The New York City Council passed several controversial housing bills Thursday in what may be the final legislative showdown between the current council and Mayor Eric Adams, setting up a potential veto battle that will fall to the incoming administration to resolve.

The votes came during the last stated meeting of this council session, marking the final day for eight departing members including Speaker Adrienne Adams. Mayor Adams has signaled he may veto the housing measures, which would create an override fight that speaker-designate Julie Menin would need to lead when she takes the gavel in January.

The most contested bills address requirements for city-funded affordable housing developments. One would mandate that at least 4% of newly constructed units be set aside for homeownership rather than rentals. Another would require at least 25% of new rental units to have two bedrooms and 15% to have three bedrooms.

Sponsors say the bedroom requirements respond to families being priced out of a market that increasingly favors studios and one-bedrooms. “We’re building affordable housing that affordable families can’t actually use,” said Council Member Pierina Sanchez, the lead sponsor. “A single mother with two kids can’t fit in a studio.”

The Adams administration has opposed the bedroom mandates, arguing they would reduce the total number of affordable units developers can build and increase per-unit costs. Housing officials say developers have warned the requirements could make some projects financially unfeasible.

“When you dictate unit sizes, you limit how many families can be served,” said Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrion Jr. “These bills would mean fewer affordable apartments, not better ones.”

The homeownership provision has drawn support from advocates who argue that wealth-building through property ownership has been denied to generations of working-class New Yorkers. Opponents say the requirement would siphon resources from rental housing, where need is most acute.

The votes cap a contentious legislative session that has seen frequent clashes between the council and mayor on housing policy. The council has pushed for stronger tenant protections while the administration has prioritized development and construction.

If Mayor Adams vetoes the bills before leaving office on January 1, incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s council would need to muster a two-thirds majority to override. Mamdani campaigned on progressive housing policies and is unlikely to oppose the legislation, but override votes are not guaranteed.

Speaker Adams defended the bills as “common sense reforms that put families first.” She noted that the current council passed more than 400 pieces of legislation during its term, including major expansions of tenant protections and worker rights.

“We have set a high bar for what a city council can accomplish,” Adams said. “I trust that the next council will continue fighting for working New Yorkers.”

Council Member Lincoln Restler, who is remaining for another term, said the housing bills reflect constituents’ frustrations with a development model that has not produced enough family-sized affordable units.

“Walk into any community board meeting in Brooklyn and you’ll hear the same thing,” Restler said. “People want to stay in their neighborhoods. They want apartments their families can actually live in. These bills respond to that.”

The business community has largely opposed the bedroom mandates, arguing they would add costs and slow production at a time when the city desperately needs more housing. The Real Estate Board of New York called the requirements “well-intentioned but counterproductive.”

The legislation is the latest chapter in a long-running debate over whether New York should prioritize building as many affordable units as possible or focus on units that better serve families’ needs. Both camps claim to be advocating for working New Yorkers.

With the mayoral transition just weeks away, the veto fight may become one of the first political tests for the incoming administration. How Mamdani and Menin navigate the override process will signal whether the new City Hall can work with the council or will face the same tensions that defined the Adams years.