Governor Kathy Hochul Signs Affordable Hotel Housing Bill

As residents struggle with a myriad of economic issues, Governor Kathy Hochul has signed a bill that should take some pressure off New York's housing crisis.

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Per a press release from her office, Governor Hochul announced that she had signed a bill that would allow qualified and underutilized hotel space to be converted into permanent, affordable housing for New Yorkers. This bill is part of Governor Hochul's five-year, $25 billion housing plan which intends to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes in New York.

To qualify for conversion into permanent affordable housing, class B hotels must be within residential zoning districts or within 400 feet of a residential zoning district.

New York State Senator Brian Kavanagh stated that "Allowing conversion of underutilized hotel space into affordable permanent housing represents another critical step we are taking toward ending the crises of unaffordable housing, evictions, and homelessness that have gripped New York for far too long."

New York's eviction moratorium put in place to help residents during the Covid-19 pandemic expired on January 15, 2022. According to data compiled by Eviction Lab, eviction filings predictably saw a large spike following the expiration of the moratorium, but are still below average levels.

According to Broome County's GIS Portal, this bill would have an extremely limited effect on the City of Binghamton and the surrounding area, if any at all given the current zoning maps. Still, it opens some interesting doors for future consideration on how to increase the availability of affordable housing both in the Southern Tier and New York State as a whole.