30 Issues in 30 Days: Affordability in the NY Gubernatorial Race

Brian Lehrer (0:10)

It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. We are in our 30 issues and 30 days election series. Let other media focus only on the polls and personalities. We are choosing an issue a day for 30 straight shows to help you be as informed a voter as you can be in the midterm elections for Congress and New York state governor's race. For issues 17 through 19, we've been picking an issue a day from Tuesday night's gubernatorial debate on New York 1, the only debate in that race between Governor Kathy Hochul and her Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. Today, it's 30 issues and 30 days, issue 19, the cost of living, the top issue nationally this year, almost everywhere. We will focus on and play clips of three aspects that came up in the debate. We've done a couple earlier in the series. Today, housing, tariffs as they affect the price of milk and other things we get from upstate New York farms, and Medicaid as a cost of health care issue and a cost to the public issue. We'll start with housing because to me, this might have been the most under remarked upon moment in the debate. It's just a one minute clip. It comes after the moderators ask Governor Hochul if there is anything she regrets from her time in office.

Kathy Hochul (1:28)

I wish I had fought harder to get more housing built in my first year. I had to come back the next year. It was difficult. I overcame a lot of opposition. But when you find out that Bruce Blakeman's county, Nassau County, is listed as the lowest number of housing units, almost in America being built, no wonder he brags about the fact that the average housing price or the median housing price is $900,000.

Talk about lack of affordability.

SPEAKER_3 (1:53)

So, again, I can't afford to buy a house. Can I respond to that? I reject. I wish I had been able to fight iron.

Bruce Blakeman (1:58)

I would love to respond to that. So you're faulting me.

If you bought a house four years ago in Nassau County for $600,000, it's now worth $850,000 because of my policies. I have created a quarter of a million dollars in wealth for you and your families. Kathy Hochul wants to take that away with taxes. I'm proud of the fact that I created that wealth for your family.

Kathy Hochul (2:21)

What about the young family trying to get a home in Nassau County? I guess if you own that $900,000, you're out of luck.

Brian Lehrer (2:28)

Blakeman there was boasting about rising housing prices as a good thing.

Let's discuss that and more on the cost of living from the debate with WNYC and Gothamist Albany reporter Jon Campbell. Hi Jon, thanks for helping out with this.

Jon Campbell (2:41)

Hi Brian, greetings from the state capital.

Brian Lehrer (2:44)

Did I hear that right? Did Blakeman basically say not building more housing in Nassau County is a good thing because the scarcity increases the value of the homes that people have?

Jon Campbell (2:55)

Yeah, I mean, I think he was kind of painting it as more like, look at my policies, what my policies have done, and that has increased the value of homes because people want to be in Nassau County. So, you know, essentially the same thing, right? And this is really, I mean, it kind of gets to the NIMBY versus YIMBY debate, the not in my backyard versus the yes in my backyard. I mean, Nassau County has been a hotbed for opposition to kind of pro-housing policies that lead to, you know, the expansion of housing, and particularly near transit-rich areas.

You know, that is something that differentiates him from Governor Hochul, who has been trying to kind of paint herself as a pro-housing governor right back to, she said, her first year in office. It was actually her second full year in office that she really pushed for a housing plan and ran into some obstacles. So yeah, this is a pretty clear line of demarcation between the two candidates.

Brian Lehrer (4:00)

And that's what we do in 30 Issues is clarify the differences. Any Long Island listeners want to weigh in on this? 212-433-WNYC. Are you or maybe you're a young adult, children experiencing housing costs as a problem? Or how much are you in favor of restricting affordable housing or any more density in your towns and neighborhoods on the island? If you are, does the fact that the scarcity makes your own home worth more a factor?

As Nassau County Executive Blakeman seems to boast about there, 212-433-WNYC, call or text, 212-433-9692.