Read commentary, editorials, essays, <a href="https://newsday.com/opinion/letters">letters</a>&nbsp;and more about the proposal.

Opinion

OPHOUSINGLANDINGPAGE

Gov. Kathy Hochul was right when she said: “Every New Yorker deserves access to affordable housing, whether they are at risk of homelessness or simply struggle to pay the rent on time each month.” 
 Unfortunately, her plan to address the housing shortage is flawed, probably influenced by the more than $8.9 million she received from landlords and developers. 
 Yes, New York has a housing shortage, but the most significant shortage is in housing for the 8.6 million poor and low-income New Yorkers either homeless or housing insecure because of poverty. On Long Island, zoning regulations overwhelmingly favor single-family housing, leaving too few rental units for people who can’t afford to buy a house. As the Regional Plan Association, Long Island Community Foundation and Ford Foundation found in their 2013 study of Long Island’s rental-housing shortage: 
 56% of renters pay more than 30% of their income for housing. 
 64% of Long Island renters cannot afford a typical two-bedroom apartment. 
 55% of 20-to-34-year-olds live with their parents or other older relatives. 
 Over a quarter of all rental homes on Long Island are concentrated in 10 communities. 
 These figures are even higher today, since rents and the cost of living generally have increased since 2013, wages largely have remained stagnant, and affordable housing construction has been negligible. 
 There are an estimated 5,000-plus people currently homeless on Long Island. This doesn’t include the precariously housed, who are couch-surfing with friends or family, at risk of eviction, or in jails or hospitals with no place to go when they’re released. The lack of affordable housing for poor and low-income people on Long Island has reached crisis proportions. Low-rent multiple-unit housing is needed desperately. Renters also need protection from greedy landlords. Since the end of the pandemic eviction moratorium, rents are spiking, evictions are soaring, and homelessness is at an all-time high. 
 The governor’s plan would give developers an incentive to build housing, regardless of price, putting the cost of new infrastructure, schools, and other services for the increased population onto the backs of local taxpayers. Developers should be required to pay their fair share of taxes. Tax incentives should be given to builders of low-cost housing only — and that needs to be defined. The term “affordable housing” as it is now defined is not affordable for most poor and low-income people. 
 A bill introduced in the State Legislature this year would create a statewide Social Housing Development Authority with the power to build and preserve high-quality, affordable housing across the state, which would be less costly than our present shelter system as seen in places where it’s been done, most notably Austria, Finland and British Columbia. 
 Many people will still need rental assistance to keep their rental expense to 30% of their income, as recommended by federal guidelines, and this should be provided. Some will need services for problems like mental health issues and addiction, though studies show these problems sometimes resolve themselves once a person is assured of stable housing. 
 Since building construction takes time, we also need to support legislation to protect tenants’ rights now, including measures to prevent landlords from evicting tenants without good cause, guarantee tenants the right to legal representation during an eviction proceeding, and create a rental subsidy program for New Yorkers who are homeless, facing eviction, or at risk of losing their housing. 
 Housing is a human right. Let’s put pressure on the governor and legislators to do the right thing. 
 THIS GUEST ESSAY reflects the views of Susan Karbiner, co-chair of the Long Island Regional Committee of the New York State Poor People’s Campaign.

Commentary

Guest Essays

OPKAR230329

Gov. Hochul's plan doesn't address the housing shortage for the poor

Address the housing shortage for the poor

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Gov. Kathy Hochul’s well-meaning but ill-thought-out New York Housing Compact comes with concerning environmental impacts that are not widely known. 
 By mandating that local governments rezone land within a half-mile of Nassau County’s 59 railroad stations to allow 50 units per acre, a total of more than 1.2 million housing units could be built “as of right.” Assuming conservatively that there will be two occupants in each unit, this would add 2.4 million residents to the county’s current 1.4 million residents, almost tripling the population. 
 Since her proposal aims to build 800,000 new housing units statewide, requiring over a million units in just one county indicates that the 50-units-per-acre quota was arbitrarily chosen without doing the math. 
 This massive construction would have no environmental review, since Hochul’s proposal specifically exempts these projects from the State Environmental Quality Review Act. 
 For nearly 50 years, SEQR has required careful environmental reviews of major construction projects. These reviews must include public input and allow local decision-makers to require mitigation measures to protect against environmental degradation. These protections would be eliminated under Hochul’s plan. The proposal only permits local governments to look at the capacity for drinking water, sewage disposal and utilities — not the impacts on them. 
 By eliminating environmental review, developers would have little or no incentive to utilize green building measures and every incentive to build as inexpensively as possible. This would be bad for one project, but to allow this for more than one million new units in one county is unconscionable. 
 For its water needs, Long Island relies on a sole-source aquifer already under strain, especially in Nassau. Some areas near the coast are starting to see saltwater intrusion due to over-pumping. Tripling Nassau County’s population could have devastating impacts on our water supply and leave those who still have individual wells without a source of water. 
 Similarly, the ability of Nassau’s sewage treatment plants to handle a population three times its current size must to be investigated. For areas not connected to sewage treatment plants, additional on-site septic systems would exacerbate problems of excess nitrogen leaching into bays and harbors, leading to more harmful algal blooms, oxygen depletion and fish kills. The construction also would increase the amount of impervious surfaces like roofs and parking lots, leading to more stormwater runoff and degradation of wetlands that protect our communities from major storms and serve as biofilters and habitat for wildlife. 
 Rather than having these requirements considered by the appropriate legislative committees and then debated in the State Legislature as with any major legislation, the governor has included this plan in her budget proposal with little opportunity for public input. It was also developed without consulting local governments that would be most affected. 
 One example of the extreme impact is the Village of Roslyn Harbor. It has 356 homes. Under the proposal, it would be required to rezone to permit 6,122 new housing units. At two persons per unit, this would increase the village’s population from 1,051 to 13,295. How is a small village going to provide the services needed? 
 While there is a need for more housing around the state, it is clear that this proposal is not well thought-out and would create problems that would forever change our communities and damage our environment for generations to come. The environmental gains many of us have worked to achieve for decades are in jeopardy. 
 The governor should withdraw this proposal from the budget process and work with local governments and other stakeholders to craft a workable plan to provide needed housing in an environmentally friendly way. 
  &nbsp; 
  THIS GUEST ESSAY reflects the views of Eric Swenson, secretary of Friends of the Bay, an Oyster Bay-based nonprofit environmental group.

