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New Yorkers don’t always agree on much, but one thing is undeniable: Our state is in the midst of a housing and affordability crisis. Everything costs more — groceries, electricity, health care, even a sandwich. Meanwhile, the state’s rental vacancy rate is at a critical low of 5.5% — and it shrinks even further when accounting for affordable housing for lower-income families.

These compounding challenges have driven homelessness to levels unseen since the Great Depression. More than 158,000 New Yorkers are without a home, including thousands of children, according to a 2024 report by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. An estimated 735,000 children live in poverty statewide. These children are growing up in constant uncertainty, shuffled between shelters and temporary housing, struggling to focus in school, and left........

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