Written by Welcome Home Westchester Steering Committee members: Tim Foley and Michael N. Romita |  Featured on Lohud. In her executive budget, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed streamlined, as-of-right zoning legislation for both accessory dwelling units and transit-oriented development.  The bills were criticized by many quarters as an assault on local control and they were pulled.  Withdrawal […]

As with last week’s public hearing for the New York State Assembly Delegation, today’s Senate budget hearing showed that support is strong for modest tools that could make a big difference in addressing our housing shortage. Nearly a dozen people cited providing more housing as a top concern, with many of them explicitly supporting the Governor’s […]

The BRI and Welcome Home Westchester are committed to helping solve the housing crisis in Westchester. Along with community leaders from Westchester County Association (WCA), Nonprofit Westchester (NPW), the Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley (CIC), and the Hudson Gateway Association of REALTORS, Inc. (HGAR), we urge our government leaders to find solutions […]

Anyone who was expecting to hear a unified voice of Not in My Backyard rejection of the Governor’s proposals around housing, including accessory dwelling units and transit-oriented development, would have been surprised at today’s Westchester Assembly Delegation budget hearing.  At least a dozen speakers spoke in support of more housing choices of all shapes and sizes […]

Governor Hochul’s proposed $25 billion, five-year Housing Plan to preserve 100,000 affordable homes in both urban and rural communities, including 10,000 homes with support services for vulnerable populations, combined with a commitment to property tax relief, could very well be a game- changer for high-cost, high-tax communities within Westchester County. We particularly commend Governor Hochul […]

Below is a statement by Timothy Foley, CEO and Executive Vice President of the Building and Realty Institute, on behalf of the Welcome Home Westchester campaign in reaction to Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget, particularly highlighting how it will affect the housing community. “With her newly released FY2023 Executive Budget, the Governor has shown a commitment […]

The Welcome Home Westchester campaign released its first white paper: The Economic Benefits of Building the Housing We Need  in September 2021.  The white paper reviews data from national economic models, academic research, and local studies to describe in detail how building housing in communities sufficient to meet their needs brings with it short-term jobs, long-term jobs, […]

The Welcome Home Westchester campaign applauds Governor Kathy Hochul for placing affordable housing as a priority in her State of the State Agenda for 2022. The proposed $25 billion, five-year Housing Plan to preserve 100,000 affordable homes in both urban and rural communities, including 10,000 homes with support services for vulnerable populations, would be truly […]

(ARMONK, N.Y.) In response to some common misunderstandings and misconceptions, the Welcome Home Westchester campaign released an animated video to explain the benefits of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) and how it can be used to create essential workforce opportunities and to address the need for affordable housing.  The short video tackles a rather […]

This op-ed was written by Sgt. James A. Jenkins with the help of the Welcome Home Westchester coalition. Sgt. Jenkins is a retired Department of Veterans Affairs Career EAP manager AFGE and a Counselor Emeritus NYS OASAS. We’ll soon be celebrating another Veterans Day in America. Here in Westchester, every city, town, and village will […]