OPSWE230328

Hochul's housing plan would have big environmental impacts

Hochul plan's environmental impact

STHOUSING230326

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Housing Compact addresses the desperate statewide need for new housing stock. But critics, including the State Senate and Assembly majorities, are wrong in proposing the plan needs more carrots and fewer sticks. She needs more, bigger sticks if she hopes to win this fight. 
She also needs more data. Towns and villages claim the number of houses built has been undercounted. Fine. Make it mandatory to submit the necessary data, but don’t delay the plan for it. Set housing-creation goals, and modify the goals in two years if the data doesn’t support them. If towns don’t send the data, increase their quota until they do. 
Offer the carrot of a lookback: If a town has been building homes, it should get credit by having its quota reduced. The reason for keeping simple numerical quotas is twofold: It eliminates the possibility of data manipulation (the home is either there or it isn’t), and it eliminates loopholes. 
Some local elected officials say their communities are “not appropriate” for this type of development. “Not appropriate” is a vague term that should have no part in the debate. What is true is that many of the transit-oriented development areas do not have the appropriate infrastructure, such as sewers. The state should identify those areas, put up the money for sewers, and start the three-year clock from when the sewers are complete. 
Critics also are right that the governor’s offer of $250 million in incentives is woefully inadequate. It’s been known for decades that a 2-mile stretch of Route 110 in Huntington Station needs sewers, but those two miles are projected to cost $66 million, and they will certainly cost more. If the governor is serious, she needs to be planning on something north of $2.5 billion statewide. Leaning on counties to make the sewer approval process faster would be another useful carrot. 
Admirably, Huntington Town has had a 20% minimum affordable component for many years, double the state’s 10%. Less admirably, this requirement has a lot of loopholes. Build your apartments on a golf course, or without requesting an increase in density, and you don’t need an affordable component. One glaring loophole in the governor’s plan is that it contains no mandate for affordable housing. She should set 20% as the minimum affordable component in every complex — period. 
Hochul’s plan is admirably vague on what approach towns and villages have to take to meet their quotas. It essentially says that “you must build this many homes and if you do it in the specified time frame, we’ll butt out.” The only time the state gets involved with sticks is when a town does not build enough housing. Arguing that this is a state takeover of local control essentially admits that localities have no plans to build enough housing. 
Affordable housing projects in Yonkers and at Matinecock Court in East Northport have shown the value of big sticks. Huntington lost its U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Matinecock Court, yet more than 40 years later it is still not built, for lack of a big enough stick. When Yonkers tried the same tactics to keep affordable houses from being built in the 1980s, the judge imposed a fine of $100/day that doubled every day until the city complied. Yonkers calculated it would be bankrupt in 18 days, and changed the necessary rules quickly. That’s a stick. 
It’s true, there are not enough carrots in Hochul’s plan. But it also needs more and bigger sticks. 
 &nbsp; 
n THIS GUEST ESSAY reflects the views of Roger Weaving Jr., vice president of the Huntington Township Housing Coalition.

OPWEA230316

Hochul's housing plan needs more and bigger sticks to compel action

Hochul's housing plan needs big sticks

Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposal to address a genuine crisis in housing stock has a looming issue even more serious than her ill-advised suggestion to override local zoning: construction costs. 
 COVID-19’s long shadow has profoundly altered the economics of construction. Every previous financial metric for building multifamily residences is a distant memory. One traditional formula estimated building costs for multifamily residential at $260 per square foot. Now developers need to consider as much as $500 per square foot as a baseline. Concrete that was $110 a yard can now cost $190 a yard. Wood framing has become a commodity that is anyone’s guess when you go to contract. 
 While costly, material is just part of the construction equation. 
 The cost of labor is reaching historic highs. It reflects the national scarcity of construction workers whose skills are easily transferrable to other parts of the country. Not surprisingly, they are following the money&nbsp;to regions where construction approvals from local municipalities are easy to obtain and where population shifts have created enormous demand for affordable housing. Industry analysts report a national shortage of at least a half-million skilled construction workers, driving up wages among union and nonunion workers alike. 
 Local&nbsp;developers and construction companies acknowledge that electricians, carpenters, and plumbers will travel east to the Hamptons to find far more lucrative paychecks than from projects in Patchogue or Melville. 
 Government mandated costs also increase&nbsp;the burden on the bottom line. Current residential housing approvals often come with myriad state requirements. For example, required LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification that introduces energy conservation technology often insists on the most costly alternatives, like Energy Star appliances and extra insulation above and beyond state code.&nbsp;Additional proposed&nbsp;mandates, such as phasing out natural gas boilers and appliances, would push project costs even higher. 
 Washington also plays a role in determining the viability of housing starts through its monetary policy. Current Federal Reserve interest rate hikes&nbsp;are&nbsp;having a direct impact on borrowing costs for construction. 
 All of these factors impact the final cost of a project and what the prospective tenant will pay in monthly rent or carrying chargers for a co-op apartment, fracturing the traditional definition of “affordable.” 
 That begs an even larger question. What investors or financial institutions will view these projects as viable investments in “affordable housing” when construction costs mock&nbsp;the very concept? Without government incentives, such as phased-in taxes offered by industrial development agencies, there is no financial model that would allow developers&nbsp;to spend the tens of millions of dollars required to break ground; one project in Patchogue my company looked at recently cost $11 million for just 21 units. 
 An additional red flag for the private sector is the current Albany debate over “Good Cause Eviction.” If enacted, it would allow automatic lease renewals for most tenants in apartments not&nbsp;currently under rent control. It would require landlords to justify any rent increases over 3%, virtually guaranteeing commercial lenders will redirect their dollars to anywhere but “affordable housing,” for they will never see an adequate return on their investment. 
 The governor’s housing initiative is at a crossroads where public policy meets private sector reality. While&nbsp;much attention has been placed on home rule and the loss of zoning authority, this effort to build housing for a new generation of Long Islanders will succeed or fail based on supply, demand, the cost of money, and whether government has given the private sector the confidence to actually build the future. 
 This guest essay reflects the views of Peter Cosentino Sr., president and founder of Cosentino Realty Group in Commack.

OPCOS230313

Rising costs of construction are a big barrier for Hochul's housing plan

The high costs of Hochul's housing plan

toHOUS220110_photos

Finding an affordable home in New York has never been more challenging. This crisis affects low and middle-income families looking to buy their first home, young people looking to move out on their own, families that need more space, and seniors who want to retire in their own communities. 
 In response, Gov. Kathy Hochul has introduced a comprehensive plan, the New York Housing Compact, to create 800,000 homes across the state over the next decade.&nbsp;But as is so often the case with bold proposals, the plan has been the subject of confusion and often inaccurate concerns. 
 Myth: The Housing Compact overrides local control 
 The plan sets local housing goals for every community and offers flexibility to meet those goals in whatever way they see fit — by updating zoning requirements, encouraging mixed-use and mixed-income development, reimagining underused shops and offices, or other strategies. Upstate communities would need to grow their housing supply by 1% over three years while communities downstate would have a goal of 3%. 
 In Bellerose in Nassau County — home to almost 1,250 people with a little over 400 homes —  the target would be 12 homes over three years. Great Neck Estates — with roughly 1,000 homes — would have a target of about 30 homes over three years. A larger locality like Patchogue in Suffolk with 9,200 homes would have a target of 175 homes. For about 80% of villages, towns, and cities throughout the state, communities will need to add fewer than 50 new homes over the first three years. 
 Only if communities choose to not pursue local zoning changes and block developments that would achieve their housing goals would they be subject to a fast-track approval process. 
 Myth: Its&nbsp;focus on transit-oriented development does not consider the unique nature of Long Island communities 
 The plan provides a framework for municipalities to determine where and how to add housing near transit hubs — one that is sensitive to Long Island’s unique character. The rezoning tools encourage redevelopment and access to amenities like transit, open space, schools, and parking while providing exceptions for protected forests and wetlands, cemeteries, parks, historic sites, and highways. 
 Myth: It does not plan for local infrastructure, water supply, and technical support needs 
 Gov. Hochul's $250 million infrastructure fund will help communities meet the needs that come with new housing construction. The plan also includes $20 million for planning and technical assistance. These new funds follow $1 billion for 247 projects in Nassau and Suffolk to improve wastewater and water supply infrastructure, $500 million in the 2022-23 budget to protect Long Island’s sole source aquifer, and $500 million in her budget proposal last month, including funds to sewer downtown areas near train stations in Huntington Station, Smithtown, and Kings Park. 
 Myth: There is not enough demand to justify 800,000 units of housing 
 Demand for housing has skyrocketed. In the past 10 years, New York has created 1.2 million jobs, but built only 400,000 new homes. A Regional Plan Association study found the state&nbsp;needs to build 817,600 new units in the next decade to meet this demand. 
 We are losing New Yorkers to states like New Jersey and Connecticut that are lowering housing costs. It is critical that we increase our housing supply to remain competitive, accommodate workers, and drive our state’s economy forward. 
 Myth: The Housing Compact will radically change quality of life in rural and suburban communities 
 There will be change but it will not be radical. This is a plan for long-term, measured, and sustainable growth over a decade. 
 Some places on Long Island, like Mineola and Patchogue, have already embraced some of these strategies to boost their communities’ health. In other places, change has been slower. Spreading the goals throughout the region, rather than concentrating growth in a few areas, makes&nbsp;any individual community’s goal manageable. 
 No one community can fix the housing crisis. By coming together and all doing our part, we can make our communities, our region, and our state a place where neighbors and employers want to stay for generations to come.

