By: Ilana Siyance
There are roughly 50,000 illegal basement apartments across the five boroughs of New York City. As reported by the NY Post, making repairs which would bringing these apartments up to code would cost a whopping $14 billion. The estimate was reported in a draft report by City Hall, which will be submitted to the federal government in order to secure a $188 million aid package in connection with the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida. “This issue is going to continue to impact the city due to the affordability crisis, there’s just no way around it,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “Climate change is going to end up costing us more than $14 billion. There has to be some city, state and federal intervention here. We’re in a housing crisis.”
The storm had hit New York at about this time last year, with fierce torrential rains which had flooded underground apartments, predominantly in Queens and had overwhelmed sewers across the five boroughs. The Category 4 hurricane had killed at least 13 people in NY, and was called the fifth-costliest tropical cyclone on record, and the fourth-costliest Atlantic hurricane in the United States.
The $13.7 billion estimate is seemingly the first time a price tag was quoted to bring the illegal homes up to code. As per the Post, the total is based on a pilot program launched by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, in his effort to legalize underground units in East New York, thereby upgrading the city’s supply of housing for lower-income households. It was part of an effort to add much-needed affordable housing to the Big Apple, without the need for new development or zoning changes. The data found that it would cost between $275,000 to $375,000 for each apartment to be brought up to code, even after the city eased its own regulations to help get the pilot running. So far, just six apartments in the outer Brooklyn neighborhood have either been renovated or are under construction for the stated repairs, City Hall said late Monday.
“The process of bringing a basement apartment into safe and legal use is too difficult and expensive for many homeowners who could benefit from legally renting out a secondary unit in their home,” city officials said in the draft report for the federal aid. The city conceded that expanding the effort would not be cost effective, unless there were major changes in the state laws. “Through this effort, it became clear that the City cannot meet its goals for basement conversions without further analysis and statutory changes at the state level.” A modest portion, or $400,000, of the federal hurricane aid will go towards further study of the conversions. The report doesn’t detail what kind of changes they would like to see from the state.
A letter sent Friday from City Hall to two state lawmakers says the state would need to ax regulations that limit adding new units to existing buildings, in order to help bring the basement homes up to par. “As we have said for months, what we must do to truly protect New Yorkers is change the rules to legalize and protect basement apartments,” said City Hall spokesman Charles Lutvak, in a statement. “Mayor Adams’ City of Yes plan [proposed changes to city zoning laws] is part of that effort, and he has also been a leading voice in support of the state legislation we need to make safe, basement apartments a reality,” he added.
