Taylor Rivers remembers scrolling through real estate listings on her phone as a high schooler in Brooklyn, dreaming of the apartments she would rent or the homes she could buy once she started working.<\/p>\n
Now, at 24, she says those teenage dreams feel like fantasies. She\u2019s struggling to find a place she can afford in the city she grew up in while earning $34,000 as a home health aide and part-time nanny.<\/p>\n
New York State of Unaffordability<\/p>\n
WNYC and Gothamist are publishing a series of podcasts and articles on the race for governor ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3. Upstate public radio stations are contributing to the series through the New York Public Radio News Network.<\/p>\n
Look for further coverage throughout October.<\/p>\n
Previous installments:<\/p>\n
She lives in her grandfather\u2019s basement in East New York and said she\u2019s thinking of moving away from the five boroughs to somewhere more affordable \u2014 like Texas, or, more likely, New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ll have my keys. I’ll be able to sleep in peace, and say, \u2018Hey, you know what? I can actually afford the day off to sit in bed and do nothing because I know there’s food in my fridge, my rent is paid, my phone is on, my Wi-Fi is on and I got everything I want,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s in New York, or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
An untold number of New Yorkers are making similar calculations, putting housing affordability squarely on the ballot in the governor’s race. New York\u2019s population decreased by about 200,000 people between 2020 and 2025, following steady increases over the preceding decade, according to U.S. Census data<\/a>. The 1% population decline means more people are now moving out of the city and state than moving in. Many low- and middle-income New Yorkers who have left the five boroughs cite housing costs as the main driver. And a Quinnipiac poll<\/a> earlier this month listed the cost of living as voters\u2019 biggest concern ahead of Election Day.<\/p>\n This is the fourth installment of “New York State of Unaffordability,” a podcast by WNYC and Gothamist. The four-part series explores the very different ways Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, her Republican challenger in the November election, say they\u2019ll make the state more affordable.<\/p>\n Brooklyn native Taylor Rivers has an apartment budget of $1,200 a month. She said she has struggled to find a place she can afford.<\/p>\n David Brand<\/p>\n New York’s housing costs have long outpaced the rest of the country, but rents and home sale prices have only soared over the past decade.<\/p>\n The two candidates have far different approaches to the problems pricing out longtime New Yorkers or discouraging others from moving to the state.<\/p>\n For Hochul, the answer is simple: \u201cBuild, baby, build.\u201d The incumbent Democrat has made housing construction a top priority during her five years in office and says increasing the supply of new homes is the only way to meet demand for housing and curb rising costs. She has championed plans to reduce environmental reviews, streamline permitting processes, issue more state funding for affordable housing and change local zoning rules. In 2023, she proposed housing construction mandates for every town in the state, but the plan faced some pushback from local lawmakers and she withdrew it.<\/p>\n Hochul has not revived her push for mandates, focusing instead on loosening regulations and encouraging cities to embrace more development.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to build more housing,\u201d she told Gothamist in an interview earlier this year. \u201cWe have lacked the ambition to do this in our state for decades and decades.\u201d<\/p>\n A lack of housing has been acutely felt in New York City. Just 1.4% of all apartments are vacant, according to the city\u2019s most recent housing survey. A recent report from the city\u2019s housing agency finds the city needs 700,000 new homes over the next decade<\/a> to keep up with demand and expected population growth.<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul spars with her Republican opponent Bruce Blakeman at an October gubernatorial debate.<\/p>\n Anna Connors – Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Blakeman has rarely focused on housing on the campaign trail, except to criticize Hochul for rising home costs during her tenure while simultaneously taking credit for increasing the value of his constituents\u2019 property in Nassau County. Median home prices in that part of Long Island have gone from about $750,000 in October 2020 to over $960,000 today, according to Federal Reserve data<\/a> mirroring inflated prices across the region.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m proud of the fact that I created that wealth for your family,\u201d Blakeman said at the gubernatorial candidates\u2019 lone debate earlier this month.<\/p>\n He has offered few housing policy details, but told Gothamist in August that he would focus on attracting more people to upstate cities, like Syracuse.<\/p>\n “We’ve got to get these cities back up on their feet and make sure that they become economic areas where people will want to live,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cYou might get the kid from Queens, but you also might get somebody who’s living out in a rural area that wants to be in an urban environment. You might get someone who’s in a suburban area.\u201d<\/p>\n