Data questioned as Hochul housing plan fades

Continued from Page 2 which is what we should do,” Alexander said. “We should plan these things from the community level. So this four-month battle has been horrific to the creation of more housing on Long Island.”

Working at Vision Long Island for a quarter century, he said, revealed how unique localities here are, how differently each function and how a regional housing or zoning approach would be detrimental to the overall quality of life. The residential voices, Alexander said, became lost during these months of strong backlash over the governor’s plan.

“I learned by listening that…people like the neighborhoods they’re in and you can make a change by working with those local people,” he said. “I think the voices of the community got lost in this bigger debate.”

Polling 350 civic associations, chambers of commerce, mayors, elected officials and developers since Hochul presented her housing proposal in January found that 340 were against [housing] mandates, Alexander said.

“These are people who support housing in communities,” he said. “We’re not talking about people who are anti-everything.”

While many areas and downtowns on Long Island have conducted responsible development, Alexander said, some localities, including those on the North Shore, need to take steps to create more affordable housing and transit-oriented development.

Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said the governor should take the opinion of those who would be di- rectly affected into consideration, calling the plan “ridiculous” and “ill-advised.”

“It’s high time the governor realized that overriding local zoning and imposing more unfunded state mandates without offering local government a seat at the table to advocate for the best interest of those we represent was the absolute wrong approach to solving the affordable housing crisis,” DeSena said in a statement to Blank Slate Media.

DeSena, along with Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin, Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino and a myriad of local mayors and trustees led the charge in Nassau County against Hochul’s plan.