What is Andrew Cuomo's plan to help New York City rental housing?

“Can you explain the rent market in New York?” “It's expensive.” “It's expensive.” “It's out of control.” “The rents here are really insane.” “It's very, very unaffordable. It's very, very expensive.” The median asking rent in New York City has increased by more than 7% in the last year alone. Now it's about 40,000 yen per month. Housing costs have therefore become a major issue in the mayoral race, with each of the top candidates proposing changes to New York City's core housing policy: rent stabilization. Almost half of New York's apartments are now rent stabilized. This means that rent increases are decided by a government agency under the mayor's jurisdiction. That makes rent stabilization an important issue for hundreds of thousands of voters. “$2,300 for a one-bedroom in Astoria,” front-runner Zoran Mamdani said after revealing how much he would pay in rent. — Rival Andrew Cuomo claimed he was unfairly occupying unaffordable apartments and was not eligible for rent stabilization because he makes $142,000 a year. “Rent-stabilized units, when vacant, should only be rented to people who need affordable housing.”While many rent-stabilized tenants are low-income, about 16 percent of rent-stabilized households earn at least $150,000 a year. If elected mayor, Cuomo said he would only be able to move into a rent-stabilized apartment if his rent was at least 30% of his income. Suppose this couple is looking for an apartment. Their salaries are $35,000 and $45,000 annually. They find a rent-stabilized apartment for $2,000 a month. That's 30 percent of their income. So under Cuomo's plan, the couple would have less competition for this rental because people who earn more than them wouldn't be able to apply for the apartment. Means testing is popular with voters. A recent Times/Siena poll found around 65% support. But critics say Mr. Cuomo's plan reflects the misconception that rent stabilization is an affordable housing program. In fact, it is a form of market regulation with post-war origins. “After World War II, veterans started families.” “Some apartments during this era were rent-controlled. This system, which eventually effectively froze rents in the 1970s, was implemented similar to the low-rent apartments famous for Friends and Sex in the City.” “Do you have a rent-controlled apartment? We recommend you stay there.” In fact, only a few apartments are rent-controlled today. It's about 1%. Most of them are currently covered by the rent stabilization program, which was first passed into law in 1969. Rent stabilization is not designed with tenant income in mind at all. Rent control was actually put in place to ensure that when vacancy rates are very low, landlords can't take advantage of that and force tenants to raise rents. ”Rent stabilization currently applies to most apartments in buildings with at least six units built before 1974, covering about 1 million units and 2 million New Yorkers. Rent increases are set by the Mayor-appointed Rent Guidelines Committee. “So you're not just at the mercy of your landlord; you're only at the mercy of the increase determined by the Rent Guidelines Board.” Joan Grell is a tenant advocate in the Bronx. She moved into a rent-stabilized apartment about 25 years ago and still lives there. “I moved here in 2002 with my kids, ages 2 and 5, and I didn't know exactly how I was going to be able to be a single mom and live in this city. 23 years later, I've raised my kids here.” When she moved, the rent was about $950 a month. Although she earned a decent income, she would not have been able to qualify for the force had a means test been in place. “When I moved here 23 years ago, it might have been 20 percent of my salary. So if Cuomo's means-testing proposal had been in place when I applied for this apartment, I never would have gotten it.” Now, she spends more than 30 percent of her income on rent, which amounts to $1,750 a month. Gurell plans to vote for Mamdani in this election because she believes his proposal to freeze rents would help struggling tenants like her, and 69% of voters agreed in a Times-Siena poll. “My neighbor upstairs said to me, 'If the prices go up any further, I won't be able to keep my apartment.'” That's how serious it is. David Rees said that while Mamdani's rent freeze would help tenants in the short term, Cuomo's means-testing could become an administrative nightmare and make life difficult for many. But ultimately, he said, none of these policies address the root cause of high prices: there aren't enough apartments. Both mayoral candidates said they support building hundreds of thousands of homes to address the housing shortage. “We need more housing.” “Increase the supply. Rents will come down.” But Reese said neither candidate's plans meet demand and don't take into account factors such as population growth and apartment demolition. “Politicians from President Trump to Andrew Cuomo to Zoran Mamdani have all proposed policies to address housing affordability. But we can do a little bit better than just do what we're doing now. Basically, if we want to increase affordability, we need to build more housing.”