500 million toward using state property. I have a lot of state property. Why aren't we using that to make housing possible for people? We're putting $500 million there to say, "Yes, we're going to be creative, innovative, and solve the housing shortage crisis."

But also, I know that many of us - we're at 32BJ, 175,000 of your members are renters. A lot of them want to - they work here, but they can't afford to live here. That's what I'm talking about. Imagine a shorter commute, you don't have to come in from New Jersey. Okay, because I know you want to live in New York. I mean, we know that.

But you know what my friends? New Jersey has been building. Connecticut has been building. Pennsylvania has been building. And we didn't have the political will or the courage to get it done until this deal. This is when everything starts to change. And I'm so excited about this.

So, I'm going to say this: years from now, people will look at us. Do we do what the people of the state needed, to respond to their cries for help or did we turn a deaf ear? Are we there for them when they needed us most? Did we show that government has the capacity to deliver and to show our compassion for the people who are struggling in our state. That's who we're fighting for every single day.

So, when people ask, do we meet the moment? What's the answer, my friends? "Yes!" Well, do we build more housing? "Yes!" Do we make our state more affordable? "Yes!" Do we make our place more affordable for everyone in this room? "Yes!" Well, let's go forth and tell everybody, we got it done! Thank you!

And my amazing partner, we had so many meals together and conversations and late night, last person, last voice I heard late at night was either this woman or Carl Heastie. I love you all, but okay. But enough, enough.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins: We got it done, right?

Governor Hochul: We got it done. Thank you, my friend. We got it done is right. Let me introduce the Majority of the New York State Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins: Thank you so much, governor. Let me do what I'm supposed to do. 32.

Crowd: BJ!

Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins: 32.

Crowd: BJ!

Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins: 32.

Crowd: BJ!

Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins: Okay. I love HTC. Y'all had a chance I hadn't been trained on. Let's hear HTC. Come on, don't you do this? HTC. Okay. Now we're all trained. Building trades, I guess we'll have to say BT, BT. That's what happens.

I'm here to celebrate with the governor whose vision for housing has been clear, has been strong, and she understood that there were a few things that we all could agree on and a few things that if we compromised on, we could come to this day where New Yorkers have opportunities for housing, not only now, but in the future so that people like me and, I guess, all of us, because I was born in New York and intend to die in New York, but it only works if I can afford to live in New York.

Speaker Heastie, his leadership, and I know there are some assembly members in, please raise your hand. Yay. My assembly colleagues. While I'm here, I got my great senators here in the house, Senator Brian Kavanagh, housing chair. These people think all day, all night. Senator Jessica Ramos, labor chair. I see RJ, civil service and pension, Robert Jackson, Senator Robert Jackson.

Any other senators I'm supposed to say? Okay, I'm good. Otherwise, I can't go home. You can't do this. I'm here with Manny. Thank you, Manny, for hosting this celebration here at 32BJ.

Beautiful, beautiful. Rich, thank you for your partnership with HTC. I see you got hotel and gaming trades.

Of course, working with Gary with the building trades, all of us were able to do something that makes a lot of sense. Mayor Adams. Mayor Adams was a senator back in the day. I don't even know if he remembers that.

Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins: I'll tell you something about Mayor Adams. He was always focused on this moment where he could be the mayor of this great city. Some people know what they are supposed to do, and some people have a plan to do it, but even with the best plans, you need partners.

One of the things that we know in state government, the governor shows it every day, the speaker, myself, is that if we can be good partners on behalf of New York State and its residents, then we are only fulfilling the purpose and the goal of public service. That's what this is about.

Thank you. Thank you all for your voices of advocacy because you know a lot of times people really have to be pushed. We can all be in our separate corners and think as long as we stay in that corner, we are serving somebody and the people, however, need all of us to get out of our corners and to serve people. That's what we need to do.

There is no way, there is no better way of serving our constituents then by putting a roof over their head, by giving them affordable rent, by saying that rent gouging is not what we are going to stand for, by saying that we as a state have a commitment, yes, to build, but to target our building for affordable housing so our resources go to creating affordable housing, by standing up the affordable housing units that are here, by stabilizing tenants, units that are offline and putting money into public housing, you have put millions of dollars into public housing in state and out of state, and build, and build, and build affordability for the people of New York because you all make it great.

Thank you so very much. Thank you. I get a chance to do my job and to ask to the podium, the great mayor of the City of New York, Mayor Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Once a senator, you don't never lose your senate title. Really excited. As you know, you come in the house and you just need to know three, two letters and two numbers. 32 -

Crowd: BJ!