OPVIS230303

Hochul's housing plan addresses need by creating 800,000 homes in a decade

Housing plan addresses need by creating 800,000 homes in a decade

VPMTALOTS230226

Gov. Kathy Hochul's latest attempt to address housing affordability on Long Island is chock-full of forceful mandates, but light on nuance. 
 This type of top-down policymaking not only fosters public distrust in government but cuts out local elected representatives who understand&nbsp;the ins and outs of their communities. 
 Such bludgeoning land-use mandates erode decades of state-backed policy precedents that have protected the region's sole-source aquifer&nbsp;and&nbsp;open spaces, and nurtured economic growth. Such feats were accomplished not by&nbsp;staunch state opposition to localities, but via measured partnership with Long Island’s villages, towns, and counties. 
 Hochul's proposed four-tiered system of &quot;minimum average densities of residential dwellings per acre&quot; radiating from the New York City border reduces Long Island's diverse hamlets to mere points on a map drawn in a faraway bureaucrat's office. 
 At its core, the proposal defies the norms of community-based planning efforts&nbsp;typically developed not by dictum, but by the consensus of stakeholders from all perspectives. Such community-based efforts are the result of civic leaders, builders, environmentalists, and the people who call a neighborhood home coming together to craft a tangible plan that reflects their locality’s unique needs. 
 As first reported in Newsday, almost all of Nassau County would be forced into adopting so-called Tier 1 zoning that allows for an aggregate density of 50 residential units per acre on the land that surrounds local Long Island Rail Road&nbsp;stations. 
 And that's just the start. 
 In mostly unsewered Suffolk County, transit stops within western townships like Huntington, Babylon, Islip, and Smithtown would require rezoning to Tier 2's mandated 30 units per acre. An allowance of 20 units per acre for Tier 3 extends as far east to places like Manorville, while the state would require 15 units per acre near East End train stations under the proposal’s Tier 4 designation. 
 While some measured exceptions are given to these rules, the environmental carelessness being proposed does little to address the consequences of growth Long Islanders have been grappling with since the post-World War II&nbsp;era. 
 These arbitrary density requirements deny the deteriorating condition of our aquifer, which has been tainted due to our hunger for growth over the years. All the while, area roadways buckle under the overwhelming demands placed upon them daily. 
 That’s not to say housing isn’t needed. Housing prices are still climbing, and most local officials throughout Nassau and Suffolk haven’t exactly embraced the prospect of building more. 
 For example, faced with the potential redevelopment of the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, the Town of Oyster Bay immediately stated that housing wouldn’t be permitted. It’s exactly this kind of transformative adaptation that New York State should pursue with local partners&nbsp;instead of sweeping zoning changes, but there must be flexibility on both sides. 
 In practice, worthwhile planning efforts challenge all who engage in the process to juggle a community’s social, economic, and environmental needs in order to develop a sustainably viable road map for the years ahead. 
 As our aging suburb grapples with the reality of accelerating unaffordability and economic stagnation, the state must lower the temperature of its rhetoric and continue to work with local partners on the region's housing issues. 
 Attempting to legislatively bludgeon local governments into compliance is not the answer. Instead, the state should think constructively how to best work with localities on the common goal of making our region economically and environmentally vibrant.

OPMUR230207

Hochul must get local input on her housing plan

Hochul must get local input on housing

liMTA200515_photos

Long Island comprises a wealth of assets — plentiful natural resources, updated transportation infrastructure, growing industries, and academic, research and medical institutions offering excellent employment opportunities to rising generations of Long Islanders. 
 But such opportunities&nbsp;cannot be leveraged without affordable housing, and in the past two years, our region’s housing prices and rents have increased, by more than 40% by some measures. Today, more than 300,000 Long Island homeowners and renters spend&nbsp;more&nbsp;than 30%&nbsp;of their income on housing costs and struggle to live in the towns in which they grew up. 
 This issue has percolated for decades and was documented for 15 years by the Long Island Index. Its repercussions on our local economy continue to be dire: Businesses struggle to attract staff, and manufacturers to attract skilled workers. The only solution is to expand and diversify our housing supply. 
 But how to achieve this, given our political fragmentation and dysfunctional zoning laws? Over the last year, the Rauch Foundation and Long Island Community Foundation have sponsored conversations among housing advocates, developers, health and human services providers, business and civic groups, and philanthropy organizations&nbsp;to grow consensus on the way forward, including looking at how other regions are addressing the need for affordable housing. 
 Gov. Kathy&nbsp;Hochul’s recent State of the State address proposed rezoning a half-mile radius around train stations to accommodate transit-oriented development. Mineola, Westbury, Farmingdale, Wyandanch, Patchogue, and Port Jefferson, among others, have already completed key projects&nbsp;and revitalized their downtowns. Hicksville, Central Islip, Amityville, Baldwin, and Riverhead&nbsp;are leveraging $10 million&nbsp;state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grants to bring residents — and foot traffic — to their downtowns with mixed-use development near their rail stations. 
 Still,&nbsp;the scale of production is not nearly enough to meet demand, which will only increase as completion of the Long Island Rail Road's&nbsp;Third Track and East Side Access projects improve mobility for New York City commuters traveling in both directions. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage the MTA’s $14 billion investment in these projects by heeding Hochul’s ideas around transit-oriented development. 
 With 8,300 acres available for development within a half-mile of Long Island's rail stations, transit-oriented development is a proven tool for centering new vitality in the heart of our villages. It translates into new people on the streets, new stores, new restaurants, and an opportunity to create housing that younger people, in particular, can afford. It opens a doorway to a somewhat different suburbia with its own social dynamic, offering young families an attractive and affordable place to live, work, and raise families. 
 Progress demands that governments at the local, state, and federal levels work together to provide legislative and economic incentives for the private sector to meet growing demand. Forging such an alliance calls for organized community support. Happily, we have an excellent road map in the form of our region’s successful, cross-sector campaign to build the Third Track, which included participation by&nbsp;business, organized labor, philanthropy, academic institutions, and civic organizations of all stripes. 
 We are at a critical moment. Long Island’s housing sector — builders and advocates alike — have educated themselves about best practices that have successfully incentivized the development of such housing elsewhere.&nbsp;We need to bring all sectors of Long Island together to make our region home to those who have been shut out. If we don’t, we will lose out as talent moves elsewhere. 
 This guest essay reflects the views of Nancy Rauch Douzinas, president of the Rauch Foundation of Long Island, and&nbsp;Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones, senior program officer of the Long Island Community Foundation.

