At Hostos Community College, Mayor Mamdani hears from young renters priced out of the Bronx | amNewYork

Hundreds gathered at Hostos Community College for a rental hearing focused on tenant impacts in the Bronx. Nearly 80% of Bronx residents are renters, and more than a third spend over half their income on housing. The rental vacancy rate is 0.82% in 2023, the lowest in the city. The mayor described housing as the heaviest financial burden on working New Yorkers and linked the crisis to decades of government decisions that incentivized rent increases while leaving tenants without effective support. A housing plan sets goals for 200,000 new affordable homes and 200,000 preserved homes over a decade, supported by $22 billion in capital investment over five years. Enforcement is criticized for failing to respond effectively to tenant complaints.

"Nearly 80% of Bronx residents are renters, the highest share of any borough in the city, according to NYU Furman Center, and more than a third spend over half their income on housing. The borough's rental vacancy rate sat at 0.82% in 2023, the lowest in the city, according to the NYC Rent Guidelines Board. For many in that auditorium, those numbers are not statistics. They are the reason some no longer live in the Bronx."

"I don't need to be the one to tell you that New York City is facing one of the most severe housing crises in the United States of America, Mamdani told the crowd. That is something that each and every New Yorker feels on the first of the month. The Mayor described housing as the heaviest financial burden working New Yorkers carry and said the crisis was the result of decades of government decisions that gave landlords incentives to spike rents and left tenants with nowhere to turn."

"Block by Block, he said, represents a different set of decisions. The plan sets a target of 200,000 new affordable homes built and another 200,000 preserved over the next decade, backed by a $22 billion capital investment over five years, according to the mayor's office. On enforcement, Mamdani said the city's current system for responding to tenant complaints has failed the people it is supposed to serve."

"In a city where you can order Uber Eats on your phone and you can see every step of where that delivery is, he said, why is it that when you call 311 and you ask for an HPD inspector and they come, and you don't happen to be home, all you get is a piece of pap"

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