Mayor Eric Adams calls on state Legislature to pass bills he says will help create affordable housing
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams spoke with CBS News New York this morning about the issues.
He is calling on the state Legislature to pass a series of bills that allow the city to build more units.
"Oftentimes, New Yorkers are asking the question of, 'Why isn't there more housing in the city that's affordable?' without the understanding of feeding that pipeline and incentivizing the building and building higher and more units -- it comes from Albany," he said. "New York City is really a creature of Albany. Inactions or actions in Albany will really impact our city."
Among the bills, Adams wants the go-ahead to convert unused office space into affordable housing.
"We have millions of square feet of real estate that is unused -- traditionally, used for commercial office spaces. We could convert these units into housing," he said. "It's a perfect match. Many people working from home, using a smaller footprint in their office spaces. Why not turn it into housing? We need Albany to help do that. Right now, we're not getting any action in that area. We're hoping they'll see it's one of the ways we deal with this crisis we are facing."
He said his plan to help house asylum seekers includes first helping everyday New Yorkers get out of shelters and into permanent housing.
The mayor also responded to a new report that raised concerns about the NYPD's Neighborhood Safety Teams. Watch his full interview above for more.