The perennial housing crisis in New York City could end soon after Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill Tuesday that paves the way for underutilized hotels in the city to be converted into apartments.
The newly signed bill gives New York City Mayor Eric Adams the power to quickly approve such conversions by allowing hotels to retain their existing certificates of occupancy as opposed to having to secure new ones.
The new law also unlocks $200 million in state funding for the city to bankroll hotel-to-housing conversions.
Hochul, for her part, is pleased to sign the bill since it comes at a better time, as New York continues to face a dwindling affordable housing stock, worsened by inflation and other pandemic-driven economic ripple effects.
“Simply put, life has gotten harder and harsher and more costly, and the most expensive of all: Housing,” Hochul said.
“So we need to continue to find solutions to this age-old problem that has now been exacerbated, and that’s exactly what we’re doing here today,” Hochul added.
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