Every indicator in New York City’s housing market is pointing in the wrong direction.

Rents are at historic highs. Foreclosure notices are climbing in Black and brown neighborhoods that never fully recovered from the last crisis. Deed theft, the predatory stripping of generational wealth from families who built their equity over decades, continues to devastate communities from Brownsville to Jamaica.

On top of all these factors, there were more than 57,000 rent-stabilized apartments sitting completely empty as of April last year. That number grew by 8,000 units in a single year, with the sharpest increases hitting Brooklyn and Queens hardest.

Brooklyn and Queens. My neighborhoods. Your neighborhoods.

You would think that news of 57,000 empty affordable apartments in the middle of a housing emergency would produce outrage, emergency hearings, and demands for accountability. Instead, New Yorkers got a collective shrug from opinion leaders.

Read that again: 57,000 families could be housed in those apartments. Households currently paying market rent, doubled up, couch-surfing, or one missed paycheck away from the street could have relief. And silence from the city’s housing leadership, activists, and coalitions.

In my experience as chair of the Subcommittee on Affordable Housing in the Assembly, that is not advocacy. That is surrender.

These are the same voices, the same institutions, the same political class that successfully lobbied to effectively ban short-term rentals in New York City through Local Law 18. At its peak, Airbnb had roughly 20,000 listings in New York City, nearly a third the number of apartments currently sitting vacant and padlocked in the rent-stabilized system. The campaign against those listings was relentless, loud, and wrapped in the language of affordability and housing justice.

Where is that energy now?

Where are the press conferences about landlords warehousing stabilized units while families sleep in shelters? Where is the legislation with teeth? Where is the outrage that was apparently plentiful when a Black homeowner in Bed Stuy wanted to rent out her spare bedroom to make ends meet?

Because that is exactly who Local Law 18 hit hardest. Not the corporate bad actors. Not the hedge funds. The struggling homeowner, disproportionately Black, disproportionately in Brooklyn and Queens, who used their home as a small economic engine to survive in a city that grows more expensive by the month.

Those families were told their activity was destabilizing the housing market. Those families were fined, delisted, and legislated out of a livelihood. And now we learn that 57,000 stabilized units are sitting empty while rents spiral and foreclosures mount, and the response from housing advocates is essentially: that’s just how big numbers work.

This is not sound policy. This is politics. And the communities paying the price know the difference.

I have spoken with homeowners across Central Brooklyn who are barely holding on. They bought their homes, sometimes one generation removed from the Great Migration, and they have watched the equity they built become both their greatest asset and their greatest vulnerability. Predatory lenders, deed theft schemes, and rising property taxes all circle that equity like wolves.

Short-term rental income was, for many of these families, not a luxury. It was the margin between keeping the house and losing it. Local Law 18 closed that door, and the people who closed it are now waving away 57,000 empty apartments as statistical noise.

Everyone in this fight knows what needs to happen but will not say it out loud: Local Law 18 needs reform. Common sense reform. The kind that distinguishes between an investor running a ghost hotel and a homeowner renting a room. The kind that actually targets bad actors instead of penalizing the most economically vulnerable property owners in the city.

I hear it in private conversations with elected officials, with housing attorneys, with planners. The consensus is there. The political will is not, because the same advocacy groups and political donors who pushed the original law are still in the room, and nobody wants to take their call.

What this moment requires is courage, not calculation.

Every month that passes with 57,000 empty stabilized apartments is a month of families in crisis, of shelter costs ballooning, of neighborhoods destabilizing. Every month that Local Law 18 remains unreformed is another month a Black homeowner in Flatbush or Hollis faces impossible choices that wealthier New Yorkers simply never have to make.

You cannot ban the small and ignore the large. You cannot mobilize armies of lobbyists against a homeowner’s spare bedroom while shrugging at tens of thousands of warehoused affordable units. You cannot claim to stand for housing justice and then tell 57,000 families worth of empty apartments that the math just works out this way.

The hypocrisy has to stop. Politics have to give way to people. And the officials and advocates who have the power to fix this, who know what needs to be done, have to decide which side they are actually on.

Because from where I stand, in the communities I have served for decades, it is very clear who is being left out in the cold.

Dr. Annette Robinson is a former member of both the State Assembly and City Council in Brooklyn.

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By Sponsored by JPMorganChase

Mercy Housing California and JPMorganChase help neighborhoods—and residents—thrive.

Finding an affordable place to live remains a challenge for many as widespread housing shortages persist across the U.S. Rising home prices and high interest rates have made homeownership inaccessible to a large portion of the population. Meanwhile, as rental demand increases, the number of renters facing affordability challenges is rising.

