Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine Discusses State Budget and Housing Agreements on Pura Política with Julio César García

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine returned to Pura Política to chat with host Julio César García about the recently approved state budget for fiscal year 2025.

With the ink still fresh from Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature, criticism of the housing agreements was swift.

Levine, one of the main promoters of the proposal to convert vacant offices into housing, said of the agreement reached in Albany: “There have been discussions over months and at the end of the day everyone was very satisfied.”

He emphasized that we need to identify the tax incentive that real estate companies need to convert old offices into residential areas, and he pointed out that the agreement also includes the creation of affordable housing. “To me that’s an accomplishment and it can change the direction of Midtown,” he said.

According to calculations by the Manhattan Borough President, up to ten million square feet of vacant offices could be converted into housing, creating thousands of apartments. “A strong percentage of those have to be affordable,” he said.

However, tenants’ rights activists say the legislative agreement has not gone far enough in terms of protection against evictions and increases in rental prices. Levine admits that not all sides of the case are satisfied.

and he said: “I see it differently. More than half of tenants in free market flats have no protection, [ahora] “They will be protected from excessive rent increases and also protected from unreasonable evictions.”

So, according to Levine’s estimates, if tenants in rent-stabilized, rent-controlled apartments and those in market-rate housing are combined, three-quarters of New York’s tenants will have some protection. “Not everything has been sought, but we will continue to appeal,” he said.

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