As he officially launched his campaign for mayor on Thursday, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer is set to release a plan he says will generate an estimated 20,000 new affordable homes over five years.
Stringer shared the details of his plan with amNewYork Metro ahead of its Thursday release.
The city’s former chief bean counter, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2021, said he is officially jumping into the race after campaigning in an exploratory capacity for the past year because he believes enough New Yorkers are buying what he is selling.
“I think people really want a mayor who has a vision but also has the experience and the confidence to fix City Hall,” Stringer told amNewYork Metro. “We all know it’s broken. We all know that minimalism has become the norm. I think we need a mayor who has a track record of being a reformer and someone who knows how to drive results.”
Four points of plan
Sringer’s housing plan is designed to address the lack of skyrocketing rents and the lack of available rental apartments in the five boroughs. It has four prongs: building affordable housing on thousands of vacant and under-utilized city-owned properties; using eminent domain to purchase properties from “negligent” landlords; creating a $500 million loan fund for nonprofits and community organizations to build housing; and securing the necessary funding to revitalize the city’s crumbling public housing stock.
Stringer dubbed the first prong of his plan Mitchell Lama 2.0, referencing the Mitchell Lama affordable housing model, which originated in New York State in 1955. According to the plan, it consists of an audit to identify properties that can be developed, designating those areas for at least 50% affordable housing construction for low- and middle-income New Yorkers, and fast-tracking those projects to build as quickly as possible.
The scheme will utilize both city-owned vacant land and structures that can be utilized for further housing development.
While Mayor Adams’ City of Yes zoning overhaul will allow the city to build more housing in general, Stringer said his plan zeroes in on producing affordable units.
“We need to have an affordable housing plan that meets the needs of poor people, working people, front-line workers, and this is an actionable plan to take advantage of the vacant lots,” Stringer said. “We can go in there on hundreds of properties and build the kind of housing we need by involving developers that are willing to take less profit, and also not-for-profits that are ready to do this work.”
Eminent domain for failing properties
Under the second pillar of Stringer’s proposal, the city will use eminent domain to seize properties that fail to meet structural and safety standards while compensating the owners “fairly.” Those units will then be renovated and turned into affordable rental or cooperative housing.
Additionally, Stringer wants to create a “slumlord registry” to expose negligent landlords who use networks of shell companies to sheild themselves from scrutiny.
“We’re gonna get them out of the housing business if they’re not going to be good actors,” Stringer said.
The third piece of Stringer’s plan would create a $500 million fund that would disburse low-interest loans to nonprofits and minority and women-owned businesses. The loans can then be used to cover pre-construction costs for developments that bring benefits to their specific neighborhoods.
The fourth part of Stringer’s plan focuses on doing what other administrations have failed to do: unlocking $40 billion in federal funding to make sweeping renovations to New York City Housing Authority buildings across the city. While Stringer did not offer a specific method for unlocking the funds, he said he would use his experience as a former housing organizer and state legislator to make it happen.
“Mayors do big things when they get elected,” Stringer said. “Every mayor, even former Mayor Bill de Blasio built affordable housing. Except now, we are slow-walking the biggest need that we have. So we need a mayor who has followed this his entire life. Who has real plans, not just for a campaign? I know how to get this done.”
Stringer is hardly the only candidate who has made housing a signature issue of his campaign. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) has released his own ambitious plan to build 1 million new homes in the city over the next decade.