Mayor Adams: 32-

Crowd: BJ!

Mayor Adams: You can never ignore, who are we?

Crowd: ACC!

Mayor Adams: Who are we?

Crowd: ACC!

Mayor Adams: We want to thank labor who's not here. Gary's not here. This is such a significant moment because I tell people all the time that housing is the precursor to sleep that allows you to experience the American dream. Everything is the foundation of that.

When you have a home, you can sit around the table and plan for the future of your child going to college. You can talk those difficult conversations. You can actually feel a level of stability. If you're a child that grows up in homelessness, you're less likely to graduate from high school. If you don't educate, you will incarcerate. We know that this is the upstream mindset. At the beginning of the session, I remember being at my off topic and they were saying, these are difficult things to do. How are you going to get it done?

I sat back. I knew the conversation I had with the governor, I knew the conversation I had with the majority leader and with the speaker. They were clear. This city went through so much and we wanted to make sure that we're going to be there for you. When you look at the package that they delivered with assemblymember, Speaker Carl Heastie, when you look at the package, the package impacts you. The package impacts you directly. They went after illegal cannabis on your block.

You're tired of the illegal cannabis being opened over again. They went after, "How do we ensure we get mail accountability with the substance? Because, Chancellor Banks, we're outpacing the state in reading and writing." Those are your children they went after to make sure that we can build better and higher with FAR cap lifting. This is the community that you represent. We wanted to make sure when I think about Candis, what you have done for years around raising the food service worker workers and fighting so that when they get their wages increase, they should not have to leave our city. We couldn't have done it alone.

When Tiffany Raspberry and the ever-present Ingrid Lewis-Martin of my partner went to Albany and spoke with some of the people that are here, Senator Robert Jackson, Senator Jessica Ramos, Assemblymember Tony Simone, Alex Bores, council speaker who has advocated for this housing issue so long, Council Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, that's here.

We still talked about Brian Kavanaugh and my sister from the Bronx, the BK, Assemblywoman Tapia, Assemblymember Manny De Los Santos, all of them coming together because they come from your communities. They represent you. When we talk about safer subways, we're talking about you. You swiped your Metro card. When we talk about mental health issues, they're talking about the family members that we all know. These are your issues. You have blue-collar people running the blue-collar union state, getting the issues and presenting the issues that are important. Rich and Manny, I cannot thank you enough, not only for housing us here today, but being a place where we can house our issues.

This is such a victory for us. The impossibility of people going to their separate corners and stating that we're not going to be able to come in the middle. What these two women and Speaker Heastie accomplish with their teams is going to have rippling impacts on the quality of life of New Yorkers for generations to come. It's going to add to the 2,500 units of affordable housing, 100 percent affordable housing at Willets Point Stadium. Not only are the baseball players going to hit it out of the park, but the union members that's going to build the school, the soccer stadium and the housing are going to hit it out of the park as well. It's going to add to what we have done and as we move forward and continue to build.

I am so excited about the tools that the speaker, the majority leader and the governor has given us after the years of going through what we went through and not getting everything we needed from the federal government. They said we were going to deliver. They promise made, promise kept. Today we're celebrating that promise. We have an obligation now to put shovel in the ground, build housing so you don't have to leave your city. If you're like me, I can finally tell my son, "Go get your own apartment."

These are the moments we go into government for. These are the moments we do what we're doing. I am just so proud of these lawmakers in Albany from making sure we get the funding for the migrants and asylum seekers to making sure that we create the environment that you can raise healthy children and families. I know that we're caught up in the political moments all the time, that we don't have the opportunities to pause for a moment and reflect the power of the faith-based industry, our union members, all the advocates, everyone coming together and saying, "We can live in a New York that's inclusive, that would include everyone to be a part of it." The prosperity of our brand must turn into the popularity of everyone in the city. Thank you, Albany, for delivering for the city of New York.

Am I doing - Let me go down my list. My brother, Manny, come on, now. This is your house.

Manny Pastreich, President, SEIU Local 32BJ: All right. 32 -

Crowd: BJ!

Pastreich: All right. This is just a beautiful, beautiful crowd. It's a day that I know with Candis and others we tried to imagine six months ago. The fact that's happening today, the sea of purple, the sea of blue is really, really touching to me. I just want to welcome all the elected leaders today, so many friends at 32BJ, leaders who care about working people, leaders who helped make this progress we have today possible. Is all of labor in the house today?

It is. This plan is important to all of New Yorkers, but it's especially important to working New Yorkers. It's important to the people who make the city run, the essential workers we need to make this city happen and things happen every single day. I just want to start really by acknowledging all our labor partners, but I want to start with my brother, Rich Maroko, who is with us from the beginning to the end, an incredible partner on this. Let's give it up for Rich.

