Hochul caves, kills suburb-busting zoning plan

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Two weeks after the first Nassau County-based protest against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to require local governments to permit accessory dwelling units, which sparked opposition in suburban communities across New York state, Hochul pulled the plan from her proposed 2022-23 executive budget. 

Accessory dwelling units — ADUs — are smaller, independent residences on the same lots as single-family homes. 

Hochul proposed the five-year, $25 billion zoning plan, with the aim of creating more affordable housing, on Jan 5. There was backlash from local representatives at nearly every level — from Rep. Tom Suozzi, who is challenging Hochul, a fellow Democrat, for the party’s gubernatorial nomination, to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, both Republicans. Similar outrage was voiced in Westchester County.

Hochul’s plan “would have decimated the environment, the services, our schools,” Clavin said. 

“I have heard real concerns about the proposed approach on accessory dwelling units,” Hochul said in a statement. “I understand that my colleagues in the state Senate believe a different set of tools is needed, even if they agree with the goal of supporting the growth of this kind of housing. So I am submitting a 30-day amendment to my budget legislation that removes requirements on localities in order to facilitate a conversation about how we build consensus around solutions.”

The conflict, according to Lisa Tyson, director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition, is that affordable housing is necessary on Long Island, but many Nassau County residents, who pay some of the highest taxes in the country, want to retain their quality of life. 

Tyson directed a statement at Blakeman and similar-thinking elected officials who led the charge against Hochul’s proposal, saying they were “dragging Long Island back to the 1950s.”

“They want to keep Long Island wealthy and white, at the expense of everyone else,” she said. “Everyone knows there is an affordable rental housing crisis on Long Island, and Blakeman and his right-wing colleagues are trying to make it worse.”