High-rent New York needs affordable housing. Can the mayor deliver?

Once a manufacturing powerhouse with a vibrant working class, New York City has become unaffordable for middle-class nurses, teachers, and firefighters who keep it running.

Four decades of insufficient construction have driven housing costs to double the national average and shaved the rental vacancy rate to 1.4%, a quarter of the norm across the country.

To address the urgent needs, Mayor Eric Adams is focusing especially on one big idea: relaxing stringent zoning rules to welcome more types of apartments – and not just in traditionally targeted areas. “A little more housing in every neighborhood” is his catchphrase for the goal.

The ambitious