OPRAU230120

LI's housing shortage is a problem for everybody

LI housing shortage is a problem for all

TOTOD220223_photos

In 1988, the Long Island Housing Partnership was launched with a mission to create affordable homes for Long Island employees who otherwise would not be able to afford housing. I became its first president and chief executive. 
 The organization was modeled after the highly successful New York City Housing Partnership. We soon learned, however, that doing affordable housing on Long Island was vastly different from doing it in New York City. A principal reason was Long Island’s 13 towns, two cities and 95 villages, each with its own land-use policies, culture, and personalities. The Long Island Housing Partnership had to adjust to Long Island if we were to get anything done. Likewise, Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to adjust her housing proposal if it is going to have any success on Long Island. 
 The governor is right to address the Island’s housing crisis and do&nbsp;so as an economic sustainability issue. Housing has been the third rail for Long Island politicians. The governor should be praised for not being afraid to touch it. But if her compact is to have tangible results, she must understand the Island and be open to change. 
 For example, Hochul’s zoning proposal would require increased density a half-mile around train stations. Long Island would be divided into four&nbsp;tiers with mandated densities as high as 50 homes an acre in the tier closest to the city line. The desire to accelerate production is understandable because, with precious few exceptions, as-of-right multifamily zoning doesn’t exist on Long Island. But&nbsp;Hochul's plan treats all communities of the same tier as the same without any regard for existing land uses. 
 In Tier 1, Oceanside is different from Westbury and in Tier 3 Sayville is different from Ronkonkoma. The arbitrary half-mile radius lands in the middle of residential neighborhoods in some places;&nbsp;in others, it's underwater. The new rezoning requirement should be limited to parcels already zoned commercial or industrial, or Hochul should&nbsp;increase the infrastructure pot from $250&nbsp;million&nbsp;to $800 million&nbsp;to encourage&nbsp;rezoning residential parcels. Importantly, because aesthetically pleasing density is always a function of design, architecture compatible with existing locales should be required. 
 Equally understandable is the idea of an appointed board that could overrule a municipality’s zoning denial, in a region where approving one&nbsp;affordable housing development — Matinecock Court in East Northport —&nbsp;took nearly a half-century. But an authority should not treat every municipality the same. Massachusetts’ 1969 Chapter 40 (B), the granddaddy of all such superseding authorities, was designed to create affordable homes. It does not treat all towns and cities the same. For example, if 10%&nbsp;or more of a municipality's existing housing stock qualifies as affordable, it is exempt from 40 (B). The statue withstood a referendum in 2010 and was retained with a 58% voter approval. It is still controversial, and it continues to create affordable homes. 
 Additional aspects of the governor’s bold proposal could be better adjusted to Long Island. Expediting land-use review, while necessary, will only work with allowances for a municipality’s existing land uses. Increasing income eligibility to live in homes aided by low-income housing tax credits shows Hochul understands the suburbs, but those incomes should be high enough for beginning teachers and nurses to qualify but not so high that landlords can charge market rents and call them affordable. 
 Back in 1988, few thought housing was a major challenge. Today, only flat-earthers deny it.

OPMOR230221

Gov. Hochul must adapt her housing proposal for Long Island

Hochul must adapt housing proposal

Randi F. Marshall

It's easy to point to Long Island's housing and development failures. 
 But amid those shortcomings,&nbsp;a new community, a downtown near a train station, is rising. 
 Phase after phase, year after year, the Ronkonkoma Hub, the $1 billion mixed-use development now called Station Yards, is emerging.&nbsp;It eventually&nbsp;is expected to feature&nbsp;1,450 units of housing, plus hundreds of thousands of square feet of office, medical, retail, and hospitality space — even as Tritec Real Estate principals Jim and Robert Coughlan re-imagine the space and the timing of how everything will be built in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the changing face of retail. 
 Meanwhile, to the south of the train tracks, there's bubbling hope that a different development team will succeed in building Midway Crossing, a mix of life sciences facilities, a convention center, and more that should complement the Station Yards effort. 
 Getting to this point hasn't been easy. Jim Coughlan notes that for his first 26 years in business, the region lacked the appetite for anything residential. But over the last decade, Tritec has built about 2,000 housing units Islandwide, in Patchogue, Bay Shore, Lindenhurst,&nbsp;Port Jefferson and, of course, Ronkonkoma. 
 Coughlan, however, recognizes that's just a fraction of what the region needs. 
 &quot;We need a lot more housing,&quot; Coughlan said. &quot;If we built enough housing, we wouldn't have an affordability issue.&quot; 
 Coughlan wants to be part of that. But … and there's a very big &quot;but&quot;: 
 &quot;We only want to go where we're wanted,&quot; he&nbsp;said. &quot;Long Island is a very, very difficult place to get things approved. We need to go where the community is behind it, where the leaders of the community groups are behind it, and where the elected officials and political leaders in that community want it.&quot; 
 Those words are particularly telling in light&nbsp;of Gov. Kathy Hochul's recent housing proposals, which include a denser zoning requirement&nbsp;near train stations&nbsp;and state overrides&nbsp;when a community doesn't grow itself, and which depend on the developers who would plan and build the needed units. 
 Coughlan&nbsp;said Hochul deserves praise for &quot;identifying, highlighting, and championing the issue.&quot; 
 But, he said, any program&nbsp;&quot;needs to include local input.&quot;&nbsp; 
 Tritec&nbsp;won't build without community buy-in. But, Coughlan says, that&nbsp;can and does happen, pointing to Ronkonkoma and Patchogue. 
 &quot;It's not a secret sauce,&quot; he assures. 
 Sometimes, it&nbsp;starts with a community seeking to trade blight for something better. Or, a local elected official welcomes the developer — then make the connections to civic groups, chambers of commerce, and others. 
 The recipe has several ingredients. 
 First? &quot;A really good suit of armor,&quot; Coughlan jokes lightly. 
 But seriously. 
 You must listen&nbsp;to and educate the community, he said — with an emphasis on the listening. Mix in efforts to participate and engage in the area neighborhoods, and support local businesses and causes.&nbsp; 
 Then, add&nbsp;in&nbsp;patience and persistence. Or, as Coughlan said:&nbsp;&quot;Try like crazy to make it work.&quot;&nbsp; 
 There's one more thing Coughlan emphasizes.&nbsp; 
 &quot;We're never going to get it done if we try to keep pushing this number of units or that style or this mix,&quot; he said. &quot;It's all about being wanted by the community and then living up to being wanted by the community.&quot; 
 It's a set of ingredients for Hochul to remember, too. 
 Columnist Randi F. Marshall's opinions are her own.