Let's give it up for HTC. Thank you so much for being there. DC-9, the PEF. the nurses, so many labor partners were with us through this process, and without them, we would not have gotten the voice of working people out. I got one question. What kind of power do we have? Union power. As a point of privilege, I do want to thank our political team, our Executive Vice President and Political Director Candis Tall. Let's give it up for Candis.

Our Deputy Director John Tritt, our Coordinator Deandra Khan, and our Research Policy Director Amy Sugimori, they really were center this for us and we appreciate what they did.

Let me turn to some of the big key players here. Mayor Adams, welcome back to your union home. We're always glad to have you here. You've been a tremendous friend to unions. You've been a friend to working people in our great city. You have championed affordable housing and led the way with your powerful voice and we appreciate it. From day one, you've been the mayor who truly understands why housing matters for working people. Thank you. Let's give it up for the mayor.

Then our legislative leaders, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, you got done what many thought was impossible. I remember a conversation I had with the majority leader 18 months ago where she was very clear about what it would take to have progress in the Senate and follow-up conversations.

She provided very firm reminders, which I tried to listen and learn from, but from the beginning, the majority lead and the speaker provided a path for progress one that balanced the needs of each chamber and keeping the people they represent at the center, and without each of you, your skill, your compassion, your common sense, none of this would've been possible. Let's give it up for them as well.

There's one more person I want to thank. Before that, I want to do a quick story. My children are a little older now, but I remember when I first took my son to Yankee Stadium, and he asked me, why is it called The House that Ruth Built? I told him how Ruth changed the game of baseball for generations of fans. Well, this housing deal will be a game changer for New York, protecting tenants from eviction, good-paying jobs for workers, and building more affordable housing. We're going to look back on these developments and call them "The house that Hochul built." How does that sound?

Thank you, governor. Thank you. This would not have been possible without your leadership. Thank you so much. When we started and advocated for our 100,000 members in New York City, we said our members are facing an affordability crisis, rising rent, eviction threats, not being able to find a house in reasonable commute to their jobs. What's different this year is when we looked at that jigsaw puzzle, instead of getting lost in this housing policy details, we took a step back, and we looked for three key things.

One, we need to build more, by leveraging sensible tax incentive tools with strong obligations for more affordable housing. Number two, fair wage and labor standards by including prevailing wage requirements and strong labor standards for construction and building service workers. Then third, protecting tenants with good cause eviction protections that ensure tenants don't face arbitrary eviction and they have the opportunity to renew their leases. These were the goals and that is what this housing plan achieves. We have laid a strong foundation, and we will build on that, and that is something we should all applause today. Let's give it up one more time.

I just want to finish. Our favorite chant is, "Sí, se puede," but when we win we say, "Si se pudo," yes, we did. Let's do it. Si se pudo.

Crowd: Si se pudo. Yes, we did.

Pastreich: Yes, we did. I am really proud to stand on this stage with all of you. I'm proud to be a part of the lawmakers, the union leaders, and everyone who made this day possible. Thank you all. It's been an honor.

Oh, I'm sorry. I get the honor to introduce my brother Rich Maroko from HTC.

Rich Maroko, President, Hotel Trades Council: All right. Good afternoon, everybody.

Boy, what a privilege and a pleasure it is to be here today to commemorate what I think is undeniably just a remarkable legislative victory. I will start by restating what all of us here already know, which is that New York and New York City is facing a housing crisis. Now, we have been hearing that phrase housing crisis so often and for so long that it's almost lost meaning to us. It's become a political talking point, but not for working families in New York. For our members, the housing crisis is real. It's tangible and they feel it every day.

Look - let me catch up here. Now, most working-class New Yorkers like our members, they depend and they need to be able to afford to live simply to exist. Look, as hospitality workers, my members are ambassadors for New York City. They greet visitors when they arrive. They take care of them during their stay. They are, in a very real sense, the face of New York to tens of millions of visitors every year.

Increasingly, year after year, these representatives of New York City are finding it harder and harder to live in the city that they represent. That's not acceptable. Look, as a union, it's our job to fight like hell for better wages, for better benefits. Look, since we got the best hotel contract in the country, I'd say we're doing a pretty good job on that.

When we are up against spiraling housing costs that are going up year after year after year, even that is not enough. We need real government intervention to help keep New York affordable and that's why we're here today. Thanks to the advocacy of thousands of union members and tenant groups, our state government has finally delivered a package that will make a real and tangible difference in working New Yorkers lives.

