Urgent safety issues demand action from Albany now. Let NYC make basement apartments safe and legal for residents and struggling homeowners.

No more thoughts and prayers.

NYC Base Campaign

Today, as New York State Senate & NY Assembly Majority close in on housing negotiations, this podcast shares the harrowing stories of basement tenants & homeowners who barely survived Ida's floods—and those who didn't.

Preventing these tragedies is up to Albany.

fi2w.org/rising-floods-…

NYCEM attended a rally for Basement Apartments Safe for Everyone at the New York State Capitol.

Legalizing and regulating basement apartments is key to making them safer for New Yorkers and avoiding tragic loss of lives like what we saw in Hurricane Ida.

'The reality is there are tens of thousands of New Yorkers living in these [basement] apartments. We're trying to create a path to legalizing units that are safe & habitable. To give the City the authority to regulate its own housing stock.' Harvey Epstein
ny1.com/nyc/queens/ins…

. #AARPNY ’s Kristen McManus, staff & volunteers joined NYC Base Campaign & advocates today at NYS Capitol to push for legalizing basement apartments in NYC so older adults have a safe place to live near friends & family caregivers. Harvey Epstein NYS Senator Brian Kavanagh 卡范納

Rallying w/ NYC Base Campaign CUFFH Zach Iscol 🗽🍎 Make the Road NY 🦋 aarpny Chhaya CDC Pratt Center Citizens Housing & Planning Council (CHPC) Cypress Hills LDC to #LegalizeBasementApartments in this year’s budget. We lost 44 basement apartment residents in Hurricane Sandy & 11 in Hurricane Ida. How many more tragedies will it take?

We are in Albany today calling on New York State Senate and NY Assembly Majority to pass #safeNYCBasements in the budget!

Thank you to Harvey Epstein & NYS Senator Brian Kavanagh 卡范納 for leading the charge and to all the supporters joining us today to fight for safe and affordable housing

We should not be able to copy & paste year-old statements, but that's how little progress Albany has made on our housing crisis.

The legislature still has time to do the right thing and pass #SafeNYCbasements in the budget this year.

A Flood Watch kicks in for NYC at 1:00pm and runs through 7:00pm tonight. Periods of torrential rain are expected, and localized flooding is possible throughout the area as a result. It is not going to be a fun afternoon.

Introducing our 2024 State Policy Priorities:

✅Use our 💵 to meet actual needs, e.g.:
➡️Emergency preservation funds for affordable housing with rent arrears
➡️ #HAVP
❌Tax giveaways for luxury housing
❌Insurance discrimination in affordable housing

ICYMI: legislation to make basement apartments safer remains stalled in Albany, despite urgency and broad support. This Gothamist piece is a great explainer on why our NYC Base Campaign partners keep fighting for basement legalization—and who's in the way. gothamist.com/news/nyc-basem…

Two messages coming from legislators in this piece:

(1) we need more than this legislation
(2) we are holding this legislation hostage as we negotiate other issues

(1) I understand. (2) no. This is a bill to make people safe where they already live.

gothamist.com/news/nyc-basem…

Oh, and a third message coming from legislators:

(3) I'd be ok with this as long as we can ensure safety

Exactly! Under State law today, all the City can do for 'safety' is kick thousands people out of their homes! This legislation would enable units to be made safe and legal.

'“There are actual human beings that do live in these [basement and cellar] 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,' said Rima Begum of BASE member organization Chhaya CDC

The future of a plan to bring more illegal New York City basement apartments up to code could depend on whether Gov. Hochul and state lawmakers can reach a wide-ranging deal on housing policy — a major obstacle that’s proven elusive so far. gothamist.com/news/nyc-basem…

The future of the push to bring NYC basement apartments out of the shadows and up to code will likely depend on whether Gov. Hochul and state lawmakers can end their more-than-year-long gridlock on housing policy.

David Brand and I take a look:

gothamist.com/news/nyc-basem…

A plan to let NYC legalize and regulate basement apartments is caught up in Albany's housing morass. But supporters say lives and livelihoods are at stake

with Jon Campbell for @gothamist-WNYC 🎙
gothamist.com/news/nyc-basem…

As Governor Kathy Hochul prepares to unveil her New York budget this morning, a look at her State of the State last week when it comes to housing plans, via Emma Whitford & Christopher Janaro: bit.ly/3RV7dS9

BASE is pleased to see that the Governor will again support legislation to empower New York City to make basement and cellar apartments safe through legalization. Our statement on the #SafeNYCbasements proposal in today's #SOTS2024 :

last year, I wrote about Hochul not including the word 'cellar' in her proposal to legalize basement units. It's in there this year:

citylimits.org/2023/03/13/in-…