Columnists

OPMAR230119

A local recipe for building housing on Long Island

A local recipe for building housing on LI

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<h2> Daily Point </h2> 
<h3> How far are you from Queens? Crows only </h3> 
 Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing plan divides the downstate region into four “tiers.” Depending on where you live — and which train station you’re near — the plan’s impact could vary widely. 
 (Here is the <a href="https://next.newsday.com/long-island/data/long-island-the-land-of-single-family-homes/">NextLI&nbsp;map</a> showing the percentage of single family homes vs. multiple units in each area of Long Island&nbsp;and what the half-mile radius around each train station looks like.) 
 Hochul’s new zoning proposal would require villages and towns to rezone the half-mile radius around their train stations. In Tier 1, that zoning would have to allow for an aggregate density of 50 units per acre. Tier 2 would require 30 units per acre. Tier 3 would be zoned for 20 units per acre. And Tier 4 stations would have to be zoned for 15 units per acre. 
 It seems that nearly all of the Long Island Rail Road stations in Nassau County would fit within Hochul’s “Tier 1,” which is defined as being within New York City, or 15 miles or fewer away from the border of where Queens meets Nassau. And it’s not 15 miles by car — but measured by a straight line. 
 By a rough analysis, that would seem to include every station on the Far Rockaway, Port Washington, Oyster Bay, Long Beach, Hempstead and West Hempstead branches. And it likely would include most of the Nassau County Main Line stops, and the Babylon line through the Massapequa Park stop. The Farmingdale station would seem to be right on the border. By one straight line measure, it would just fall into the Tier 1 designation, by less than half a mile. By another, it falls into Tier 2, by less than two-tenths of a mile. 
 By the state’s definitions, that means the same zoning requirements would apply to the areas around train stations in Westbury, Mineola, Carle Place, Merillon Avenue, and Locust Valley. 
 Tier 2 covers any train station that’s between 15 and 30 miles&nbsp;from the city line. That would cover much of the Port Jefferson branch, likely as far as the Smithtown station, stretch past the Islip station on the Montauk branch, and encompass territory beyond Brentwood’s station on the Ronkonkoma branch. 
 Tier 3, which includes train stations that lie between 30 and 50 miles beyond the Queens line, would encompass much of the rest of Suffolk County, except for the East End. That would include the rest of the Port Jefferson branch and likely stretch past the Yaphank and Mastic-Shirley stations. Tier 4 — stretching beyond the 50-mile mark — would encompass the East End. 
 According to the budget bills, some land — like cemeteries, highways, parks and other non-buildable property — would be exempt from the requirement. And since it’s an aggregate, not every piece of land in the half-mile radius would have to be rezoned. But as some local officials have noted, for every part of the community that has single-family homes on large lots, another part — likely closer to the station — would need to accommodate even higher density to balance it out. The State Legislature would have to approve the entire plan, as part of its budget negotiations. And for sure, some provisions will change. 
 Also in Hochul’s budget bill: A measure that would require localities to provide housing creation and zoning data to the state, which would be used to create a statewide mapping system. That, of course, would be helpful to determine just how the new zoning the governor is proposing would work, but since it’s part of the same package of budget bills, it couldn’t be done before the zoning plan is approved. 
 — Randi F. Marshall <a href="http://twitter.com/randimarshall">@RandiMarshall</a> 
<h2> Talking Point </h2> 
<h3> Meanwhile in Brazil </h3> 
 George Santos has an interesting lawyer for his years old Brazilian check fraud case: Jonymar Vasconcelos, who was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2007 for his connection to a gang execution, the Brazilian daily newspaper <a href="https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mundo/2023/02/advogado-de-george-santos-no-brasil-foi-condenado-por-integrar-grupo-de-exterminio.shtml">Folha de S.Paulo reported on Wednesday</a>. 
 Vasconcelos, who was outside on a motorcycle while the killing happened, is not a widely known lawyer, according to J&uacute;lia Barbon, the Rio de Janeiro-based reporter who broke the story and chatted about her findings with The Point. 
 The lawyer’s practice is not found online and no office is listed, Barbon said by text on Thursday, en route to the mountain outside Rio to cover the anniversary of a flood. 
 “He said Santos got referred to him (didn't say by whom or how) on the merit of his success trying criminal cases over 7 or 8 years,” said Barbon, whose colleague translated her messages from Portuguese&nbsp;for The Point. Vasconcelos did a portion of his term under house arrest and went on to study law, Barbon reported. 
 Santos did not provide information on how the two got connected, either. After Barbon called the freshman Republican’s cellphone twice, he returned her call quickly but she didn’t have time to pick up. Barbon says Santos then texted her in English, “Who is this?” 
 She told him in Portuguese that she was a reporter profiling his lawyer and sent a list of questions. He texted back, &quot;I'm sorry, who is this? I don't understand you” — despite having spoken to the media in Portuguese in the past and residing in Brazil for years. 
 Barbon sent the same questions in English but alas: “He stopped answering me.” 
 — Mark Chiusano <a href="http://twitter.com/mjchiusano">@mjchiusano</a> 
<h2> Pencil Point </h2> 
<h3> A crushing&nbsp;responsibility </h3> 
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 For more cartoons, visit <a href="https://www.newsday.com/opinion/cartoons/national-political-cartoons-newsday-o78euzm7">www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons</a> 
<h2> Reference Point </h2> 
<h3> Mental health care: A sad echo from&nbsp;the '50s </h3> 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/OGJiMjRkMGUtZTg5Mi00" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/OGJiMjRkMGUtZTg5Mi00', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/OGJiMjRkMGUtZTg5Mi00"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/OGJiMjRkMGUtZTg5Mi00/2d0d5c73efc41de104ecc3af9abeff97d7193b21.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" /></a> 
 The difficulty of caring for those suffering from mental illness is in the news as America grapples with a national crisis. It also was in the news on Long Island 70 years ago, as Newsday’s editorial board grappled with a local mental health care scandal. 
 “The shocking stories that have come out of Kings Park State Hospital in the past few weeks make clear that an investigation is needed into the hiring of attendants there,” the board wrote in a Feb. 2, 1953 piece called “Investigation Needed.” 
 The board noted a litany of recent problems — an escape by 17 teen patients, a “riot” among girls at the hospital, and a report from two former attendants, “Mr. and Mrs. Russell Nelson, who said they quit ‘because we couldn’t stand seeing patients used as punching bags.’” 
 The board cited a history of “brutality” at the hospital as a factor in the 324 escapes logged in the previous year, as well as there being “no compulsory training of attendants.” The board also said that the low salary for attendants left the hospital chronically shorthanded. 
 “The Nelsons told Newsday that they were not told how to handle patients, and that they were told that no one paid attention to the rule book,” the board wrote. 
 Kings Park and its fellow Long Island psychiatric hospitals — Pilgrim State and Central Islip — were critical elements of the mental health care system for the region. In the latter 19th century, New York City’s psychiatric asylums had become seriously overcrowded. Kings Park and Central Islip opened in 1885 and 1889, respectively, as so-called “farm colonies” because various farming activities were part of the therapy. But they, too, became overcrowded and Pilgrim State was opened in 1931. By 1954, Kings Park peaked at 9,303 patients and Pilgrim State was the nation’s largest such facility with 13,875 patients, numbers that began falling with the introduction of new drugs to replace such treatments as prefrontal lobotomies and electroshock therapy. 
 In 1953, though, the alleged abuses at Kings Park had prompted an investigation by Dr. Newton J. Bigelow, the state mental hygiene commissioner who had previously worked at Pilgrim State and was among the first psychiatrists to use group therapy and comic books to treat mental illness. But his probe “seems to have died aborning,” the board lamented. 
 “The patients at Kings Park are, for the most part, curable,” the board wrote. “They are not considered dangerous. Well trained, sympathetic attendants to complement the hard work of the doctors and nurses could help to cure these people. Brutality and petty tyranny will only make them worse.” 
 The advent of medications, lawsuits filed by activists, and the growing belief that many patients would be better served by smaller centers led to the depopulation of Kings Park and its eventual closure in 1996, part of a trend of closing big psychiatric hospitals seen nationwide. But the number of smaller community centers never matched the need, which contributed to the phenomenon of mentally ill people living on the streets, swept up and confined in jails and prisons, released back to the streets, and arrested again. 
 It's a vicious cycle that also has escaped a cure. 
 — Michael Dobie <a href="http://twitter.com/mwdobie">@mwdobie,</a>&nbsp;Amanda Fiscina-Wells&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/adfiscina">@adfiscina</a>&nbsp;

The Point

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Hochul's housing plan draws the line from Queens

