Seeking SEQR, with Mamdani’s housing commissioner

With the state budget now over a month late – and just days away from officially becoming Gov. Kathy Hochul’s latest spending plan of her tenure – some of the biggest sticking points appear to be close to a resolution. Among them is Hochul’s proposed reform to the state’s environmental review law, a half-century-old measure whose onerous requirements have been blamed for holding up crucial housing and infrastructure projects. 

Supporters of the governor’s pitch to update and streamline the State Environmental Quality Review Act – shortened to SEQR – include New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Surrogates of his including city Housing Commissioner Dina Levy trekked to Albany last week to lobby for that and other reforms that would benefit the Big Apple as negotiations continue during budget overtime. City & State caught up with Levy at the state Capitol on Wednesday about SEQR and other priorities for the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Is SEQR the main thing you’re advocating for up here in Albany?

It is indeed. I think SEQR reform, as proposed by the governor, goes straight to the heart of like the two major things that we need to meet Mayor Mamdani’s agenda, which is more affordable housing more quickly. It's time and it's money.

Have you spoken to New York City members of the Legislature about this? I know there was some initial reservation.

Mostly very positive. I think in some cases, they were very happy to get into a more detailed conversation about what the legislation actually, as proposed, does. I do think that that's important, that they understand why it's so important to the city, why it's so important to the mayor's affordable housing agenda. But also why it's not putting people at risk, right? We are not proposing to sacrifice important safety measures. And I think if you look back at what we've analyzed in terms of the last 10 years, there are dozens and dozens, really hundreds, of projects that could have moved through with no environmental considerations or concerns and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of time.

Does the mayor have any position on whether prevailing wage gets included in this?

I understand the Assembly has taken that off the table, (and it) is not a consideration. So I don't think it's actually germane.

Aside from SEQR, what are some of the other priorities you’re focused on while you’re up here?

The governor's proposal around J-51 and the renewal of J-51 is hugely important for preservation. The biggest challenge right now is that J-51’s imminent expiration means that nobody can borrow to do – if you understand how J-51 works, the landlord borrows money, or has money, invests in the project and then gets most of it back through the J-51 tax abatement. You wouldn't take that bet right now, because it would take you many years to complete the work. And if the program expires, you can't really borrow, you'll spend the money and not get the tax abatement. 

So having the governor propose a 10 year renewal for this program is hugely important. It will work within the housing market and the finance market, and it's also really important in terms of making all of the repairs that we need to do at a time when expenses are rising, landlords are struggling. We need to be investing in the stock we've already built. J-51 is a huge tool for doing that, and also is a huge tool for advancing Local Law 97. So J-51 is a great tool to enable many of the buildings that need to actually make those (energy efficiency) improvements.

Are there any particular projects being held up by the environmental review process that you can point to?

I'm sure there are many right now that are in that process. We had a project, it was a 100 unit project in the Bronx that was delayed over a year, because it was casting a shadow on a pool. It's pretty, pretty unimportant when it comes to, you know, the magnitude of the housing crisis that we're in right now. There are other examples that we've tracked from the last several years. There was a 30 unit project in Brooklyn that had to have two separate (reviews). So it was delayed years and several hundred thousand dollars. Again, no findings that would have made any difference at all.

There is agreement between the mayor and the governor about these housing issues, but have the disagreements over the city’s finances and tax proposals affected these negotiations at all?

No, I would say they're on separate checks. I mean, obviously they're important, right? So the housing plan is being worked on, the executive budget is being worked on. It's great news that both the governor and the mayor are jointly committed to making sure that we have what we need to realize. The mayor's very ambitious housing agenda. But I would say these are separate issues, and in particular for SEQR, cost neutral, which is super, super important. So anything we can do to make housing happen that isn't expensive, or in this case, costs nothing, we should be doing.