Why Heastie & Co. are so proud of blocking new housing for desperate NYers

It’s no secret that New York desperately needs more housing — yet the Legislature’s leaders stand in the way of getting it built.

In the spring, they shot down Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to build 800,000 new units throughout the state over the next 10 years without offering a plan of their own.

And Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie last week doubled down on his opposition.

“You have to come up with a statewide plan. But I also think we have to come up with a plan that works for everybody,” he huffed.

Then he explained that he wants more money guaranteed for unions.

“We still think that a larger, more inclusive plan has to happen, including discussion of union wages,” Heastie said. “So, we’re not going to be able to do a statewide plan in that way.”

Unions fund his (and other Dems’) campaigns, you see.

He and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins are also demanding more “protections” for tenants — that is, measures that would make it harder for landlords to evict those who fail to pay their rent and so earn enough income to keep up with their bills and keep their properties in good shape.

Heastie and Stewart-Cousins surely know that higher costs due to higher wages and lower revenue for builders and landlords will only discourage investment and development of new housing.

They just don’t care. The special interests come first.

The whole point of the 421-a tax break lawmakers let expire last year was to encourage housing development by offsetting outrageous property taxes and making investments economically viable.

Yet radical progressives objected to any breaks, and labor leaders insisted on higher wages for construction workers.

So Heastie & Co. were fine with letting the break expire — even if it meant strangling new construction.

True, Hochul’s housing plan wasn’t perfect; towns across the state objected to its attempt to override local zoning plans.

But it aimed to help both the city and the rest of the state — by increasing the supply of homes and helping keep down rents, particularly for younger and lower-income residents.

Clearly, Heastie and Stewart-Cousins don’t want to solve New York’s statewide housing shortage; they’d rather pander to the special interests — and too bad on every one else unless they get their way.