Now, for HTC, the most important part of that package is good cause tenant protection, because for the first time in our history, there is real legal recourse for rents that are raised unreasonably and unfairly, because that is the difference between somebody being unable to pay their rent and being able to stay in their homes. Look, another extremely important policy is the package that helps to boost housing supply, from incentives to spur construction of affordable housing to more housing development, to allowing conversions of offices to housing.

The legislative package offers some common sense solutions to a lack of housing in our market and creates much needed new and affordable housing. Together, this new supply will both create affordable housing, but it'll also help to keep existing rents down. That, in turn, will help working New Yorkers be able to live in the city where they work. Look, these ideas aren't new, they're not novel. We have been talking about them for years. It's worth acknowledging some of the leaders who helped make a difference this year, who helped it happen now.

First and foremost, I want to thank Manny and my brothers and sisters in local 32BJ because it was their leadership on this issue, it was their tireless advocacy, it was their deep understanding of housing policy that got this across the finish line. Thank you to our legislative leaders. Thank you, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, sorry, for helping to push this through, for finally making this the year where it happened, and making sure that not only was housing policy finally reformed, but it was reformed in a way that protects and focuses on working New Yorkers. Without their leadership, this issue may well have been put in the dustbin for yet another year, so thank you for that.

Thank you to all of the other elected leaders here, I'm not going to name them all because I just couldn't, for spending the time, taking the effort to put together all of the pieces in this exceptionally complex puzzle. Finally, a special shout out to Mayor Adams, who has been standing side by side with us fiercely advocating for solutions to the housing crisis. Thank you so much for being an ally with us in this fight and every other one. Thank you, all. On behalf of myself, on behalf of my 40,000 members, we appreciate you getting this done.

Now it is my pleasure to introduce Rachel Fee.

Rachel Fee, Executive Director, New York Housing Conference: So exciting to feel all this energy for more housing in the room. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Rachel Fee. I'm Executive Director of the New York Housing Conference. For years, New York has been experiencing a severe and growing affordability crisis, but now thanks to leadership from Governor Hochul, state legislators, and advocates, New York is taking decisive action to address our housing shortage. This pro-housing budget includes a wide range of programs that will boost affordable housing supply, including an improved 485-x program with deeper and permanent affordability.

New Yorkers will also benefit from conversions of offices and basements to residential housing, statewide tax incentives for new rental housing and accessory dwelling units, and a ban on insurance discrimination of affordable housing. These policy changes will help increase housing supply, eventually bring down rents, and ultimately make New York a more affordable place to live for renters and homeowners.

For the last decade, my organization has supported many of the policy solutions enacted in this budget. Year after year, it seemed impossible for Albany to reach agreement, but recognizing the urgency of this moment, this year, Albany's leaders have stepped up. This budget is a significant achievement for affordability, livability, and opportunity for New Yorkers.

Thank you again to Governor Hochul and the state legislature. The New York Housing Conference will continue to work alongside you to ensure that every New Yorker has access to safe, decent, and affordable housing. Thank you.

Next up is Sophia Brewster.

Sophia Brewster, Member, 32BJ: 32-

Crowd: BJ!

Brewster: 32-

Crowd: BJ!

Brewster: Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Hello, everyone, and good afternoon. My name is Sophia Brewster. I am a proud 32BJ member and a JFKennedy airport worker, where I am a passenger assistant.

I am most proud being a working mom. As a working mom for three kids at Flatbush, Brooklyn, where I live as I work at JFKennedy Airport Terminal 3, 24 years.

The affordable housing victory we are celebrating today will have a big impact on me as a mother who live in New York, works in New York City. I know I'm not the only New York worker who thinks the rent is too damn high.

Half of my monthly paycheck goes to rent for one bedroom, me and my kids. The rest goes to all our bills, like food, utility bills, childcare, you name it all. That means I cannot save things like my son's college tuition or for special vacation with my kids. That's not right, it's not right. People like me sacrifice every day. I take public transportation home every day in the middle of the night. I want to build a New York that allows working people like me [to] live comfortable in New York City - we contribute so much too. This affordable housing victory goes a long way to making that happen and it means so much to me. My Union 32BJ played an important role in delivering their progress for New Yorkers.

I want to thank every one of my union brothers and sisters and our 32BJ's President Manny for all the hard work that went into this. I want to thank elected officials who worked together to support us, this housing plan. Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, the Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. 32 -

Crowd: BJ!

Brewster: One union.

Crowd: One fight.

Brewster: One union.

Crowd: One fight.

Brewster: That's right.

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