Councilmember Rafael Espinal (D-Bushwick, East New York, Cypress Hills) was one of the big winner’s in Mayor’s Bill de Blasio‘s preliminary budget in getting the city to pivot on a long-standing building regulation last week.
Under the preliminary Fiscal Year 2019 spending plan, the city will allocate $5.7 million of its $88.67 billion budget to start a basement apartment pilot program in East New York. The money will assist homeowners, who opt into the program, to retrofit their basements to provide safe, legal and rentable basement dwellings. Espinal led the basement legalization-working group that was first convened Oct. 2016.
“Today marks yet another action taken by the mayor’s office to fulfill the commitments of the East New York Neighborhood Plan,” said Espinal when the budget was released last week. “I am excited for what the pilot program will yield for our immediate community, but I am also eager to see how this will reshape New York if the pilot is successful and goes to scale across the five boroughs.”
The program was initially introduced as part of the East New York Neighborhood Plan but was tabled because of safety concerns surrounding home conversions.
It also comes as the city council passed legislation that would penalize, more harshly, landlords who illegally converted their two- and three-family homes into more apartments. Amid the call to crack down on offending homeowners ensued the debate that tenants resort to living in such conditions because of the city’s lack of affordable housing.
“Throughout the planning process for the East New York Neighborhood Plan, our community was clear that basement legalization must be a priority,” said Espinal. “For too long tenants and homeowners were being put at risk of eviction and major fines, while the city was missing out on an opportunity to maintain thousands of affordable units.”
A non-for-profit organization, The Citizens and Planning Council, is also pushing to legalize basement rentals as a means to add more affordable housing. Last February, the organization introduced an extensive study detailing the benefits of legalizing basement apartments.
“CHPC is thrilled that the De Blasio administration is making basements a focus. CHPC hopes to work with the City to make basements livable and safe, said Executive Director Jessica Katz. “Basement apartments are an untapped resource in NYC’s tight rental market, and New Yorkers are living in them whether we like it or not, so it is of critical importance to find a way to make basements livable and safe.
The city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will work in conjunction with the city’s fire and police departments to determine the guidelines that will ensure safe occupancy. The city agencies will be considering proper egress, or more than one location to exit from the basement as well as securing boilers with concrete slabs. A successful pilot program could mean homeowners throughout the boroughs would have an opportunity to legally rent their basements.
The initiative also met the approval from City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights), chair of the council’s Housing and Buildings Committee.
“At a time when affordability is a major concern citywide, finding ways to preserve units that offer affordable options to New Yorkers is a must. This initiative will help preserve affordability and make these units safer places to live,” said Cornegy.
The program is expected to run a minimum of three years, according to an HPD spokesperson. Homeowners with 1 – 3 family homes are eligible to apply.
“This is just one example of many of how the East New York community has been consistently leading on policy initiatives and delivering progressive city planning solutions,” added Espinal.
