Governor Hochul: “This city is our economic engine. I want to make sure that it is more affordable. It's all about affordability… We have said it comes down to one simple thing - building more housing will drive down the cost of housing.”

Hochul: “I will be the person who works with you, who works with anyone who believes in this city, and is willing to break down and work past all the naysayers and those who say it could not be done.”

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and New York City Department of City Planning Director and City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick celebrated the passage of “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” the most pro-housing zoning proposal in New York City history. As the city confronts a generational housing crisis with a 1.4 percent rental vacancy rate, the citywide rezoning will enable the creation of 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years and invest $5 billion, which includes $1 billion in state funding, towards critical infrastructure updates and housing. The City of Yes proposal alone exceeds all the housing created from rezonings during any mayoral administration of the last 50 years, including all of the 12 years of the Bloomberg administration and all eight years of the de Blasio administration.

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

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

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

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

Yes! That is the word of the day. And I could not be prouder to be here with you, Mayor, your entire team, your First Deputy Mayor and everyone who put their heart and soul into this effort. And I want to thank the City Council and Speaker Adams for doing what the people of this city need and have long awaited for, and that's real leadership working together.

It was two years ago this month, Mayor, when we sat on a stage and unveiled our “New New York” initiative. Where we said, even as we were coming out of the throes of COVID and there was a lot of uncertainty - people were not coming back to the city, our subway ridership was down, crime was up, there was a sense of malaise - and we said no, we can re-imagine this city by building more housing, making New York City, and in certain areas like Midtown, 24/7 cities, but we need to have the courage to power forward and get the changes that have been talked about for decades.

But nobody was able to get over the finish line. We had to go back to Albany. That was the year I first unveiled my housing initiative. This year we were able to get the most comprehensive statewide housing plan in over 50 years. And parts of that allowed the city to be unleashed and to have no barriers to make the changes that they needed to do to finally answer the call - do we have the ambition, the desire, to ensure that everyone who wants to live in this great city can find a home they can afford?

And I'm talking about people who deserve this. Our young families, who know there's a great quality of life here, who may have gone to school here, who want to stay here, but have been blocked out of housing and high rents because of a lack of supply. Or the first responders and the teachers and the city workers who want to be here, but are being priced out as well. Or senior citizens who want to grow old in the neighborhood they grew up in, and no longer can afford to live here. They all deserved bold action, and they waited far too long.

But the day of waiting is over. We said in the State of New York, we will be your partner, Mayor, because we care so deeply about every single part of our state. But this city is our economic engine. I want to make sure that it is more affordable. It's all about affordability. And the biggest expense anyone has is their rent or their mortgage payment, if they're even lucky enough to have a home.

We have said it comes down to one simple thing - building more housing will drive down the cost of housing. And the decades of people saying, “We cannot do this. It's too hard,” and our people going to other cities and other states because they had the bold ambition to build, that era is over.

And Mayor, when you said you needed $1 billion to get it over the finish line - I will tell you this, because I'm so committed to building housing in our city and our state - you actually had me at hello. So, I will be the person who works with you, who works with anyone who believes in this city, and is willing to break down and work past all the naysayers and those who say it could not be done.

To all of our great housing advocates, you've been with me as well. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for having the courage to do what others have not dared to do before. And that is finally to, once and for all, say yes. And I thank everybody involved in this. I've got a couple things I've got to get to, Mayor. But thank you.

Thank you, everybody, for all your work. It's incredible. Congratulations.