New York City's mayor is proposing major policy changes to lower housing costs and build 100,000 new homes

• New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced his plans for major new housing policy reforms.
• The proposal aims to create 100,000 new homes, addressing the housing shortage and sky-high costs.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday unveiled a slew of housing policy reforms designed to address the city's housing shortage and skyrocketing costs by allowing for the construction of up to 100,000 new homes.

The plans aim to boost density and lower costs by loosening zoning and other regulations and incentivizing developers to create more affordable units.

"Today we're proposing the most ambitious changes to zoning in the history of New York City, changes that would finally end exclusionary zoning, cut red tape, and transform our city from the ground up," the mayor said in a speech announcing the reforms at the Borough of Manhattan Community College on Thursday. "This is not tinkering around the edges."

Adams wants to allow developers to build larger buildings if 20% of the units are affordable, loosen limits on converting offices to housing, allow property owners to build accessory dwelling units (also known as "granny flats"), and allow higher density housing near transit. The city will also get rid of parking mandates for new housing — a costly requirement that makes some construction impossible and undermines the city's climate goals.

"We are going to let the market decide how much parking New Yorkers are willing to pay for, all while driving down the cost of new housing," he said.

Over the last decade alone, New York City has created 800,000 new jobs, but just 200,000 new units of housing, he said. Now, half of New Yorkers spend more than 30% of their income on rent, making them rent-burdened.

Adams argued that the city's last zoning code reforms, which happened in 1961, promoted racial segregation, "prioritized highways and cars over housing and mass transit, and limited growth rather than encouraging it" by restricting new housing construction.

Another key reason New York City has failed to build enough housing for decades: community opposition. Local politicians and other interests often oppose new development and have significant power to shut down proposed projects. The mayor and his administration will have to convince the city council to sign onto his plans.

Adams will also need state lawmakers to pass certain legislation, including tax incentives for developers to build affordable housing, in order to realize his plans. This comes after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul failed to get her own housing reforms passed by the state legislature this year.

New York City's homelessness crisis has become particularly severe recently as more than 110,000 migrants have made their way to the city over the last 18 months, and many have been placed in the shelter system.