Written Testimony for the 2025 Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Housing

A Decade of Progress: Celebrating 10 years of Land Banks in New York

The New York Land Bank Association has issued a new report highlighting the remarkable growth and tremendous impact that land banks have had throughout the state since New York’s first land banks were established in 2012. The report, A Decade of Progress: Celebrating 10 years of Land Banks in New York, details the extraordinary rise of New York’s land bank program from a collection of novel organizations to one of the state’s most proven and effective tools for reclaiming vacant and abandoned properties.

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VIEW THE FULL REPORT

“The New York Land Bank Association thanks the Governor and State Legislature for including $50 million in funding for Land Banks in the state budget. New York has developed one of the most active and effective networks of land banks in the United States, and this investment enables us to continue to build upon the tremendous success that our land bank program has achieved over the past decade. This funding ensures our communities remain equipped with the tools they need to transform vacant problem properties into assets that help revitalize urban and rural communities across New York. Thank you to all of our partners throughout the state for your continued support.”

— Statement from New York Land Bank Association President Adam Zaranko Regarding the FY 2023 Adopted State Budget

New York’s first land banks were established in 2012, pursuant to the passage of the New York Land Bank Act. The Act allows foreclosing governmental units (local units of government that foreclose on real property for delinquent taxes) to form land banks. Land banks are local public authorities, accountable to the units of government which created them, designed to acquire, stabilize, assemble, and facilitate the redevelopment of blighted and abandoned properties, in order for them to be returned to productive use. Returning these formerly abandoned properties to productive use improves quality of life for surrounding residents and helps to grow the community’s local property tax base by encouraging renovation that improves the value of the property the land bank sells, as well as surrounding property values. There are now 31 land banks across the state working to proactively intervene and take control of abandoned properties.