“Through a tax on the mega-rich, the Livable New York Act would fund 100,000 units of deeply affordable housing and transition every building in New York off of fossil fuels over the next 10 years—all while creating tens of thousands of good union jobs for New Yorkers.”
Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul at a press conference in 2023. (Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
Somehow, inexplicably, Eric Adams is still mayor of New York City, despite clear evidence that he persuaded the Trump administration to drop his corruption case in exchange for enforcing the president’s controversial agenda.
New Yorkers have a right to be worried. The president’s stated priorities—mass deportations, billionaire tax breaks, corporate giveaways, and planet-warming fossil fuels—won’t do anything to make our city better or more livable for the 8 million people who call it home.
What New Yorkers really need are solutions to the crises they face every single day: soaring rents, low-paying jobs, and a rapidly heating planet. And since we can’t count on Mayor Eric Adams to fix our most pressing problems, we need Gov. Kathy Hochul to step in.
Where should she start? Easy. The beginning. At our most basic level, every human needs a few key essentials to survive: clean air and water, food, and a safe home to protect them and their loved ones from the elements. It sounds simple, but it’s remarkable how many politicians have taken these fundamentals for granted.
Just look at New York. In one recent analysis of the most affordable states in the nation, the Empire State ranked dead last. Residents here will spend 78.7 percent of their income on basics and have just $16,913 of their median annual income left over.
The affordability crisis is painfully real, and yet it’s only half the problem. The other half is global warming and pollution. Filthy air, contaminated drinking water, rising temperatures, and growing flood risks are all top of mind for families across the five boroughs.
The good news is that the legislative session is still underway, and there’s a piece of sweeping legislation that meets the scale of these crises head on: the Livable New York Act.
The Livable New York Act is the kind of ambitious public works project that New York used to be known for, and could be again under Gov. Hochul’s leadership.
Here’s how it works: Through a tax on the mega-rich, the Livable New York Act would fund 100,000 units of deeply affordable housing and transition every building in New York off of fossil fuels over the next 10 years—all while creating tens of thousands of good union jobs for New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status and criminal history.
It’s exactly the kind of big-thinking that New York needs. A new New Deal that answers the affordability and climate crises and puts people immediately back to work in family-sustaining jobs.
New Yorkers can’t afford to wait. Buildings currently produce two-thirds of the city’s climate-heating emissions, while competition for limited housing forces more and more residents into substandard homes.
Corporate interests will surely balk at a tax on New York’s ultra rich, but Gov. Hochul shouldn’t cave. Everyday New Yorkers are fed up with unchecked corporate greed and rising inequality and they’re looking to Democrats to step up and be the visionary leaders that working families need.
New York has always paved the way for progress, and there has never been a more important moment for our state to lead the fight for a safer, more affordable future. Gov. Hochul must step in and be the antidote to Trump and Eric Adams. She can do that by standing firmly on the side of everyday New Yorkers for a more livable New York.
Olivia Leirer is co-director at New York Communities for Change.
The post Opinion: Gov. Hochul Must Do What Eric Adams Won’t—Solve NYC’s Affordability & Climate Crises appeared first on City Limits.
