New York’s housing machinery just got a tune up. On Monday, the Board of Standards and Appeals signed off on new rules that let certain city backed affordable housing projects go straight to the BSA for project specific zoning waivers instead of running the full ULURP gauntlet and City Council vote. The idea is to shorten review calendars, move eligibility checks to the front of the line, and spare some legal bills for projects that already have City Hall behind them.
The new Targeted Affordable Housing Projects track is built for developments that are supported or regulated by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. At the same time, State Sen. Erik Bottcher rolled out a bill in Albany that would set up a $250 million pot of money and pay municipalities roughly $10,000 per net new market rate unit, with larger checks for affordable and supportive housing.
What the BSA rules do and what they require
According to the Board’s official notice of adoption, which codifies City Charter §666 a, any project looking to use the fast track has to come in with two key pieces of paperwork, as laid out on NYC Rules. First is a letter from the HPD commissioner confirming the proposal meets HPD’s design and development standards. Second is a certified statement from a registered design professional that spells out exactly which code or zoning sections need to be waived.
The rules also tell applicants to circulate their materials beyond the BSA. Copies have to go to the Department of Buildings, the affected community boards, the borough president and the local City Council member, with proof that everyone was served and that hearing notices went out on time. BSA officials say that after public comment they tweaked the package, dropping a proposed requirement for a DOB objection and swapping in the design professional’s attestation instead, in an effort to clarify what is being asked to be waived.
Sen. Bottcher's incentive bill: amounts and guardrails
Upstate, Senate bill S.10503 would create a new Pro Housing Communities Incentive Fund inside the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation and seed it with $250 million to launch the program, according to the bill text on NYSenate.gov. The proposal lays out a rate card: $10,000 for each net new housing unit, $15,000 for units affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of area median income, $20,000 for deeply affordable, supportive, public or formerly homeless units, and $5,000 for accessory dwelling units. State designated pro housing communities would get a 25 percent bonus on top.
The bill text also gets into the fine print, detailing what municipalities are allowed to spend the money on, along with anti displacement and anti gaming rules. It leans on certificates of occupancy, building permits and local assessment rolls to verify that the units exist and qualify.
Supporters and critics weigh the tradeoffs
Supporters in the advocacy world and some housing officials see a one two punch here. Faster approvals at the city level plus direct municipal funding from the state could help soften local pushback by covering real infrastructure and staffing costs that come with new buildings. But the politics are not quite that simple.
The Real Deal notes that Bottcher’s bill does not yet have an Assembly companion, and observers say that makes passage in the near term a long shot. On the city side, community boards and council members have been pressing for guardrails so that a quicker path at BSA does not cut the public out of the process, a theme that surfaced repeatedly in comments during the BSA rulemaking and in City Council filings over how the new findings should be used.
What to watch next
The BSA’s adopted rules kick in by mid June. The Board and HPD materials map out a tighter timeline that starts with a combined 60 day community review period, followed by a BSA hearing under the fast track action.
Bottcher’s bill was sent to the Senate Finance Committee on May 15 and, under the text, would apply to units that receive certificates of occupancy on or after the January 1 following enactment, while directing the Housing Trust Fund Corporation to verify local claims, according to NYSenate.gov. For New Yorkers watching this unfold, the key signals will be which projects HPD certifies as meeting its standards and whether Albany pairs the incentive idea with an Assembly companion or a budget allocation.