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<h2> Daily Point </h2> 
<h3> Garden City, housing advocates weigh options </h3> 
 Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to be on Long Island Thursday but there are unlikely to be any public events about her controversial housing plan, which would both encourage and in some ways require municipalities to increase their residential stock. It’s a plan that is stoking attention from advocates and local elected officials alike. 
 At Tuesday night’s Garden City Village board of trustees meeting, the agenda included a discussion of the plan — and what the village could do about it. 
 Trustee Mary Flanagan suggested holding a meeting of community leaders, including those from PTAs, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, local fire departments, and more, to inform these groups about the plan and develop a strategy for fighting it. Her goal would be to have these organizations pass on the information to other residents. 
 “It’s a serious threat to our village and villages all over Long Island,” Flanagan said of the Hochul plan. “The board is united on this, as are the leaders of villages across Nassau County.” 
 Flanagan suggested holding the meeting on March 7, noting that any action has to be taken “quickly.” 
 “The first goal is to have this taken out of the budget,” Flanagan said. 
 The village’s move comes as housing advocates are trying to push Hochul’s plan forward. Housing Help and the Huntington Township Housing Coalition, along with other advocacy groups, planned to hold a rally and news conference Wednesday afternoon at the Huntington Long Island Rail Road station. Housing Help executive director Pilar Moya-Mancera told The Point that she hopes&nbsp;to make the community — especially those struggling to find adequate housing — more aware of the proposals and the need. 
 “Home rule has failed a large group of Long Islanders,” Moya-Mancera said, referencing local zoning laws that often restrict denser and multifamily development. The news conference, she said, will be an opportunity to open the door to elected officials who’ve opposed the plan. 
 “Today I plan on inviting Democrats, Republicans, independents, everybody, to please reach out so we can find some common ground and solve this severe housing crisis,” she said, noting the potential to make changes to Hochul’s plan or find alternative answers. 
 “We just need to find a solution already,” she said. 
 — Randi F. Marshall <a href="http://twitter.com/randimarshall">@RandiMarshall</a> 
<h2> Talking Point </h2> 
<h3> Santos is a punchline in far-right fight </h3> 
 Even an operatic public drama inside an organization known for its politically&nbsp;motivated undercover stings can find its way by association these days into the small, strange world of the fabulistic Rep. George Devolder Santos. 
 This week, lawyer Jenna Ellis, fleetingly famous for her televised role in helping peddle President Donald Trump’s election-fraud hoax, tweeted what she called a “breaking” item. 
 She posted a statement that the board of the nonprofit group, Project Veritas, had issued a statement alleging James O’Keefe — the famous self-described candid-camera “journalist” — “misappropriated HUGE amounts of donor funds for personal use and violated the nonprofit’s bylaws.” 
 Fans of O’Keefe, who has reportedly departed the organization, defended him in strident and condemning style. These included Donald Trump Jr., Steve Bannon and lesser-known figures including Vish Burra, a New Yorker who these days is director of operations at Santos’ Washington, D.C. office. Burra slammed the dissing of O’Keefe, Veritas’&nbsp;star player and founder. 
 The response from Ellis, whose exact role in the controversy is unclear from the Twitter postings, was: “Don’t do this. Wait for the facts. There is a lot more to this, I guarantee you. … Do you care about facts and truth or do you care more about cult personality?” 
 Burra: “I care that @JamesOKeefeIII is an American Hero and I’ll take his word over anyone’s any day.” 
 Ellis: “So is that a no on caring about facts and truth? Fair, for a guy who works for George Santos.” 
 But there’s more. 
 Burra is executive secretary of the New York Young Republican Club, where The Point learned last week Santos remains a member. And the club seems to be carving itself a minor side role in the Veritas blowup. On Tuesday Burra issued an unusual statement that read in part: 
 “After conducting a series of interviews, the Board of Governors of the New York Young Republican Club has learned that Matthew Tyrmand, a member of our Board of Advisors, may have engineered O’Keefe’s ouster on tenuous claims of financial malfeasance.” 
 That’s because Tyrmand is also on the Veritas board. 
 “O’Keefe is a close friend of the Club,” Burra’s statement said, “and Tyrmand serves as a member of the Club’s Board of Advisors. Pending the outcome of an internal investigation, to be conducted by our Board of Governors, Matthew Tyrmand will be suspended from his role.” 
 Santos and Burra aside, all this intramural intrigue has also attracted interest in the local MAGA movement. On his “Loud Majority” podcast, Long Islander Kevin Smith declared: “On this show we are Team James O’Keefe. And as someone who has been betrayed by their friends, I know everything that James is going through.” 
 — Dan Janison <a href="http://twitter.com/danjanison">@Danjanison</a> 
<h2> Pencil Point </h2> 
<h3> Still hovering </h3> 
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 For more cartoons, visit <a href="https://www.newsday.com/opinion/cartoons/national-political-cartoons-newsday-o78euzm7">www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons</a> 
<h2> Final Point </h2> 
<h3> Lafazan gets to work on 2024 </h3> 
 Josh Lafazan has been testing out some political slogans. 
 “Long Island deserves a Congressman who fights for the people, rather than fights to keep himself out of jail,” the Democratic Nassau County legislator wrote in a recent letter to supporters obtained by The Point. 
 “We deserve a Member who passes legislation, not one who couldn’t pass a basic background check,” the letter goes on. 
 The target, of course, is Rep. George Santos, the truth-challenged Republican from CD3. Lafazan lost a Democratic primary in the district last year, but he is now being very vocal about trying again: “I need your help to win,” the letter says. “We’ll need the resources to air commercials, hire staff, put out lawn signs, knock doors, make calls, and feed our (250+) interns.” 
 Lafazan has certainly been busy on the Santos front, filing a statement of 2024 candidacy for CD3 and making multiple Santos-related appearances in recent months. Last week he presented a crowdfunded $27,000 donation to Paws of War, an organization that works with veterans and service dogs — a pointed contrast to the reports of Santos’ fundraising scheme having to do with a disabled Navy veteran’s service dog. 
 Being, as Lafazan puts it, “amongst the loudest critics of George Santos” has certainly gotten him attention, which could accrue benefits in different directions. If Santos lasts all the way to 2024 in office, Lafazan would have a head start in what is sure to be a crowded Democratic primary. If Santos departs office before then and Lafazan isn’t picked by party leaders to run in a special election for CD3, the efforts could boost his reelection for county legislature later this year. 
 Candidates can generally make transfers from their congressional account to their state level or local one, according to the state Board of Elections, which could be helpful in a tight legislative election — or even a primary. Revisions to new maps for county legislative districts could place Lafazan in the same district as fellow Democrat Arnold Drucker, as <a href="https://www.newsday.com/opinion/the-point/the-point-newsday-nassau-county-redistricting-chris-christie-steve-cohen-o7kc32fw">The Point reported Tuesday</a>. 
 — Mark Chiusano <a href="http://twitter.com/mjchiusano">@mjchiusano</a>

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Battle brews over Hochul's housing plan

