421-a Benefits Suspended for Failure to Comply

Property owners face 421-a suspension for failure to submit Final Certificates of Eligibility. On March 9, 2018, Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer and Department of Finance Commissioner Jacques Jiha announced the suspension of 421-a benefits to more than 1,700 property owners. The decision to suspend benefits is part of the Housing Preservation and Development and Department of Finance’s initiative to ensure that properties comply with the 421-a application rules. Currently, there is a … <Read More>


HPD Proposes to Implement Extension of Existing 421-a Affordable Housing Tax Abatement Program

HPD brought charges of tenant harassment against an Aimco-owned building in the Upper West Side. Image credit: HPD

The “421-a Extended Affordability Program Rules” would provide a 10 to 15 year extension to eligible buildings enrolled in the program prior to its expiration. On March 14, 2016, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development proposed two agency rules to extend the 421-a real property tax exemption program for those who already had been benefiting from the program prior to its expiration in June 2015. The State authorized HPD to promulgate the new rules … <Read More>


City Council Holds Oversight Hearing on 421-a Program

HPD Commissioner Been, others testify on effectiveness of the program.  On January 29, 2015 the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings held an oversight hearing on the 421-a tax benefit program. The program, established in 1971 by the New York State Legislature, was designed to spur residential development of underused land by granting a property tax reduction to developers for a period of ten to twenty-five years, with an objective of increasing affordable housing … <Read More>


New York State Assembly Housing Committee Chair Keith Wright Proposes Bill to Subsidize Affordable and Senior Housing

The bill seeks to fill the gap left open by the expiration of 421-a, the decades-old tax exemption program that expired on January 1, 2016.  On March 15, 2016, New York State Assembly Housing Committee Chair Keith Wright, who represents Manhattan, introduced Assembly bill A9537, which would provide for new, taxpayer-funded affordable housing subsidies and job training programs. If enacted, the bill would incentivize the construction of affordable housing and affordable senior housing through subsidies, … <Read More>