In July, Zero buildings and zero units were approved for construction in Manhattan, and only 10 buildings and 279 units were approved for construction across all of New York City. Manhattan’s president, Mark Levine, highlighted this as a crisis and expressed the need to address the issue. 

The likely reasons for this decline are high-interest rates and the expiration of the crucial tax incentive program 421a, which provided tax breaks to developers who included affordable units in their projects and ended in June 2022.

A few efforts were made to replace or extend the program, like the last alternative program in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood, launched by Governor Kathy Hochul, but its impact and potential expansion are still being determined. 

Levine also released a report identifying 171 development sites that could create 73,000 housing units, including vacant lots, gas stations, and parking garages. The housing shortage has led to ambitious goals, such as Hochul’s 800,000-unit housing compact and Mayor Eric Adams’ goal of 500,000 units by 2032

(source: therealdeal.com, picture: Rohit Tandon)