B-Roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul and Congressman Tonko Announce More Than $270 Million in Funding to Build and Preserve More Than 1,800 Affordable Homes Across New York

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul and Representative Paul Tonko announced more than $270 million has been awarded through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and subsidies to create or preserve more than 1,800 affordable, supportive, and sustainable homes in 28 separate developments across New York State. The awarded projects will expand or preserve the housing supply in every region, upgrade and modernize public housing, further local economic development initiatives, and include energy efficient features that advance the State’s climate goals. The funding is part of Governor Hochul’s $25 billion five-year Housing Plan, which is on track to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide.

B-ROLL of the Governor meeting with Station 25 residents can be found on YouTube here and TV quality B-Roll video is available here (h.264, mp4).

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page has photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Please sit down and good morning on this almost-spring day. We're getting there. We're getting there. I can feel it. As I take my walks and don't have to put as many layers on first thing in the morning.

As we come here, we think about springtime. You also think about renewal. You think about hope. When I think about hope, I think about housing. I think about the people I just met in the next building who had their lives just so enriched by having the dignity of a safe, beautiful home over their heads at an affordable price.

And it's not just about the bricks we build with, but it's also the promise of a better life. It's not about the steel that goes into it, it's about the stability that that home offers as well. And that's what this place, Station 25, represents to the families and even the little two-year-old named Ivy I just met and gave a little duck to for Easter.

This place embodies the transformation that I'm fighting for all over the State. We lost our ambition a long time ago. This state stopped building. Many, many reasons. Lots of excuses. Too much political capital had to be spent in order to get anything done and people didn't make the effort until I took office and I saw what had happened to our state.

When you think about affordability, the number one expense for a family is always their housing. Whether they can pay rent or even have the dream of possibly scraping enough money for that down payment of their own home. You also think about this old fire station — this was a fire station — run down buildings that can be brought back to life if we put the resources in and have the vision.

This has energy efficient appliances, playgrounds. I just saw a playground when I came in. Can picture Ivy having a good time there with other two-year-olds. And we're going to continue jump starting more than two dozen affordable housing projects, the same way we did with this one.

So today, I'm announcing $270 million to go toward 28 affordable housing projects spanning every region of the State, from Buffalo to Long Island. And this comes from a mix of State and federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.

Rents here start under $500. $500 they start and go up to about $1,300. There was a time when that didn't sound affordable, today it does. And when you add it up, these 28 projects will equate to 1,800 new homes. Thousands and thousands of New Yorkers will have the joy of having their own place, that magical move-in day when everything seems possible. I've done it a lot. A future where your life isn't so dependent on a landlord who could toss you out, or whether you're going to worry a little bit less about your bills because you can afford your home.

I saw the transformation from the homes that people live in. My grandparents had a two-bedroom house with eight children. The six boys lived in the attic. It wasn't heated, it wasn't cooled and it was like a dormitory. And I saw my dad's room.

Then, my parents lived in a trailer park. They were so happy to have their little place. My brother was born there. I think there's stories of him sleeping in a drawer, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. But it was tiny. I've been back to that neighborhood. It was tiny. Then I came along, Irish family, a year later, they got a little apartment above a flat that was just in the shadow of the steel plant where Dad worked.

But as time progressed, my family's opportunities progressed, and you could see their success in that little Cape Cod house. And then the home with four bedrooms where there were six kids, and packing us into rooms — we were always sharing with other students. We had exchange students all the time. We had children from the city come live with us. We had children with disabilities come.

My parents — despite we were tight — they always had room for more. I knew what a family meant, but I also knew what a house meant, to house all of them and the people they invited in. So, to me, this is personal. It's a personal quest to make sure that everybody has the same opportunities that I had growing up and others deserve.

We also have an opportunity with this Congress. Now, some have given up — I won't. As Paul and I served together back when I first got elected and we'd sit together as two Upstaters sharing a lot of values, a lot of stories about what it was like to serve in, then, a Republican dominated House of Representatives.

