Welcome Home Westchester (WHW), a multi-stakeholder
pro-housing advocacy effort, announced the release of its Housing Policy Scorecards for all 43
cities, towns, and villages in the county at Pelham Village Hall on Friday, December 12.
“Westchester, like our entire region, faces a significant housing shortage that can only be
addressed by taking a comprehensive look at our local policies,” said Kate Slevin, executive vice
president at WHW partner organization Regional Plan Association. “This report card is an
important step toward understanding where communities are making meaningful progress and
where additional action is needed to ensure every municipality contributes to solving our
shared housing challenges.”
In September 2025, the Welcome Home Westchester campaign unveiled the “Five in 2025:
Options That Every Westchester City, Town, and Village Can Take to Address the Housing
Shortage” agenda to encourage every municipality to look at what policy reforms their peer
communities had adopted and make progress on the policy that made the most sense to their
housing needs. The five policies cited by this agenda were:
1. Produce a housing action plan;
2. Create a Green Fast Track for environmentally friendly and sustainable types of housing;
3. Promote accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and transit-oriented development (TOD);
4. Establish a “Core Curriculum” for land use board volunteers’ in-service training; and
5. Use the state-provided tools and become a Pro-Housing Community.
The newly-released scorecards evaluate each Westchester municipality’s progress on those
specific reforms, which the campaign believes will lay a strong foundation to promote
sustainable growth and be part of the solution for our housing shortage. By enacting reforms
such as these, communities can set themselves up for smart housing growth in the years to
come.
“Welcome Home Westchester’s inaugural Municipal Housing Scorecard report is a first of its
kind tool that tracks the advancement of pro-housing policy throughout the county. It is a
transparent measure of progress,” said Michael Romita, president & CEO of Westchester
County Association, a partner organization of WHW. “The Westchester County Association
applauds those municipalities that score well and encourages others to increase their efforts to
embrace the Five in 2025 agenda. In addition to policy adoption, we recognize those
communities that have aggressively increased their housing stock.”
With statewide efforts such as the Pro-Housing Community Program and significant investments
from Westchester County, addressing the housing shortage is an all-hands-on-deck effort.
“Westchester County greatly appreciates the advocacy of Welcome Home Westchester. Since
2018, under the Latimer and Jenkins administrations, over 4,300 new units of affordable
housing have been built with an additional 1,500 in the pipeline. We take great pride in the new
innovative financing programs we have enacted,” Joan McDonald, director of operations for
Westchester County, said. “Our $90 Million Flex Fund will create 1,200 new units of affordable
housing. Building on that success, the recently adopted 2026 budget included $25 Million for
Flex Fund II as proposed by County Executive Jenkins. The County Landlord Tenant Assistance
Program (LTAP) provided $10 Million in much needed repair funds to housing authorities and
buildings with 8 units or less. We will continue to work with our partners to explore innovative
ways to produce housing in Westchester County.”
Tim Foley, CEO of the Building & Realty Institute (BRI), a partner organization of WHW, stated:
“Westchester County has seen a surge in housing production over the last five years, and we are
grateful for the elected leaders who have made that happen. However, we know that changes in
leadership, a surge in local opposition, or unintentionally antiquated or sclerotic processes can
create multi-year delays that prevent building the housing we need. We have been championing
these five policies as a way to lay a strong foundation for sustainable housing growth in which
every community could play a part. We also strongly believe that nothing is as contagious as a
positive example, and urge other communities to study what their peers have done and figure
out if it would apply to their own city, town, or village.”
The Top 10 Model Westchester Communities for Housing Reform were also recognized,
representing municipalities that have successfully implemented multiple Five in 2025 policies
and provide recent examples of smart housing policy reform and growth. Those recognized are:
Town of Cortlandt, Village of Croton-on-Hudson, City of New Rochelle, Village of Ossining, City
of Peekskill, Village of Pelham, Village of Port Chester, Village of Sleepy Hollow, Village of
Tarrytown and City of White Plains.
During the announcement, NYS Assemblymember Dana Levenberg congratulated the
municipalities in her district for their housing reforms.
“I am so proud that four out of this year’s Top 10 Model Westchester Communities are in
Assembly District 95!” she said. “Congratulations to the City of Peekskill, Town of Cortlandt, and
Villages of Croton-on-Hudson and Ossining. Thanks to much needed forward-looking leadership
on housing, the future is bright for residents and businesses in these communities.”
Croton-on-Hudson Mayor Brian Pugh stated: Croton-on-Hudson thanks Welcome Home
Westchester for recognizing our successful efforts to provide new, diverse housing opportunities
— from market-rate to affordable rental units and condominiums — critical for addressing the
regional shortage. This investment broadens our tax base, creates jobs, supports local
businesses, and provides homes for new residents, seniors, and young people returning to the
community. We are grateful to all the dedicated participants and partners whose guidance will
continue to be essential in the important days ahead.”
Village of Pelham Mayor Chance Mullen asserted: “Welcome Home Westchester has shifted
the regional dialogue by showing that new housing can take many forms, tailored to each
community’s needs and character. If we want to make progress for the people we serve,
municipal leaders should engage in this work with creativity, not just out of obligation. I’m
grateful for their leadership.”
Justin C. Brasch, White Plains mayor-elect, said, “People who work in White Plains are having a
hard time finding housing and paying their bills. We want people who work here — such as
firefighters, police officers, teachers, city employees, and hospital employees — to be able to
afford to live in White Plains, so we are very focused on workforce housing. Most of us in public
service want to make the world a better place. If people are having a terrible time finding
affordable housing that is within their means, everyone should be working hard to build more
affordable housing.”