New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Housing Hearing Files

Roughly chronological by date of hearing.

The Assembly Standing Committee on Housing deals with the myriad of issues affecting how and where New Yorkers live. This series consists principally of public hearing testimony gathered by the Committee from 1975 to 1979. In addition to the testimony, the records include draft legislation, reports, clippings, and press releases.

The testimony was provided by officials of local government housing agencies, representatives of lending institutions, real estate and developer associations, tenant and homeowner associations, civic, religious and community groups, and senior citizen groups.

Nearly all the records relate to the New York City area and about 80% of it pertains to the particular issue of neighborhood preservation. Throughout the testimony are pleas from citizen groups to protect neighborhoods from further development by condominium and co-op conversion. The testimony provides many examples of changes in neighborhoods and the resulting negative effects on the people of New York. Real estate interests, on the other hand, provide evidence of how development benefits New York by creating jobs, increasing the tax base, stimulating the economy, etc. In addition to testimony on neighborhood preservation, the records include testimony on rent control and stabilization providing examples of the need for continued rent control of many apartments in the city. The records also include information on the financing of low-income and other multiple dwellings and on the role of state and local government in developing needed housing.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.