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<h2> Daily Point </h2> 
<h3> Hochul housing-plan critics look to density numbers </h3> 
 Critics of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing development plan pending in Albany have begun parsing and discussing population numbers in a way intended to dramatize how the proposal could increase the density of some Long Island areas. 
 State Department of Health figures from 2020 show that the state has an average population density of 410.34 people per square mile. In Nassau, it’s 4,749 per square mile — already the highest for any county outside New York City. Westchester is second-highest with 2,242. 
 For the city’s five boroughs, of course, the density is much greater, at a total 27,469 people per square mile. 
 The Hochul plan calls for suburbs within 15 miles of the city’s border to allow an aggregate density of at least 50 housing units per acre within a half-mile of train stations. 
 One amateur wonk who declined to be identified shared this back-of-the-envelope pitch with The Point: “There are 640 acres in a square mile. Let’s figure very conservatively that only one person occupies each unit — though it would really be more. At 50 units per acre, that would work out to 32,000 people per square mile. Look at the number for New York City — they’ve got a population of only 27,469 per square mile.” 
 To be sure, some parts of the city have greater density than either the city average or the possible new zones in Nassau County. In Brooklyn, the population is 36,596 per square mile. That’s 33,224 in the Bronx, and the state’s highest, 71,151, in Manhattan. Queens, however, is 20,472, and Staten Island, 8,263. Densities, of course, vary by community and block as well as by county. 
 The proposed transit-oriented development rules also would affect communities within 30 miles of the city’s border, meaning parts of Suffolk County. In that so-called Tier 2, the zoning would be 30 units per acre, or more than 19,200 people per square mile. As of 2020, by contrast, the countywide population density for Suffolk was 1,618 per square mile. 
 The bottom line is that if Hochul’s TOD plan came to full fruition, communities surrounding Long Island Rail Road stations could become significantly more dense. The comparative numbers might sound alarming in the places affected — which politically would be the point, as legislators who are due to decide the budget examine and circulate them. 
 — Dan Janison <a href="http://twitter.com/danjanison">@Danjanison</a> 
<h2> Talking Point </h2> 
<h3> Housing campaign takes to social media </h3> 
 Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking help from New Yorkers who support her New York Housing Compact. 
 In an email to supporters, Hochul emphasized the need for more housing, saying it would “make life easier and more affordable for New Yorkers.” 
 The email included a link to more information about Hochul’s housing plan, which, she has said, is supposed to create 800,000 new units of housing over the next decade. 
 But it also emphasized ways for New Yorkers to get involved, including a petition for supporters to sign and ways to voice support on social media. 
 “I support the #NYHousingCompact — @GovKathyHochul’s bold strategy to tackle the housing crisis head on and strengthen our communities,” the generated Twitter post said. 
 A quick glance through posts with the hashtag showed a mix of results. Some posted the ready-made support language. Others, however, used the #NYHousingCompact hashtag, and even some of Hochul’s language, to voice their displeasure. 
 “I do not support the #NYHousingCompact- @GovKathyHochul’s horrible strategy to worsen the housing crisis and destroy our communities,” one person wrote on Twitter. 
 — Randi F. Marshall <a href="http://twitter.com/randimarshall">@RandiMarshall</a> 
<h2> Pencil Point </h2> 
<h3> Not so fast </h3> 
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 For more cartoons, visit <a href="https://www.newsday.com/opinion/cartoons/national-political-cartoons-newsday-o78euzm7">www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons</a> 
<h2> Final Point </h2> 
<h3> When one word Is key </h3> 
 If lawmakers and other New Yorkers are to believe the latest survey from Data for Progress, a progressive think tank, voters across New York State — including on Long Island — support Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed Housing Compact. 
 Until they read the actual question. 
 “Would you support or oppose legislation which promotes transit-oriented development around commuter rail stops in New York State?” the poll asks. 
 Data for Progress found that 67% of likely voters statewide and 66% of Long Island likely voters would either “support” or “strongly support” such legislation. The group was quick to share its data on social media, and then Hochul shared it on Twitter, too, arguing that it showed “New Yorkers agree” with her. 
 The problem is in the question itself. 
 Hochul’s budget legislation doesn’t “promote” TOD around train stations. It requires towns and villages to change their zoning around such train stops to accommodate specific levels of density, depending on how far away from the New York City line they are. One word could make a world of difference. 
 — Randi F. Marshall <a href="http://twitter.com/randimarshall">@RandiMarshall</a>

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Hochul's 'dense' housing plan

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Newsday Readers

<h2> Housing and water needs connected </h2> 
 Former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s response to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing plan is spot on [“Hochul’s housing compact,” Opinion, March 3]. 
 As urgent as it is to create affordable housing, Long Island faces a water sustainability threat due to its dependence on the underground aquifer for potable water. As Curran states, over-pumpage of the aquifer has resulted in saltwater intrusion in several locations. 
 This is not NIMBY. It is not political gamesmanship. It is the reality of Long Island’s environmental limitations. Curran’s suggestion to not authorize greater density until we better understand the aquifer’s condition is well taken. 
 The Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor’s report, “Water Supply Sustainability for Hempstead Harbor Communities,” examines the impact of recently constructed, approved and/or proposed multi-unit developments on water districts ringing the harbor. 
 A full buildout of these projects, totaling 2,500 units, would further exacerbate efforts to reduce water pumpage by 15%, as the Department of Environmental Conservation directed in 2016. 
 Long Island needs a regional plan to assess environmental factors necessary to gauge capacity for growth. Water sustainability is key due to its dependence on the sole source aquifer, according to Moody’s Analytics [“Report lists LI fourth in U.S. for climate-change risk,” News, Feb. 28]. 
<h4 data-atex-currentstyle="" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-pstyle="" data-atex-tagstart="0"> &nbsp;— Kay Bromberg, Sea Cliff </h4> 
 The writer is vice president of the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor. 
 I have trouble reconciling the Moody’s Analytics report with the editorial calling for high-density housing on Metropolitan Transportation Authority land [“Use MTA land for more housing,” Editorial, Feb. 26]. 
 Moody’s claims that Long Island is particularly susceptible to drought because it relies on a sole aquifer for water. Additionally, the Citizens Campaign for the Environment asserts that science shows that Long Island is highly vulnerable to coastal flooding and sea-level rise. 
 The social science says we need more affordable housing. The science says Long Island is at great risk for significant climate change events including drought and insufficient water. Extensive residential development will tax our water supply. If we are to believe “science,” this is no longer a game of semantics but an existential threat. 
 Despite massive residential development, Long Island has a dearth of affordable housing. 
 Do we put up thousands of “affordable” residential units on MTA land and allow the state to override local zoning for greater density yields to provide housing, or do we try to save what’s left of our water supply? 
<h4 data-atex-currentstyle="" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-pstyle="" data-atex-tagstart="0"> &nbsp;— Harry Katz, Southold </h4> 
 Buried in the Moody’s article is a brief concern of our island’s water supply. The aquifer is overused during the warm months for green grass, which is poisoned year-round with herbicides, etc. We can stop our wasteful lawn watering. 
 I have had zoysia for 90% of my lawn for 20 years. In the past four years, I have watered nine times. Zoysia does not need herbicides or fungicides, and my mower’s mulcher replaces fertilizer. Planting drought-resistant shrubs and flowers helps, too. 
 &nbsp;— Art James, Massapequa Park 
 Oyster Bay Town officials mailed a flyer about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing plan stating: “Higher taxes and overcrowded classrooms are coming to you!” claiming higher property taxes would destroy our lifestyle with overcrowded classrooms, strained police, damaged environment, etc. 
 In Farmingdale, we have beautiful high-density apartments and condominiums along the railroad, populated mostly by people 55 and older and young childless singles. They are not overcrowding classrooms and reduce property taxes by spreading the cost of education among those without children. The new buildings have improved a dilapidated area. New businesses and restaurants have improved life in Farmingdale. 
 Oyster Bay officials’ NIMBY attitude is parochial, and they fail to offer housing solutions that will help the region. 
 &nbsp;— Joanne Fanizza, Farmingdale 
 Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing plan builds on great ideas that have been talked about on Long Island for years. I appreciate the editorial highlighting how MTA land at LIRR stations can provide homes for thousands of Long Islanders. 
 In 2010, the Long Island Index and Regional Plan Association’s “Places to Grow” report found 8,300 acres of undeveloped land and surface parking lots within a half-mile of downtown centers and LIRR stations could provide up to 90,000 new housing units. 
 We commend the governor on attempting to tackle entrenched barriers that have prevented home and economic opportunities for so many Long Islanders. We also believe refinements can further enhance intended outcomes and address legitimate concerns: 
 Reward the pioneer communities that have done their fair share in already creating diversified home options — villages like Patchogue and Hempstead. Consider decreasing their 3% requirement. 
 Incentivize hitting the growth targets with increased funding to local governments — give local discretion on how to use funds to meet the governor’s housing goals. 
 These refinements will break down our persistent economic and housing inequalities. 
 &nbsp;— Gwen O’Shea, Farmingdale 
 The writer is CEO of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island.

