Last week, the New York City Council voted to approve an amended version of the Adams Administration's 'City of Yes' housing vision for 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years.
This will require a $5 billion public investment and comes with several key inclusionary zoning (including ADUs, office conversions, the removal of parking requirements, etc.) changes to help deliver on the promise. New York City has been suffering an affordability crisis for several years. Speaking to the media, Adams framed its passing as being both historic and a victory for working class New Yorkers.
We featured the New York Times' recent explanation of underlying factors influencing the 'City of Yes' plan before its approval.
2 Comments
I don't get why it costs $5 billion to ... upzone low density areas (the last nice areas of NYC).
It's weird that FXCollaborative led this project and it looks like the same developer drivel everywhere else. It's all the same old ideas -- less cars, upzoning, etc. A serious proposal would look at parking garages and design zoning (preserving quality, health and green spaces) while looking at real infrastructure like new lightrail to Jersey, a better plan for Sunnyside Yards, etc.
NYC has no design leadership and it shows. FXCollaborative took the money.
Divide 5 billion by 80,000 and we get a bit more than $60K support per home. NYC budget for 2024 is $107 billion. Over 15 years this is barely a number at all. Which is to say, the program is a small step in favor of housing, but not going to yield very much quickly. It is a nudge not a push.
The parking regulation is matching the way people live in a walking city and is a reasonable adjustment to reality. It removes barriers for Not For Profit (and other) developers as well, which is important given the way things usually go. Housing crisis is the result of well-meaning regulations and protectionist zoning that benefits incumbents and shuts out new comers. My opinion is it also stifles economic growth. This deal is not that big in the face of the problem, but it is a real-politick outcome that moves the needle. 20 more of these kinds of initiatives and real change may happen.
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