New York City is too expensive, and too many families are paying the price. The numbers show an affordability crisis that is only getting worse and worse. As recently as 2022, two million people across the five boroughs lived in poverty, struggling to keep their lights on, their pantry full, or their children in the same home month after month.
As the president and CEO of Win, the largest provider of shelter for families with children in the nation, I see this crisis play out every single day. The number of families coming through our doors seeking safe shelter and supportive services has only increased in recent years. Last year, one in eight New York City public school children were homeless. This is a moral failing that demands immediate action by our leaders.
Currently, families are forced to make gut-wrenching choices between housing and health care, groceries and medicine. It is no surprise that many families are choosing to leave our city and our state altogether. In the three years since the pandemic, New York City has seen the biggest population drop of any U.S. city.
This crisis is emptying wallets today and threatening the long-term stability of our city and state tomorrow. We need solutions — and government can and should play a pivotal role in solving this crisis.
The good news is that many of our leaders are stepping up and putting affordability at the center of their agendas. The Adams administration and the New York City Council came together to pass the most pro-housing zoning plan in city history, building up to 80,000 new homes over the next decade, and investing $5 billion in housing and infrastructure.
Elected officials have pushed new proposals to expand access to affordable transportation, create more pipelines to good paying jobs, and put money back into people’s pockets — proposals like Mayor Adams’ “Axe the Tax for the Working Class.”
At the heart of the plan is a simple idea: get rid of taxes for low-income families. Under “Axe the Tax,” families making 150% of the federal poverty line or less would no longer pay city income taxes, while families making a little bit more would see their taxes go down as well.
That means a single mother making $31,000 a year would not pay city income taxes. A family of four making $46,000 would not either. This would have a profound positive impact on the lives of families in Win shelter and vulnerable New Yorkers across the city. Altogether, the commonsense plan would give $63 million back to nearly 600,000 New York City residents, money that can pay for everything from childcare and groceries to utilities and housing.
This agenda has struck a chord across New York. Gov. Hochul recently included the “Axe the Tax” proposal in her state budget. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has expressed support for the elimination of state income taxes for low-income families and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has supported the idea in concept. State leaders and unions too, like 32BJ and the Hotel Trades and Gaming Council, joined the call for tax cuts. But this fight is not finished. We still need the state Legislature to adopt the “Axe the Tax” plan in the final budget this spring for it to come to fruition.
Making New York City more affordable for families will require us to use every tool at every level to bring down costs and save people money. Tax relief like the kind proposed by the mayor and embraced by leaders across our state must be a part of that approach. It will put money directly back into the pockets of families and make life a little easier for low-income New Yorkers.
New York City has been a place where families could not just get by but get ahead. We cannot turn our backs on that legacy. We cannot turn our backs on parents living in poverty and children growing up in temporary housing. We cannot give up on serious, substantive policies that will give hundreds of dollars back to those who need it most and help deliver the long-overdue relief that New Yorkers require. Let’s start by axing the tax for the working class.
Quinn is the president and CEO of Win, New York City’s largest provider of shelter, social services and supportive housing for homeless families.