Letters

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Long Island housing and water needs connected

Housing and water needs connected

<h2> Housing more folks: How to deal with it? </h2> 
 Richard Murdocco’s essay was on point [“Hochul must get local input on housing,” Opinion, Feb. 7]. These proposed housing sites are nothing more than points on a map drawn by a bureaucrat in a faraway office. 
 Gov. Kathy Hochul’s ideas will help house the influx of migrants. It takes money, though. 
 Are there any provisions for infrastructure? No. The island is only so big, ocean to sound, and resources are limited. Aquifers are compromised, and where is the garbage going to go? 
 Many roads already can’t handle the traffic. People and businesses are fleeing to places like Florida and Texas, where living costs are lower. 
 Are there going to be jobs for all the people coming here? Who’s going to pay for turning a volunteer fire department into a paid one, with equipment to reach the upper floors? Will we need more police, hospitals and medical staff or sewage plants? 
 Will it take a massive tax increase to pay for all this? If it does, we are right back where we started from. 
 This is not a well-thought-out plan. Leave our suburbia alone. 
 — Michael Appice, Westbury 
 We keep reading about the need for more affordable and low-income housing on Long Island [“LI housing shortage a problem for all,” Opinion, Jan. 19]. We hear nonstop cries from politicians and builders for increasing population density that supposedly will fix all our problems. 
 I have another take on this “crisis” rhetoric and a better path for Long Island to follow. Long Island was a wonderful escape from the already crowded boroughs of New York. But builders and politicos, spurred on by greed and power, encouraged the rapid growth of Long Island. One wonders if downsizing might be the better solution. 
 Ultimately, more people require more services — more schools, parks, infrastructure, police because of more crime, trash, public works. Get my point? It means ever-increasing school populations and taxes. 
 All this growth is a dream for politicians and builders. But what about the people who live here now? 
 Stop looking for ways to jam more people and industry onto this tiny island and the cost of living will go down. 
 All the required services far exceed the revenue brought in. Anyone see a balanced budget lately? It is strictly a power play at the expense and inconvenience of the small guy. 
 — Charles Sabbiondo, Wantagh 
<h3> MTA hike — LI should be a separate state </h3> 
 Long Island should secede from New York State. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll tax increase is the straw that breaks the camel’s back on Long Island “MTA payroll tax push irks Long Island riders,” News, Feb. 9]. Long Islanders should begin to explore and execute a plan to secede from the mother ship. 
 No disrespect intended, but Long Island has nothing in common with the five boroughs, Westchester and upstate New York. We get less back on our financial contribution to the state and can better manage our own finances and infrastructure. 
 We can turn the Long Island Rail Road into an Orient Express-style train system for all Long Islanders that would be a model for the nation at a lower cost and still work closely with our union friends and workers. 
 Long Island has a strong economy, surrounded by one of the most beautiful shorelines in the country. We have rural areas, boater- and entertainment-friendly communities, fine wineries, the Hamptons, and all the pretty working-class neighborhoods scattered throughout this special island. 
 We are better off on our own and immediately would benefit financially by working together with Washington. — Steve Louro, Nissequogue 
 Stuffed animals aren’t replacements for pets 
 What a sad commentary “Animatronic therapy,” Our Towns, Feb. 6]. We need to live in reality. It is fine to have stuffed animals to cuddle that make real live sounds, but it can never replace a live dog or cat that gives back love. As any child who loves animals will tell you, a dog or cat toy is not the same as an interacting real pet. We all need something to cuddle. Maybe someday they’ll have make-believe husbands and wives. 
 Giving these folks a stuffed pet is fine, but combine it with visitation of dogs and cats from an animal shelter, not these animatronic pets. There is nothing better than the real thing. 
 When we age and have our intellect intact, we should be treated as adults, not enacting a reversal to childhood. This is just my opinion as a psychology major years ago and a dog trainer. 
 — Julie L. Newman, West Babylon

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Housing on Long Island and the MTA fare hike

LI housing and the MTA fare hike

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<h2> </h2> 
 Gov. Kathy Hochul is misguided in her inflexible yet sprawling plan for more housing in New York State [“Gov, Republican pols clash over LI housing,” News, Jan. 22]. Her process for achieving 800,000 new housing units (where did that number come from?) is tyrannical on two fronts: 
 1) Establishing a new, unaccountable state board to override local jurisdiction, which should be rejected outright by state legislators. 
 2) Demanding rigid local participation requirements to attain housing growth in every community, which needs nuance and variables. 
 Pursuing housing growth at 3% downstate of existing stock and 1% upstate is also too simplistic and arbitrary. Within New York City, for example, Staten Island cannot safely absorb the same growth rates as the other four boroughs due to its much smaller mass transit infrastructure. The same is true for Long Island, which also cannot cope with the water pollution ruining its aquifers — its only source of fresh water — from building thousands of additional housing units. 
 And while transit-based housing growth has merit, its proposed half-mile parameters from all Metropolitan Transportation Authority train stations is another non-starter. Overall, the governor’s housing plan is less than half-baked and not worthy of consideration. 
 &nbsp;— Raymond Roel,&nbsp;East Northport 
 Planners have long argued that Long Island’s lack of housing affordability and inventory are the region’s greatest policy failures. But in addressing this, the editorial board is correct in warning state policymakers from engaging in an overreaching top-down approach that ignores the many nuances of Long Island communities. 
 To successfully cultivate more housing development, the state must engage with those individual areas that are most appropriate for growth — measured not only by the local political willingness to build, but those with the infrastructure to accommodate further development. 
 While our region isn’t known for its flexibility, we have evolved before. Age-restricted housing for seniors that was shunned decades ago is now more commonplace, a feat accomplished without the state heavily intervening to supersede local land-use policy. 
 As housing markets continue to be out of reach for the next generation, we will see localities become more adaptive and accommodating as a matter of not only financial and political necessity — but the region’s survival. 
 &nbsp;— Richard Murdocco, Commack 
 The dichotomy of more housing versus less density is not new and not exclusive to Long Island [“Poll: LI must add to affordable housing,” News, Jan. 19]. Certainly, a contributing factor has been more than two generations of suburbia, i.e., single-family homes, being promoted as the “American Dream.” This is likely what drew Steven Schopp, quoted in the article, to Long Island. He expected progress and forward movement, but there was none. 
 The political will went with the 27% of respondents who basically still favor that 1950s and ’60s vision of suburbia. It’s time for a new “American Dream.” 
 Another factor is that Long Island’s geography won’t allow any further expansion of housing options without a corresponding increase in density. We have a finite amount of land. 
 It’s also not exclusive to Long Island. A friend from here retired a decade ago to outside of Wilmington, North Carolina, and now complains that it, too, is being overbuilt. 
 Other factors exist, but there seems a distinct lack of political will to make any bold changes needed to help this problem. I fear this will be the case for at least another generation. 
 &nbsp;— Denis O’Driscoll, Westbury 
 Promoting expansion of new housing is admirable and necessary, but Gov. Kathy Hochul may be better served by creating a program not structured as a state mandate. Policy by fiat rarely goes over well. 
 Perhaps we should let towns develop and submit housing development plans that balance the needs and characteristics of communities with the goal of expanding housing. 
 These plans would better reflect local situations and may go beyond changes in zoning regulations by identifying other obstacles to be addressed. 
 Long Island needs a range of housing to keep young people here and support vibrant communities, especially in the age of remote working. 
 &nbsp;— Gerry Ring, Old Bethpage 
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<h4 data-atex-currentstyle="" data-atex-mc="0" data-atex-pstyle="" data-atex-tagstart="0"> </h4> 
 Here are ideas for community leaders from a beaten-down community housing advocate and resident: 
 The housing law mandating 10% set aside for new affordable housing units should be increased. 
 The state needs to lead by creating more reasonable incentives. 
 Create more community involvement by looking to proven models of housing affordability like community land trusts to empower and encourage universities to work more with communities on this issue. 
 &nbsp;— Chuck Gosline, Farmingdale

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Hochul housing plan has little merit

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Hochul's housing plan for LI

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