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Will the Council say ‘no’ to Mayor Adams’ City of Yes? We get a preview next week.
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Oct 19, 2024
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By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Oct 19, 2024
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Mayor Eric Adams’ bid to create more housing through a seismic overhaul of New York City’s zoning regulations will face its most important test so far next week, as the City Council kicks off two days of public hearings on the plan.
Dan Garodnick, director of the Department of City Planning, and Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. are expected to testify during the Monday hearing which will feature administration officials.
Lawmakers will hear testimony from the public starting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
The plan — dubbed "City of Yes" by the Adams administration — would tweak zoning regulations in each part of the city to allow for the construction of more residential units, with the goal of creating as many as 109,000 new homes over the course of 15 years. One of the most scrutinized features of the proposal would be the elimination of parking mandates for new construction, particularly by residents in areas where public transit options are sparse.
The hearings mark the beginning of the most crucial stage for City of Yes: weeks of Council review before a final vote to determine the plan's fate. The hearings will likely serve as a temperature check for lawmakers who have been less vocal on the subject in recent months, as daily life at City Hall has been upended by the mayor's indictment on bribery and fraud charges.
In a statement to Gothamist earlier this month, Speaker Adrienne Adams said City of Yes could not serve as a panacea for addressing New York’s housing crisis, and that the current version doesn’t do enough to ensure that any new homes built as a result would be affordable.
“We recognize that zoning reform is one important component to address the housing shortage facing New York City,” she said. “Yet, zoning reform alone is not a housing plan and cannot address the wide-ranging housing needs of New Yorkers.”
The City Planning Commission approved the plan the day before federal prosecutors unveiled charges against Mayor Adams. Asked on the day of the mayor’s indictment if the fallout would affect the Council’s talks with the administration, Speaker Adams said City of Yes was “front burner” for both sides of City Hall.
“We want to continue to hear the voices of New Yorkers across the city, and work with what is best for every single district in the city when it comes to the City of Yes,” the speaker said in late September.
The plan has had a chilly reception at the community level for months, as residents have raised concerns ranging from disrupting the character of a neighborhood to whether the plan would achieve its lofty goals of addressing New York’s affordability crisis.
The vast majority of community boards have expressed disapproval, and the sharpest dissent has emanated from the outer stretches of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as Staten Island. Though community board votes are largely symbolic, it’s a dynamic that is likely to inform city lawmakers’ deliberations as the plan heads for a full Council vote before the end of the year.
Adams has insisted that the plan is a valid solution to the crisis based on its merits.
“The only way to solve this crisis is to build more,” the mayor said in a statement following the planning commission’s vote. “Now, it is time for the City Council to meet the moment.”
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new york city
housing
Mayor Eric Adams
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Michelle Bocanegra
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