New York City is closing fast on the next rent due date, May 1, wondering how many tenants will pay their landlords in fulla month after the last anxiety-filled deadline, but still with no comprehensive tenant relief plan in place. A proposal to cancel rent has not advanced, and despite Mayor de Blasios call for a freeze on rents in the citys stabilized apartments, the Rent Guidelines Board has begun its annual consideration of rent hikes affecting 2 million people.
The worries about housing are not confined to the short term. As first reported in Politico, Mayor de Blasios executive budget proposes large shifts in capital funding for his 300,000-unit housing planessentially backloading hundreds of millions in capital expenditures to future years, most of which fall beyond his term. According to Jessica Katz, the executive director of the Citizens Housing and Policy Council (CHPC), a research and advocacy organization, the new economic reality facing the city is just one reason for a wholesale reconsideration of housing strategynot just the mayors plan, but every aspect of the citys approach.
The organization outlined the topics for debate in abriefing paper released Tuesday. Katz spoke to City Limits on Monday, April 27, 2020. Listen to the audio on SoundCloud.