Dear New Yorkers,

Today with my fellow trustees of New York City pension funds, I’m proud to announce a new $60 million investment to protect the City’s affordable housing supply!

In partnership with the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) and Related Fund Management (RFM), this investment will protect nearly 35,000 rental units, over 80% of which are rent regulated. It’s the largest single investment to preserve rent-stabilized housing by the pension funds in New York City history, all while earning competitive risk-adjusted returns for the beneficiaries of our pension funds.

How did this opportunity come about? After Signature Bank collapsed last spring in the fourth largest bank failure in American history, its enormous mortgage portfolio—which included thousands of vulnerable rent-stabilized units across NYC—was auctioned off.

The CPC and RFM partnered to purchase a 5% equity interest in Signature Bank’s rent-stabilized loan portfolio. New York City Employees' Retirement System committed a 25% investment in the $5.8 billion unpaid principal balance. In total, our $60 million investment covers approximately 1,140 buildings and 35,000 units—representing about 3% of New York City’s entire rent regulated housing stock.

I’m grateful to collaborate with RFM and CPC, due to their extensive expertise in preserving and expanding affordable housing. Moreover, our decades-long partnership with CPC and Related Fund Management on other Economically Targeted Investments has secured strong returns for pension members and beneficiaries, while investing in expanding and protecting the City’s affordable housing supply.

Let’s be clear though: This investment won’t solve NYC’s housing crisis. New analysis from the New York Housing Conference found that the housing budget that Mayor Adams put forth in his Executive Budget shrinks housing production by 32%. That’s why I’m following Progressive Caucus of NYC Council’s lead in calling for an additional $2.5 billion for permanently affordable housing.

Our new $60 million investment is just one example of creative collaboration in expanding and preserving NYC’s affordable housing supply. All New Yorkers should be able to afford the city that they love, and that will always be a major priority of my office.

Thanks,

Brad