ALBANY, NY (March 23, 2026) — Kathy Hochul held a roundtable with local leaders, including Yadira Ramos-Herbert, to highlight her “Let Them Build” agenda aimed at speeding up housing and infrastructure development across New York.
The proposal includes reforms to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which the governor said would reduce delays while preserving environmental protections.
“For too long, red tape has stood in the way of communities building the housing and infrastructure that New Yorkers desperately need,” Hochul said. “That’s why this year, I proposed that when a community says yes to housing and to critical infrastructure like clean water and childcare facilities, we are going to let them build.”
The initiative is part of Hochul’s 2026 State of the State agenda and seeks to accelerate projects that officials say have been slowed by lengthy environmental review processes. According to the governor’s office, housing and infrastructure projects in New York can take up to 56 percent longer to move from concept to groundbreaking compared to peer states.
Officials said delays can significantly increase costs. Red tape can add as much as $82,000 to the cost of building a housing unit in New York City, according to the governor’s office, and can delay projects involving clean water systems, child care centers and parks.
The proposed changes would exempt certain types of housing projects from SEQRA review if they are determined to have no significant adverse environmental impacts. Those projects would still be required to comply with state regulations governing water use, air quality and natural resource protection, and must be located outside flood risk areas.
The proposal would not override local zoning or other state and local permitting requirements.
State officials said studies have shown environmental review can delay housing projects by an average of two years and add substantial costs. The governor’s office said experience with more than 1,000 projects has found that “virtually none” were ultimately determined to have significant environmental impacts despite undergoing review.
The agenda also includes changes to expedite infrastructure projects by adjusting SEQRA classifications to exempt certain categories that meet environmental criteria, including clean water infrastructure, green infrastructure, parks and trails, and child care centers.
Officials said the fast-track process would apply only to projects located in previously disturbed areas.
The proposal also calls for setting clear timelines for environmental review, streamlining environmental impact statements, modernizing permitting processes, expediting major infrastructure projects and establishing a new permitting academy to support local communities.
Hochul said the reforms are intended to address the state’s housing shortage and improve affordability.
“New York has always been a state that builds, and with these reforms, we can recapture that ambition, making it easier and more affordable to build while preserving essential environmental protections,” Hochul said. “I have heard the urgency of these reforms from leaders across our state, and standing with them, I will fight to get it done.”
Participants in the roundtable included local officials and housing and development leaders from across the state.
New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert participated in the governor’s roundtable alongside state and local leaders, including Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties; Chris Brown, housing development coordinator at the Columbia Economic Development Corporation; Nicole Green, president and CEO of the North Country Rural Development Coalition and executive director of the Essex County Land Bank; Jahkeen Hoke, principal of Hoke Development; Dan McCoy, Albany County executive; Steve Noble, mayor of Kingston; and Carlina Rivera, president and CEO of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
Have information about this story? Email robertcox@talkofthesound (preferred) or contact via WhatsApp: +353 089 972 0669.
Seems New Rochelle is about to build the next “Love Canal” under the same fast track agenda that the city of Niagra Falls NY used to build on top of a toxic waste site. New Rochelle has appointed itself “Lead Agency” to oversee the remediation of PCBs, dioxins, lead, mercury, benzene in Pratts Landing Echo Bay site. The Mayor used kids as props bringing them into the toxic mud there to give people a sence all is well there, it is not. Simply planting grass and covering up those toxins with soil in a area with 2 nine foot tides daily and the storm surge from the North Avenue thruway drain hardly can be protective of people. Holding anual children fishing contests there is irresponsiable since the NYS Department of Health recomends children under 15 and preagnant woman “Eat No Fish” from that area. Putting the health and wellbeing of citizens in harms way for the profit of a few is uncontionable.