Long Island is in the midst of a building boom, with new apartment complexes rising across Nassau and Suffolk counties, particularly in downtown areas near train stations. While the developments promise much-needed housing, questions remain about how many of these new units are actually affordable for working families.

Under New York State law, 10% of units in new multifamily developments are required to be designated as affordable workforce housing. However, not every project includes those units on site. News 12 recently reported on two new apartment buildings in Floral Park that contain no affordable apartments at all.

“Some of the projects go in all luxury with no affordable component,” said Eric Alexander, of Vision Long Island.

Alexander explained that the law gives developers flexibility in how they meet the affordability requirement. Instead of building affordable units within the same complex, developers can construct them at a different location or pay a fee to the local municipality. Those funds are then supposed to be used to support affordable housing elsewhere.

“There’s a range of examples where there have been exceptions,” Alexander said. “But by and large, most multifamily developments have done the 10 requirement, if not more.”

Housing advocates argue that while the law may be working in many cases, Long Island’s overall housing shortage makes on-site construction critical.

“We have a true affordable housing crisis here on Long Island,” said Hunter Gross of the Long Island Housing Coalition.

Gross believes affordable units need to be built as part of new developments rather than relying on fees placed into housing trust funds, which may take years to be put to use.

“The best thing we can do is have apartments and affordable units being constructed instead of putting it in a trust fund,” Gross said. “We won’t know how long it will take for that trust fund to be utilized.”