Brad Lander’s Plan to Transform NYC Golf Courses into Affordable Housing Falls Short

Progressive mayoral candidate Brad Lander’s recent proposal — flattening four public golf courses in New York City to create 50,000 affordable housing units — exemplifies the left’s unwillingness to acknowledge its contribution to the city’s housing crisis.

Forget about sacrificing 2,500 acres of “green space” for asphalt and steel; this approach will do nothing to alleviate the city’s housing emergency.

The crisis is fundamentally tied to the rent laws, particularly the 2019 state “reform” that has made it exceedingly difficult for small landlords to maintain and keep rent-stabilized units in good condition.

The innocuous-sounding Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act has resulted in over 45,000 units being taken off the market because landlords can’t afford to upgrade them to code after a long-term tenant moves out, as it restricts their ability to raise the rent to offset those expenses.

In fact, it hampers all building maintenance, as unsalable apartments represent a complete financial loss.

Lander and his supporters (such as Assemblyman Zohran “Zero Rent Hikes” Mamdani) remain oblivious; they even resist laws that would offer developers necessary motivations to build affordable housing.

Demonizing all landlords exacerbates the housing shortage; anyone believing that the city and state can solely manage to build enough housing should examine the ongoing issues associated with the New York City Public Housing Authority.

“I’m no pro golfer, but this is a hole-in-one,” Lander smugly claims in a campaign video regarding his proposal.

No: Denying that privileged figures are at the root of all our challenges is truly a double bogey, Brad.