The New York City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings, chaired by Councilmember Pierina Ana Sanchez, held a hearing on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, to conduct oversight of Mayor Zoran Mamdani's comprehensive housing plan, "Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era." The committee also heard testimony on seven proposed local laws, including the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA, Int. 0905), the reauthorization of the J51 tax incentive (Int. 1015), and bills addressing office conversions, property owner identification, permit sign-offs, street numbers, and electronic property registration. The hearing featured extensive testimony from administration officials, council members, advocates, tenants, property owners, and labor representatives. All introductions were heard and laid over by the committee.
Oversight of the Mayor’s Housing Plan: Chair Sanchez and council members questioned HPD Commissioner Adolfo Levy and DOB Commissioner Amant Tagani on implementation, staffing, enforcement, and preservation strategies. Key topics included:
Intro 0905 (COPA): Councilmember Nurse, the sponsor, highlighted that 62% of New Yorkers (5 million people) cannot meet basic cost of living, and that COPA would disrupt the cycle of landlord neglect by giving nonprofits first right to purchase distressed buildings. Commissioner Levy expressed administration support, aligning with preservation goals.
Intro 0178 (Office of Conversion Assistance): Councilmember Epstein explained the bill would help developers navigate complex conversions and report data. Commissioner Levy and DOB supported the intent.
Intro 0649 (Owner Identification Sign): Councilmember Restler's bill requires posting beneficial owners. SPONY opposed, citing privacy; administration supported goals but wanted enforcement discussions.
Intro 0717 (Permit Sign-Off Notices): Councilmember Salaam's bill would require DOB to notify owners of open permits every 90 days. DOB supported intent but cautioned that too-frequent notices (every 2 weeks near expiration) might be ignored.
Intro 0860 (Street Number Enforcement): Councilmember Brewer's bill would allow HPD and FDNY to inspect and enforce street number display. Administration supported, noting coordination with DCP on rules.
Intro 1015 (J51 Reauthorization): Chair Sanchez's bill extends J51 for 10 years, raises assessed value threshold to $60,000, and allows HPD to update covered projects. Administration strongly supported and urged quick passage.
Preconsidered Bill (Electronic Registration): Councilmember Banks' bill would allow online property registration with electronic signatures. HPD supported and is already seeking a vendor.
Good morning and welcome to today's New York City Council hearing for the Committee on Housing and Buildings. If you would like to testify, you must fill out a witness slip with one of the sergeant at arms. At this time, please silence all electronic devices, and no one may approach Deis at any time. Chair Sanchez, we are ready to begin. Thank you, Sergeants, and good morning. I'm Councilmember Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings. On behalf of the City Council, I'd like to welcome the members of the public and the administration that join us today, in person and remotely for today's oversight hearing. I'd first want to acknowledge my colleagues who are present. Majority Leader Abreu, Councilmember Hudson, Councilmember Aviles, Councilmember Maloney, Councilmember Nurse, Councilmember Wilson, Banks, Epstein Thomas Henry, and Aldebol. Today's hearing is focused on Mayor Zoran Mamdani's block by block, the housing plan for a new era, a comprehensive vision for empowering tenants, strengthening enforcement, preserving affordability, improving housing quality, expanding homeownership, and more. We begin from a reality we all know. New York City is in a profound housing crisis. Our vacancy rate has fallen to historic lows, but this crisis is not experienced equally. For the lowest income New Yorkers, housing insecurity can mean a child traveling hours from a shelter in Queens to remain in their school in the Bronx. It can mean families living with mold, vermin, insufficient heat, and the constant fear that one missed paycheck could cost them their home. In my district, where roughly 70% of households are housing cost burdened, this is the reality. And these inequities did not happen by accident. Generations of public policies have determined who could own a home, whose neighborhood received investment, and whose wealth could grow. Today, those same communities face a federal government, threatening housing assistance and the basic safety net that keeps families afloat. That's why this plan matters so much. And there is so much good in here. There is a vision of government more willing to stand up to bad actors, more willing to empower tenants, more creative about rescuing distressed buildings, more ambitious about building housing and expanding homeownership. And people are hopeful. People who have spent generations watching government work better for people and areas with money and power, are wondering whether we could actually ever shift that balance, whether tenants might have more power someday, whether working people could finally have a government willing to fight as hard for their stability as others fight for profit. Present company included. But New Yorkers have heard ambitious promises before. We have celebrated production targets before, and too often when we look back at what was actually produced, preserved, or made affordable for our lowest income neighbors, government actually fell painfully short of the moment. So today, members of the administration, I ask you to give us reason to believe. Explain to us what you could not fit on the 120 pages of block by block, or the 70 pages of the rental ripoff report, or the 40 pages of the speed report and more. How will you implement these promises? My questions will begin in four places. First, capacity. A bold housing plan cannot be implemented by understaffed agencies. If we promise a stronger, uh if we promise stronger code enforcement, roof to cellar inspections, emergency repairs, aggressive litigation and preservation, then HPD and Department of Buildings need the inspectors, attorneys, preservation staff, and institutional capacity to deliver. Second, with respect to preservation, some of our most affordable housing is also our oldest and our most distressed. We need a government capable of intervening before buildings collapse into crisis. That means capital and support for responsible owners trying to keep buildings affordable and escalating enforcement against owners who are chronically who chronically endangered tenants. So what is your distinction between high road and low road landlords mean in practice? This council represents tenants, but it also represents responsible owners, all New Yorkers. The effect of the rental overhears crisis for landlords is real. Housing court delays are real. Cash flow problems can destabilize otherwise responsible affordable buildings, including affordable co-ops, rent stabilize housing, and regulated housing. We need a preservation strategy sophisticated enough to recognize those realities as well. Third, on homelessness. We spend billions of dollars every year operating a shelter system while families desperately search for permanent homes. In discussing an all of the above approach, the plan does not speak comprehensively to the many housing voucher programs in New York City, FEPS, HAVP, Section 8, the newly created CHAP. I'm gonna do that every time I say it. City rental assistance program. Okay. And our other housing resources that could move us towards something bigger, preventing homelessness before it happens.