Mayor Zohran Mamdani rolled out his housing plan called Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era.
A highlight of the plan is to build 200,000 affordable housing units over and preserve and stabilize an additional 200,000 over the next decade. It comes at a price tag of $22 billion that will be a capital commitment over the next five years, the mayor says.
The city has set a goal to build over 14,000 new homes in 2027 and gradually increase that to over 21,000 new homes per year by 2031.
“At a moment when working people are being pushed out of the city they built, New York cannot afford half-measures or delays," Mayor Mamdani said.
The mayor committed to forming a new task force that would overhaul the city's outdated housing maintenance code, and vowed that starting Oct. 1, every 311 complaint for heat will be investigated.
Another part of the plan is an investment in NYCHA, with a capital commitment of $5.6 billion over five years.
"We will do all this while ensuring NYCHA remains publicly owned and publicly operated," Mamdani said.
The mayor also highlighted a spotlight on the Bronx, where the city says 10% of tenants are facing eviction annually.
This fall, city agencies compromised of HPD, the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants and the Mayor's Office of Equity & Racial Justice are expected to launch a planning process to coordinate city action in the highest-need neighborhoods including Mott Haven, Melrose, Tremont, Crotona, Fordham, University Heights, Kingsbridge and Bedford Park.
They will focus on affordable housing preservation, code enforcement and reducing health disparities for those in low-income communities.
"Bronxites are facing higher rates of eviction. They're also facing higher rates of fires. They are facing the kind of housing conditions that have become the norm for far too many New Yorkers. And this is actually finally going to deliver a record investment for the tenants of today and the tenants of tomorrow," the mayor said.
The city will also overhaul Housing Connects affordable housing lottery system, including cutting the lottery duration time in half down to three months, with a goal to move winners into their apartments under 100 days.
The Rental Rip-Off hearings that were held throughout the five boroughs earlier this year played a role in the urgency of the plan, the mayor said.
City Hall will also look into new initiatives to expand homeownership opportunities.