The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reveals that cost burdens for renters reached another record high in 2023. Similarly, the JPMorganChase Institute reports that renter affordability is declining, forcing people to devote more of their take-home pay to housing costs. There is a growing need for affordable housing across the U.S., and that rings true here in Oakland.

To close that gap, it’s essential that all Oakland residents share in its growth, with housing options that accommodate a range of needs and budgets. For Mercy Housing California, this meant delivering a concrete solution to the local community, resulting in housing for individuals and families who otherwise might not have been able to live in the area.

For older adults living on fixed or limited incomes—including seniors who had been without a stable place to call home—The Eliza offers something that can feel out of reach in today’s housing market: a place to belong in the Oakland community where they’ve put down roots. Developed by Mercy Housing California with support from J.P. Morgan, The Eliza brings 97 new homes to seniors aged 62 and older, with 20 of those homes set aside for seniors who were formerly homeless. Here, “affordable” means rents are tied to what residents can actually pay so that a home stays within reach rather than consuming a household’s entire budget.

“As housing costs continue to rise across California, far too many older adults living on fixed incomes face the heartbreaking risk of displacement or homelessness, often for the first time later in life,” said Tiffany Bohee, President of Mercy Housing California. “Here, seniors can age in place independently, access onsite services tailored to their needs, and find a community where they can truly feel at home. Thanks to the commitment of partners like JPMorganChase, we’re helping ensure Oakland remains a place where seniors of all incomes can age with dignity, stability, and belonging.”

“We’re proud of the far-reaching impact this project will have. It reflects Mercy Housing California’s mission to uplift our communities and expands the supply of high-quality, affordable homes,” said James Vossoughi, Community Development Banking, J.P. Morgan. “Every additional housing unit matters—and increasing the number that are affordable is critical.”

A broader commitment to Oakland’s future

While The Eliza is foundational, the vibrancy of a community depends on much more. In Oakland, the firm provides banking services to more than 675,000 customers and works across sectors to expand economic opportunity. Over the last five years, JPMorganChase has invested $35 million in local nonprofit organizations, supported 61,600 small business clients and delivered financial health education to thousands of residents to broaden access to banking, financial health resources, homeownership and other wealth building tools.

“As we work with local stakeholders to expand housing options, JPMorganChase’s goal is to create inclusive economic opportunity for all,” said Dan Schrauth, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Private Bank and Chair, Bay Area Market Leadership Team, JPMorganChase. “When our communities thrive, we all thrive.”

The journey to close the affordable housing gap continues, with industry leaders like Mercy Housing, Inc. finding a path forward to bring real solutions to the Oakland community.

Locally and nationally, this project reflects JPMorganChase’s American Dream Initiative, a commitment to scaling local housing solutions across the country—learn more at www.jpmorganchase.com/America.

You can also read more about what’s happening in the Bay Area at https://www.jpmorganchase.com/communities/sf-bay-area.

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $109.6 million in Proposition 1 funding to create 278 permanent supportive homes in Bakersfield, Contra Costa County, Sacramento and Fresno, including 103 homes reserved for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

The funding, awarded through California’s Homekey+ program, is intended to expand permanent supportive housing and behavioral health services for veterans and other Californians experiencing or at risk of homelessness. State officials said the investment advances Proposition 1, the voter-approved measure aimed at increasing housing, treatment and support services for people with behavioral health needs.

“Every Californian deserves a safe place to call home, particularly the veterans who bravely served our country,” said Newsom in a statement on July 23. “California voters approved Proposition 1 because they know we must do more to address homelessness and behavioral health challenges.”

The largest award, nearly $32.6 million, will help the City of Fresno and Parkway Prime LLC convert an interim housing project into 84 permanent supportive homes at Parkway Terrace, including nine units reserved for veterans. The City of Sacramento and Urban Capital LLC will receive nearly $31.9 million to develop the Rio Linda Senior Housing Project, which will include 100 homes, 49 of them reserved for veterans.

Contra Costa County and Satellite Affordable Housing Associates will receive $28.8 million to develop an 82-unit senior housing community, with 62 units designated for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness who have behavioral health challenges, including 30 units for veterans. In Bakersfield, Community Action Partnership of Kern will receive nearly $14.1 million to convert a 38-room motel into 30 permanent supportive homes, with 15 units reserved for veterans.

State officials also announced an additional $2.3 million for three previously awarded Homekey+ projects in Olivehurst, Sanger and Stockton, primarily to support operating costs and increase veteran housing.

Since its launch, Homekey+ has awarded $968.4 million to 54 permanent supportive housing projects expected to create 2,749 affordable homes statewide, including 723 homes reserved for veterans. Officials said Proposition 1 is expected to expand California’s behavioral health system by funding additional supportive housing, treatment facilities and services for people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health challenges.

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