The United States lacks some almost five million housing units needed to meet current demand. New York state and City face similar shortfalls. For example, the City's housing plan notes there are an estimated one million New York City households that qualify as low or extremely low income and only 424,000 units of housing available at rents they can afford. What is a shortage for middle-income and upper-income New Yorkers is therefore a full-blown crisis for working-class and low-income New Yorkers. This article outlines recent proposals from Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to address this crisis, as well as a novel challenge to a recent New York City rezoning that included a major affordability component. The new mayor has yet to release his plans but appears to be on board with the Governor's proposals so far.

Eliminate the State's CAP of 12.0 on FAR. In the State of the State address, the Governor announced her intention to propose legislation to lift the 12.0 FAR cap on residential density in the Multiple Dwelling Law—a concern mostly in New York City. Section 26 of the law currently prohibits residential buildings on a "lot" from having a floor-area-ratio (FAR) of more than 12.0. For example, a 10,000-square foot lot can contain no more than 120,000 square feet of floor area. As a practical matter, New York City's Zoning Resolution and local zoning codes across the state impose much lower caps on development in the vast majority of neighborhoods. But in the handful of residential neighborhoods that already allow 12 FAR residential development (almost exclusively in Manhattan), lifting the cap could provide some housing expansion opportunities.

The State Legislature imposed the 12.0 FAR cap in 1960 very purposely to limit building densities and ensure that there was some proportion between lot size and building size. See 1960 N.Y. Laws c. 1072 §1, amended 1961 N.Y. Laws c. 748, §1. The Legislature's 1960 committee report stated the limit was adopted to "serve[] as a curb on excessive population density." In the decades before the law's passage, "residential dwellings ha[d] risen to a height of three times the width of the widest street on which they abut." The Committee viewed this "burgeoning growth" as a potentially "destructive force" which, by sacrificing light, air, and open space, can "produce an environment that is neither desirable nor healthful for urban living." Report of the Joint Legislative Committee on Housing and Multiple Dwellings 86-87 (1960).