NY’s Choice: End NYS Opportunity Zones Now, or Pay Billions to Out-of-State Luxury Housing – Forever

President Trump’s budget made Opportunity Zones a permanent part of the federal tax code. For four straight years, the State Senate has acted to end NY’s OZ tax break by passing S3340 (Gianaris) / A3246 (Dinowitz). Now, the Assembly and Governor Hochul have a choice: Pass and sign the bill, or let the state and city’s tax dollars pay for out-of-state gun distributors, oil drilling, crypto-mining, and luxury condos till the end of time.

New Yorkers have heard a lot about how President Trump’s budget cuts billions in federal Medicaid. His budget also makes the federal Opportunity Zone tax credit permanent. New York State and City’s tax codes mirror this part of federal tax law, meaning both will effectively start subsidizing investments in businesses that could be anywhere in the US starting in 2029. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way – Speaker Heastie and the Assembly can still pass S3340/A3246 and end the tax break before it costs New York up to $424 million a year ($284 million for NYS, $140 million for NYC). The bill is supported by over 20 unions and organizations and cosponsored by over 30 Assemblymembers.

As the NYU Furman Center recently showed, Opportunity Zones are not increasing the stock of affordable housing in New York City and have not been shown to provide any socially useful benefit. As Reinvent Albany’s Guns, Oil, and Crypto report showed, New York subsidies have flowed to Texas oilfields, cryptocurrency mining, and gun megasellers, contradicting the state’s own policy goals.