mobanmarketNEW YORK CITY — The Big Apple will get to take another bite at major issues, from housing to public safety, under proposals outlined by Gov. Kathy Hochul in her 2024 “State of the State” address.
Hochul’s hour-long address Tuesday — and corresponding 181-page book — included major promises for New York City, although many were resurrected from last year.
Mayor Eric Adams, who attended the speech in a show of support for a political ally, said afterward that Hochul’s proposals will make the city stronger, safer and more affordable.
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“Her proposals on housing, public safety, mental health, education, our economy, and more will help us deliver on our commitments to working-class New Yorkers,” he said in a statement.
Here are five big takeaways for New York City.
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Housing
Hochul isn’t done with housing — and New York City looms large in her plans.
Last year, the governor’s ambitious housing plan failed amid intense opposition from many communities across the state who, in her telling, cried out for more “local control.”
This year, Hochul said that local control is exactly what New York City will get.
“Let’s unleash New York City’s potential beginning this session,” she said during her address.
“Do you agree with that, Mayor Adams?” she then asked, to which Hizzoner gave a thumbs up.
Hochul proposed to find a replacement for the expired 421-a tax break that incentivized affordable housing in the city, allow the city to build more dense residential developments, make it easier to convert offices into homes and legalize basement apartments.
Crime
Expect wider crackdowns on unlicensed, illegal cannabis shops if Hochul’s proposals go through.
“We’ll empower the illegal cannabis vendors who flagrantly violate our law,” she said. “We’ll empower localities to go after the unlicensed shops, prosecute businesses that sell to minors and padlock their doors faster.”
The promised unlicensed pot crackdown wasn’t the only big public safety proposal in Hochul’s address.
She also proposed to launch a statewide organized retail theft taskforce, expand an effort that targets high-risk domestic abusers and make more offenses eligible for prosecution as hate crimes.
Transit
The long-awaited Second Avenue subway would extend farther in Hochul’s proposals.
The MTA would look into extending the Q line west along 125th Street — with three new stops at Lenox Avenue, St. Nicholas Avenue and Broadway — to make it serve as a crosstown rail connection, officials said.
“An extended Second Avenue Subway – West line would pass through East Harlem, Central Harlem, and Manhattanville along the busy commercial corridor of 125th Street and would create a true east-west subway connection in Upper Manhattan,” the State of the State book states.
And the Interborough Express — a proposed light rail link between Brooklyn and Queens — got more support from Hochul.
“With support from the Hochul administration, the MTA will now initiate formal design and engineering of the IBX, an essential step in allowing this project to proceed,” documents state.
Lower speed limits
Hochul yet again thrust her support behind “Sammy’s Law,” a proposed piece of legislation that would allow New York City officials to set speed limits down to 20 mph.
The bill won widespread support last year from lawmaker, but Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie wouldn’t bring it up for a vote.
Doing so enraged advocates, who have argued that allowing the city to set its own speed limits would save lives, given the direct correlation between speeds and the deadliness of a crash.
This year, Hochul appears poised to support the bill again — a commitment that one advocates deemed a bright spot in an otherwise “lackluster” address.
“As road deaths rise and many city streets descend into further disarray with congestion only getting worse, bus and bike lanes constantly blocked, and reckless drivers facing zero consequences, Governor Hochul should be prioritizing street safety—not doing the bare minimum,” said Sara Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, in a statement.
Reading
New York City is getting the state hooked on phonics.
After the city’s shift to phonics-based reading instruction, Hochul proposed to make all of New York state do the same.
The proposal effectively seals phonics as the method for how New York City children will learn to read.
“I say it’s time to get rid of debunked curriculums in schools and get back to basics: using phonics and proven techniques that work,” Hochul said.
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