THE WESTCHESTER BRIEF
Thursday, May 21, 2026
Every Westchester municipality just got a housing grade. Most didn't earn it.
Last December, the Welcome Home Westchester campaign released housing policy scorecards for all 43 cities, towns, and villages in the county. The grades measure whether each municipality is actively working on housing affordability — or actively resisting it. The story has been underreported. Today's Brief fixes that.
The gap
Westchester County's own Housing Needs Assessment puts the current affordable housing deficit at 11,703 units. That's not a projection — it's current unmet demand: overcrowded households, homeless residents, and people who want to live here but can't afford to. Since 2019, county investment has produced or preserved 3,383 affordable homes. Friday's Intel runs the full math. The short version: the county is not on track to close the gap within any reasonable timeframe.
Why the scorecards matter
The county can fund housing. It cannot override local zoning. In New York State, municipalities control land use — and that is where housing gets built or blocked. The scorecards grade all 43 municipalities on whether they're doing anything about it: zoning reform, accessory dwelling unit legalization, participation in county and state programs.
Some municipalities are making real moves. Peekskill converted a vacant office building into 22 affordable and supportive units, including homes for young people aging out of foster care. Greenburgh is building 9 single-family homes for first-time buyers. For every municipality doing the work, the scorecards document others where the answer has been to protect the status quo.
Why it matters: Protecting the status quo on housing is a choice with consequences — for home prices, for workforce availability, and for who gets to be a Westchester resident. The planning board in your town is where those decisions actually get made.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WESTCHESTER
Playland opens Saturday. Rye Playland kicks off its 2026 season on Saturday, May 23rd, noon to 10 p.m. on the Long Island Sound. Tickets, parking, and schedule at the Westchester County Parks website.
ONE MORE THING
Your town's planning board meets regularly, often monthly, and those meetings are public. Most Westchester planning board meeting schedules and agendas are posted on municipal websites. If you've never attended one, a single meeting will teach you more about how housing decisions actually get made in your town than a year of local news coverage.
Listen to The Westchester Brief daily on all podcast platforms.
Visit: www.iliveheremedia.com
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @iliveherewestchester
YouTube: Subscribe for the video version
Don't miss an episode. Forward this to a neighbor and ask them to subscribe.