NY Democrats offer new affordable housing plan after denying Gov. Hochul's proposal

Democratic state leaders say they have a new plan for affordable housing after Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan has been scrapped.

The governor's plan would have required a 3% housing growth in downstate communities and near train stations. It would have forced municipalities build 800,000 units of housing in a decade, but was stripped out of the budget by members of her own party.

New York state Sen. Kevin Thomas says Democrats' new plan include giving local municipalities $500 million to improve outdated infrastructure to better accommodate more housing.

"And once that money is allocated to municipalities, villages, we can start improving infrastructure," Thomas says. "We can build, we can build better housing."

Brianna Niles, of Brooklyn, is a student a NYU Langone in Mineola. She says she wants to live on Long Island but can't afford it.

She hopes that the state can act soon so they can live in the state.

"I feel like there's not enough housing, I feel like everything is expensive and that's why people are looking to move out of New York," Niles says.

The state Assembly, Senate and Gov. Hochuls teams are hoping to get a housing plan approved by April 1.