Some New Yorkers want the state to do more to address housing issues.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing regulatory reforms to speed up housing construction. But advocates for affordable housing note little is being said about increasing the state’s Housing Access Voucher Program or expanding rent stabilization beyond New York City.
Sumathy Kumar, the executive director of Housing Justice for All, said upstate cities like Kingston face challenges in using rent stabilization protections.
“Landlords have constantly sued the city over minute bureaucratic details,” said Kumar. “What ends up happening is, the tenants who are supposed to be rent stabilized are left in limbo, not sure if their protections are going to go away one day, or continue.”
She said she’s eager to see lawmakers in Albany pass a bill, known as the REST Act, to allow most other municipalities to enact rent stabilization without such issues. Several cities’ attempts at implementing rent stabilization have been blocked by lawsuits.
Despite pushback from the real estate industry, the bill received positive feedback at a 2025 New York Assembly hearing.
The state’s Housing Access Voucher Program is in the second year of a four-year pilot program, using $50 million.
It provides rental assistance for people who are unhoused or at risk, and estimates show the program could aid 78% of renters in the state who spend more than one-third of their income on housing.
Gov. Hochul cited costs when she opposed a bill making the program permanent, but Kumar said it’s important to consider fully funding it now.
“It is really important,” said Kumar, “in a moment where federal cuts are coming – on housing, on benefits and services – that we fund rental assistance right now.”
However, Congress rejected cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and gave the agency a $70 billion budget increase without restrictions on vouchers.
Data show at least 170,000 people nationwide were expected to lose supportive housing because of the proposed cuts in social services.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.