New Group to Raise Money and Back Pro-Housing Candidates in New York

Housing advocates in New York have created a super PAC that aims to spend tens of thousands of dollars to help elect political candidates who welcome development in their districts.

The group will also seek to defeat candidates it believes are not doing enough to support housing construction.

The super PAC, Abundant New York, is the electoral arm of Open New York, a nonprofit group formed in 2016 that advocates more development. The PAC is a more aggressive attempt by the group to make politicians feel consequences for not doing enough to address a worsening housing crisis.

The formation of Abundant New York comes as a housing shortage continues to fuel an affordability crisis both in New York City and across the state. Both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams are attempting to pass legislation that would make it easier to develop, after lawmakers in Albany failed to push through major housing legislation last session.

The problem remains dire: A recent New York City housing survey found that in 2023, only 1.4 percent of homes were available to rent, the lowest such number in more than 50 years. The vacancy rate was even lower for cheaper apartments.

The creation of Abundant New York is also another sign that housing politics in the state are shifting. Blocking development used to be an easy political win in some neighborhoods, where residents, worried about the changes that come with more density, are often able to organize quickly to lobby local politicians to preserve the status quo.