So we know how to fight, but if Congress would pass bipartisan legislation — emphasis on bipartisan legislation — and expand the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, that would pave the way for over 2 million new homes across this nation and more than 100,000 right here in New York. I could use 100,000 more homes here in the State of New York. This is something we want to make sure we all champion, and I'm really excited about that effort as well. So, we're going to keep doing it here in New York. I'm not asking Congress to do anything they’re not willing to do here. I propose doubling our investment from $15 million to $30 million. So I'll walk the walk, talk the talk — we'll get it done.

But wouldn't it be better if I could leverage that investment with so much more if the federal government, in a bipartisan way, would understand that this is a need across the nation — rural areas, suburban areas, urban areas? And it continues to be a top priority of my administration. Some of you who followed my career know that I, a few years ago, started out talking about housing when nobody else was, and we got some progress my first year — didn't get everything I wanted until last year. And yes, the Budget was a little bit late, but I was not leaving town until I had a meaningful housing package literally transforming every part of the state.

And I wanted to lift barriers to new construction that have been plaguing the state for decades. A lot of “play-it-safers” and those “keyboard warriors” saying, “It will never be done; never be done.” We got it done. We fought hard and we had the most significant housing deal ever passed in Albany in about 50 years. And also, in order to invite more municipalities to see the possibilities, we started the Pro-Housing Community Initiative, and what I did was bundle together all the discretionary money we had that could help communities, and Main Street programs and the Downtown Revitalization programs bundled all together in about $650 million. I'm sweetening it with another $100 million this year and saying, if you're a Pro-Housing Community, if you’re willing to do what it takes to make sure the zoning laws are changed, and you look at land within your jurisdiction and see the possibilities, and work with developers and create more housing, then you have access to that money.

Now at first, it was 20 little communities. There's a lot of money to divvy up for 20 communities, and I think people quickly saw and said, “Hey, we better sign up.” I'm really proud that 300 communities across the State of New York have now joined our Pro-Housing program. And we have tens of thousands of units in the pipeline. This is what is so exciting.

I'm always asking my team — Tania’s here. Did I say, “Give me the numbers? Give me the numbers?” My housing team is doing an incredible job. First of all, with the extension of 421-a in New York City. Up to 71,000 more units. The support we just gave the Mayor of New York with the ‘City of Yes,’ 80,000 units for zoning changes. 15,000 through repurposing State sites.

But also, I announced an ambitious plan to have $25 billion toward a hundred thousand units in my first year in office. We are proud to say, we are more than halfway there to meeting our goal, so we're going to be ahead of schedule. We have 55,000 there as well.

There are other ways where, I think we've had us at 350,000. Is that right? 350,000 units have been unlocked through all these various programs since I became Governor and I'm going to make sure it gets done because that's transformational for families.

And I want to make sure that we don't leave anyone on the sidelines because it means everything. A home — your own home means everything. Just look in the eyes of the residents here who are so grateful to have this opportunity. And there's a lot of demand for this. There's about 1,400 applications Conifer had, is that right? Who's from Conifer? 1,400 applications for 50 units. We definitely need more. And that's heartbreaking when you think about it because 1,350 people were disappointed. So we have to keep building. We cannot lose that ambition. And I will make sure we have the resources. I want the federal government to help us tremendously.

And I want to thank everyone who's participating here today. Congressman Paul Tonko who I’ll introduce in a second. But also a brand-new Senator who's learning the ropes, Pat Fahy. I'm so proud to work with her and anything with housing, she says, “I want to be there,” because she is a real housing champion as well and representing the Affordable Housing Association, which has been a real dynamo force to make sure that we can focus our energies on the right projects. Bret Garwood has joined us as well, so you'll be hearing from him.

But Paul Tonko, you are a great champion for this region, dear friend of mine and I'm so proud that you could join us today and give a little reprieve coming out of Washington. Enjoy your — I won't say “Get out of jail pass,” I won't say that. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Tonko.