Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday said he will sign an order requiring city agencies to see if land they own could be turned into affordable housing.

In a press release, Adams said the executive order will advance his administration’s goal of building 500,000 new homes by 2032.

“If there’s any land within the city’s control that has even the remotest potential to develop affordable housing, our administration will take action,” the mayor said in a statement.

“To solve a generational affordable housing crisis, we must bring new innovative ideas to the table and activate all city agencies, whether they are directly involved in creating housing or not, to help deliver for New Yorkers,” he added.  

The release said Adams’ administration will consider any sites where building housing would not disrupt “critical municipal operations.”

In a statement, the Legal Aid Society called the announcement “a step in the right direction,” adding that “we hope it is part of a wider, multi-faceted plan to tackle the city’s complex and ongoing housing crisis.”

“While we welcome Mayor Adams’s plan to require all city agencies to evaluate whether new homes could potentially be built on the property they own, the administration must go further and commit to ensuring that these potential developments are truly affordable for low-income New Yorkers,” the statement said.  

“In addition to today’s executive order, the city must also increase rental subsidies for low-income individuals, take action to prevent the Rent Guidelines Board from further increasing rents on tenants in stabilized units, and provide enhanced protections to keep all low-income New Yorkers safely and stably housed,” it added.