What Happened This Week in NYC Housing? Aug. 8, 2025

Each Friday, City Limits rounds up the latest news on housing, land use and homelessness. Catch up on what you might have missed here.

Flood damage in Woodside, Queens, following Hurricane Ida in 2021. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Welcome to “What Happened This Week in NYC Housing?” where we compile the latest local news about housing, land use and homelessness.

Know of a story we should include in next Friday’s roundup? Email us.

ICYMI, from City Limits:

There are still four months left in this year’s hurricane season, and forecasts say the Atlantic basin will face “above normal” storm activity. Here’s how homeowners and renters can protect their assets.

A new set of City Council bills aims to better protect tenants displaced by fires and other emergencies, including a requirement that the city ensure their temporary housing placements are near their homes.

New York City announced a new set of fair housing goals to make neighborhoods more accessible. They include a program to encourage New Yorkers living in areas prone to severe flooding to voluntarily move, and another to legalize more housing with shared kitchens or common facilities.

“My Family Built a Life in NYC. Today’s Zoning Wouldn’t Allow It,” writes Ryder Kessler, co-executive director of Abundance New York, as he argues in favor of the city’s plan to rezone Midtown South to allow for new housing.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

City inspections of buildings’ cooling towers “sank to a record post-pandemic low” in recent months, ahead of the current Legionnaires outbreak in Harlem that’s killed three people, according to Gothamist.

The New York Times previews an exhibit on the history of NYC rent strikes and tenant organizing, opening this weekend at Museum of the City of New York.

The City Council’s Land Use Committee approved a rezoning plan to spur new housing in Midtown South (and will include $122 million to support businesses in the Garment District), amNY reports. The proposal heads to a full Council vote soon.

Landlords in the Bronx whose buildings are made up of all (or mostly all) rent regulated units are worried about Democratic Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to freeze rents, according to The City.

When Gov. Kathy Hochul took office, she promised to build or preserve 100,000 units of affordable housing across the state within five years. City & State takes a look at her progress.

Veterans will get a preference for a larger share of affordable homes assigned through the city’s housing lotteries, BK Reader reports.

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed charges against two people in Queens accused of dead theft, the first under a new law that established the offense as a crime that the AG’s office can prosecute, according to ABC News.

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