Monday, May 19, 2025
With the State Legislature in budget season, there is a ripe opportunity to improve one state program that works to combat New York’s limited housing supply by helping fund local infrastructure: the Pro-Housing Communities Program. On Long Island, that limited supply of housing has caused prices to soar to record heights. The average home price stands at nearly $780,000 in Nassau County and over $662,000 in Suffolk County.
Gov. Kathy Hochul created the $650 million Pro-Housing program in 2023, enabling cities, towns and villages to apply for Pro-Housing designation and pursue related state funding. That funding is broadly focused on downtown revitalization and economic development, but it includes housing-related infrastructure such as water and sewage.
So far, 26 localities on Long Island have applied for the designation. Fifteen have been certified. The others are still pursuing it.
Those 15 localities include the cities of Glen Cove and Long Beach, as well as the Towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton and Riverhead. They also include the villages of Farmingdale, Freeport, Hempstead, Mineola, Port Jefferson, Port Washington North, Sag Harbor, Valley Stream and Westbury.
Those 15 localities have also now applied for related state funding. The funding decisions will be announced in June.
In the governor’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, a $100 million infrastructure fund would be set aside for certified Pro-Housing Communities. Yet this fund represents a drop in the bucket of what is needed to cover the infrastructure needs across the state and Long Island. Just one project, the recently completed Central Islip sewer expansion, had a price tag of $13.7 million.
An additional $10 million in the governor’s proposed budget would fund a new housing ombudsman’s office, which would work to assist municipalities with their housing needs and provide technical support for the Pro-Housing Communities Program. These are vital steps, but they still don’t go far enough.
Recurring funding is needed, and it is crucial. This should not be just a piecemeal allocation.
The program should also provide data on the amount of housing created by it. Promoting housing is the overall goal, so its specific impact should be reported.
One improvement has been made. In response to feedback from communities on Long Island like Patchogue, applicants across the state can now be judged on a wider range of activities over a longer time frame.
The demand is clear. In July 2024, the Village of Mineola stood alone as the only Pro-Housing Community on the island. Now, 15 Long Island localities have been certified, and 11 more are pursuing it.
The momentum is growing. The need for more housing has never been greater.
The Long Island communities that are pursuing this program are taking important steps to improve the availability of more affordable housing. More localities should move in this direction, thereby creating more equitable opportunities.
The state should continue to reinforce and improve this program. Everyone will benefit.
April Francis Taylor is acting president of ERASE Racism, the regional civil rights organization based in Syosset.
