Gov. Kathy Hochul’s third try to encourage new construction to address the state’s housing crisis appears to be the charm.

On Friday, the state recognized the Town of East Hampton as a pro-housing community – a designation that makes the municipality eligible for state economic development money under a variety of programs.

East Hampton now joins Hempstead Village, Long Beach and the Village of Mineola as municipalities on Long Island – the area with the slowest housing growth in the state – to commit to more housing and receive the state designation.

Mineola, which in January became the first on Long Island to gain a pro-housing designation, will receive a $4.5 million state grant to revitalize the village’s downtown through pedestrian improvements and enhancing public spaces, among other things.

Seven more municipalities have applied for the pro-housing designation on Long Island and await state approval – the towns of Brookhaven and Riverhead, and the villages of Freeport Sag Harbor, Farmingdale, Port Washington North and Westbury.

More than 300 municipalities have applied around the state.

This response starkly contrasts with the reception Hochul received in Nassau County to two previous development plans aimed at alleviating a housing shortage in New York estimated at 800,000 living units.

The shortage has caused home prices and rents to soar, driving many people out of the state. It also has hurt local businesses’ ability to attract new employees, homeowners who want to downsize but still live in Nassau and young professionals discouraged from moving here.

Hochul initially proposed legislation requiring municipalities to allow homeowners to build an accessory dwelling unit, such as a modest apartment over a garage or a basement unit, on all owner-occupied residential zoned lots.

The governor later sought to have the state step into local zoning decisions if municipalities did not achieve a 3% increase in housing units over three years, primarily through transit-oriented developments.

But Hochul backed off both times when Nassau County officials from both parties and some school officials vehemently criticized the plans.

The county’s three town supervisors—Jennifer DeSena of North Hempstead, Don Clavin of Hempstead, and Joseph Saladino of Oyster Bay—led the opposition at several press conferences.

The three supervisors, all Republicans, called the three proposals an attack on local control and the suburban lifestyle. Local officials, they said, were in the best position to make zoning decisions.

But, so far, none of the towns are listed as among the municipalities applying for a designation that would bring state money for housing and downtown developments.

Why?

One possible answer is that the town officials don’t want more housing.

Nassau and Suffolk counties have some of the nation’s most restrictive zoning laws.

Among 32 counties in New York City and its suburbs, Suffolk ranked 32nd and Nassau ranked 31st in the number of housing permits issued from 2010 to 2020, according to a Regional Plan Association report in 2022.

A press release issued by DeSena’s office for a rally in April offered an argument against any new housing.

“With the cost of education at $36,000 per pupil on Long Island, an influx of students from apartments will cost local homeowners millions in higher taxes and stretch school infrastructure beyond its limits at a time when New York State is proposing school aid cuts across Long Island,” the release said. “This population increase will also impact government services such as sanitation, sewage, drinking water, roadways, and more.”

DeSena said during her election campaign against Democrat Jon Kaiman in 2023 and her State of the Town address in January that she supported developing a town master plan that would address housing.

But she has yet to develop a committee or hire a consultant to develop one.

Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine, a Republican, told Newsday following the announcement of East Hampston’s pro-housing designation that he’d like to see more housing solutions for people at all income levels, particularly seniors.

“There’s always going to be opposition — people who don’t understand the benefit of affordable housing,” he told Newsday. “If we are to have a future, we need to have communities where people can afford to live.”

We agree.

We hope Nassau’s three town supervisors do, too.