In February, when Governor Kathy Hochul announced the first twenty Pro-Housing Communities as part of her long-term strategy to support local efforts to build more housing statewide, Hudson was not among them. Today, Mayor Kamal Johnson announced that the City of Hudson has now been granted that designation. The following press release was issued by the mayor's office this afternoon.
We are excited to announce that the City of Hudson has been designated a Pro-Housing Community by New York’s Pro-Housing Community Program.
As a certified Pro-Housing Community, Hudson is now eligible to apply for various discretionary funding programs with up to $650 million in funding available.
The Pro-Housing Program is part of Governor Hochul’s housing policy to reward local governments that are working hard to address New York’s severe lack of housing across income levels.
Hudson qualified for the program by increasing residential building permit stock by over one percent in the past three years. Projects like the first phase of the Depot District development of sixty-three apartments have contributed to this growth. The Hudson Common Council also passed a Pro-Housing Resolution that shows the City’s support for taking positive steps to help alleviate the housing crisis.
Since taking office in 2020, housing has been a focus of Mayor Johnson’s administration. With the support of the Common Council and Housing Justice Director, initiatives to stabilize and increase housing have included creating the Hudson Roots emergency rental assistance program, creating the Hudson Housing Trust Fund, initiating affordable housing development on City-owned land, and managing the City’s first low-income homeowner rehab program. While these initiatives have been successful in helping some residents stay safely housing and to create a pipeline of new development, the high prices and lack of housing in Hudson remain dire. This Pro-Housing designation shows the commitment of Hudson to continue pursuing policies and programs to increase housing options, especially for low- and moderate- income residents.
One wonders what this Pro-Housing thingy has to say about the 25% of Hudson's housing stock not being available to primary residents but ready to serve short-term renting visitors.
ReplyDeleteThey probably have no comment since why would they comment on a totally made up statistic. We have a STR law in Hudson that's pretty restrictive. Why don't you get involved with Greenport and help them pass a law about it since they have none, and leave Hudson to Hudson residents?
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