A comprehensive agreement on housing policy, a significant challenge that has so far proven difficult, between Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislators may determine the fate of a plan to bring more illegal New York City basement flats out of hiding and up to code.
Hochul’s proposed $233 billion state budget contains a provision that would enable the city to establish safety regulations for basements and cellars and exempt landlords from fines if they agree to renovate illegal underground dwellings to code, including numerous exits and other safety features.
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Mayor Eric Adams, who has made housing a priority, especially in the outlying boroughs, supports the proposal.
Following the September 2021 hurricane Ida, which caused 11 fatalities in New York City basement apartments, state and local officials recommended new regulations that would allow the city to control thousands of underground residences and avert another disaster.
Officials claim that thousands of existing units remain hidden due to onerous regulations, such as the complete ban on permitted basement flats in two-family buildings. However, prior attempts have failed, and the most recent drive appears to be dependent on more significant adjustments to housing policy.
Leading legislators in Albany are certain that they will not be implementing housing policy piecemeal. The basement plan remains mired in a housing impasse that has been going on for over a year between Democratic lawmakers and Hochul.
“The [housing] conversation, as I said, has to be comprehensive,” reporter Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader of the Virginia Senate, recently said. “There are a lot of elements that we all are talking about, and I’m looking forward to really extending the conversation so that we can do a myriad of things, including tenant protections.”
Throughout the five boroughs, basement flats are common, particularly in lower-density areas like eastern Queens.
Over 376,000 modest residences in the city have cellars or basements, according to the Pratt Center for Community Development and the charity Chhaya Community Development Corporation. They calculate that around 500,000 residents of New York City, primarily in neighborhood districts with a high concentration of immigrants and people of color, may be residing in such subpar housing units.
The argument for legalizing basement apartments is that they are less safe, put renters in risk, and subject owners to large financial penalties in the event that something goes wrong if they remain hidden.
“There are actual human beings that do live in these units and it is the government’s responsibility to figure out how do they live there safely and how do we also support the homeowners,” stated Rima Begum, an assistant director and organizer at Chhaya, a group that promotes the economic and housing rights of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean people in New York.
With her sister and brother-in-law, Begum purchased a single-family home in the flood-prone area of Hollis, Queens, six years ago. She later finished renovating the basement, adding a kitchen, a second escape, heat, and a separate boiler room.
However, apartments are still prohibited under the city’s current regulations, which compel owners to adhere to stringent Department of Buildings-approved standards for light, ventilation, and ceiling height.
Begum claimed that despite this, almost every house on her street and the blocks around it continues to rent out their basements, typically for less money than they would in most other parts of the city. She claimed that the $1,100 monthly rent her family receives for their two-bedroom apartment goes toward paying their mortgage and property taxes.
However, there are differences in terms of circumstances, safety measures, and flooding dangers across houses and even blocks.
Begum saw possible basement flats with bars over the windows or tiny windows that would prohibit residents from fleeing in an emergency while strolling through the area in late January. A woman and her adult son drowned in their basement apartment during Hurricane Ida, she claimed, highlighting the seriousness of basement safety. The incident happened only a block away.
In addition to the hazards to their safety, occupants of unlawful underground dwellings are also denied several of their rights.
Records from the agency show that about 1,000 basement flats received vacate orders from the buildings department last year.
Since the beginning of 2023, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development has evicted 257 units for “illegal occupancy,” many of which were in basements, according to statistics.
When that happens, tenants may find themselves homeless right away.
Legislators in the state were considering other options, such as Hochul’s idea, which would not instantly legalize subterranean dwellings. Rather, a bill supported by the governor would give New York City the authority to enact its laws and assist homeowners in more reasonably updating their apartments to comply with the code.
Even in cases where no more physical room is being added, current rules require property owners to abide by stringent zoning requirements, which can make it almost hard to legitimize basement homes.
Some regulations require owners to raise ceiling heights by excavating foundations or adding parking spaces; these costs render legalization unaffordable for the majority of interested homeowners, according to a 2023 assessment from the NGO Citizens Housing and Planning Council.
Reporters were given access to Hochul’s subterranean housing idea, which is intended to be flexible and straightforward. She stated that if not, such a scheme may experience a “death by a thousand nicks.”
“I want to work with the Legislature to identify the barriers [to basement apartments],” She announced this during a separate press conference in the suburbs of Albany.
Hochul stated that while preserving tenant safety precautions, she intends to greatly increase access to legitimate basement flats. She stated, “I’m trying to enhance the availability of housing in the state of New York, so I think it could be a huge, tremendous change.”
In accordance with Byor’s plan, landlords who unlawfully rent out basement or cellar flats would be granted amnesty and be exempt from any fines that may have accrued, if they agree to turn their property into a legitimate residence.
If they had to be evicted during the rehabilitation process, the plan would also provide the current residents with the first option to rent their remodeled, legally permitted basement flats.
Under the governor’s idea, local authorities would be able to suggest new regulations allowing safety checks and conversions, probably after a public review process.
“The bill is extremely important because it will have a huge impact for what we estimate are tens of thousands of tenants during a housing crisis and with new migrants coming to the city,” stated Sylvia Morse, the program manager for policies at the Pratt Center. “But this piece of legislation itself is pretty narrow.”
Lawmakers in the state would have to approve Hochul’s basement proposal. Furthermore, there has been disagreement on housing among the state’s elected authorities for a large portion of the past 13 months.
Democratic state senator from Queens, Joseph Addabbo, whose district includes Kew Gardens and Ozone Park, expressed considerable discomfort about the idea.
Even if the state approves and the city successfully transforms hundreds of basement units, Addabbo expressed doubt that the city would have enough staff on hand to thoroughly audit the upgrades and determine whether they are keeping renters safe.
“That would be an inspection of every house that basically makes the application to become legal,” he said. “That’s a lot of work. That’s a lot of inspectors. If that can be done, and it’s done in a safe way, I would embrace the theory. Right now, I can’t.”
Although there are some current state and local programs that offer loans and incentives to develop basement flats and other additional housing units, Hochul’s budget does not specifically contain new cash to establish the basement apartment program.
Lawmakers claim that more money is required.
“Making sure that all of those pieces fit together and result in many, many houses being able to legalize their basement apartments is going to take a lot of coordination and a lot of work,” Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, whose Queens district suffered greatly from Hurricane Ida in 2021, made stated. “I am more than happy to help chime in, but I want to make sure that the city and the state are working and not just throwing the ball at each other.”
Cruz brought up a 2019 pilot program that New York City has started to encourage Brooklyn residents to update their basement flats. The scope of the difficulties was made evident by that initiative, which was designed to assist forty East New York property owners.
Just two homeowners remained involved in the project five years after it began due to excessive expenses (an average of $250,000 per property) and stringent guidelines that drove off several potential participants.
Tens of thousands of basement apartments remain unoccupied by renters around the city, whether safety measures are implemented.
According to Mohammed Rahman, a real estate agent in Queens and beyond, the apartments are a major source of owner income and inexpensive housing. Rahman deals with renters, landlords, and purchasers. To get around the ban on below-grade flats, some purchasers relocate into the basements and rent out the remaining floors, according to Rahman. Others purchase a house and rely on subterranean revenue to pay their property taxes and mortgage.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s legal or not, people are going to do it,” he noted.
