Too much housing or not enough?: Adams administration defends City of Yes to City Council
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The New York City Council questioned the mayor’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity platform at City Hall on Monday. Photo by Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit
By Ryan Schwach
Will the mayor’s signature housing policy create too much housing or not enough? The City Council appeared to be divided on the answer on Monday as the legislature grilled members of the Adams administration on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
At the council’s first of two hearings about the City of Yes, a plan to eliminate a number of zoning restrictions in an effort to open the door for developers to build more housing, lawmakers already expected to vote against the proposal slammed what they said were its potential effects on low residential neighborhoods, while other councilmembers argued the plan doesn’t go far enough to address the city’s housing crisis.
Meanwhile, Dan Garodnick, the commissioner of the Department of City Planning and one of COY’s architects, balanced defending the wide-reaching plan and pitching its benefits, while also trying to argue it wouldn’t have any major impact on any given neighborhood, particularly the more suburban areas of Queens.
Through the first several hours of Monday’s hearing, Garodnick said several times that while the plan is the “biggest effort ever made in the city's history to try to address the challenge of housing scarcity,” it “would be very modest.”
“By building a little more in every neighborhood, it means we can have a big impact in the aggregate on our housing shortage without dramatic changes in any one neighborhood,” Garodnick said.
A large portion of the pushback against the City of Yes has come from lawmakers and local leaders in Queens, who argue that the borough’s more residential neighborhoods, like Whitestone, Queens Village, Belle Harbor and Maspeth, would be reshaped under the zoning proposal. Queens residents, like COY’s most outspoken foe, former-city planner Paul Graziano, have called it an “extinction event” for residential communities, a quote Garodnick explicitly defended against on Monday.
“Some claim that the City of Yes will change low density areas beyond recognition and lead to neighborhood extinction events,” Garodnick said. “In fact, I think you will find that the change would be very modest.”
On the other side of the coin, some representatives and locals have argued that the plan doesn’t go far enough in addressing the core of the city’s housing crises – affordability.
“Zoning reform is one important component, but New Yorkers also need deeper affordability, expanded pathways to affordable home ownership, strengthened tenant protections, the removal of barriers to housing vouchers, investments in their neighborhoods and more to truly confront this housing crisis and meet the diverse needs of our constituents,” said Council Speaker and Queens Councilmember Adrienne Adams. “We must advance holistic solutions at the scale of the challenges facing New Yorkers.”
Garodnick also defended the plan on that end as well, saying that the COY’s proposals aimed at affordability do address those concerns.
“Our affordability program within the City of Yes…will be the largest income restricted affordable housing in New York City zoning history,” he said. “We want to do the things that we can do in zoning while recognizing that there are other things that we cannot do in zoning that we should continue to talk about.”
Director of City Planning Dan Garodnick tried to address councilmembers concerns related to the City of Yes at a marathon hearing on Monday. Photo by Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit
Queens pols sound off
Queens councilmembers are for the most part torn over the City of Yes, with a little more than half of them expressing some level of concern toward the platform.
However, what exactly those concerns are, vary from lawmaker to lawmaker.
Several Queens representatives on Monday said that they worried that COY would inundate low residential neighborhoods, putting extra strain on already-crumbling infrastructure like sewers. Other Queens members questioned if City of Yes would do enough to help fix the housing crisis.
In his responses to questions from Queens councilmembers, Garodnick continued to defend the plan.
Several councilmembers, including Selvena Brooks-Powers, Joanna Ariola and Bob Holden, brought up concerns with infrastructure and the environment that could be exacerbated by more housing.
“Our infrastructure is often stretched, especially in the face of climate change, with frequent flooding and high water tables,” said Brooks-Powers.
Garodnick attempted to assuage the councilmembers’ concerns, and said the city’s review showed that the zoning changes weren't enough to prompt infrastructure issues.
“[COY] does not itself prompt the need to do more infrastructure investment,” Garodnick said, later adding that the housing additions are “so small on neighborhood by neighborhood basis,” that infrastructure won’t need to be expanded.
Garodnick’s back-and-forth with Holden, an outspoken opponent to City of Yes, was among the most tense moments of the hearing.
“Your district has to be part of the [housing crises] solution,” Garodnick said.
“No it doesn’t,” Holden said in return. “You're not going to convince us in Queens that this is not going to be a huge problem.”
Ariola specifically highlighted concerns around over-development.
Queens Councilmembers, including Bob Holden and Joanna Ariola (pictured), expressed strong opposition to the City of Yes plan at the council’s hearing on Tuesday. Photo by Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit
Garodnick pushed back on that idea several times during the hearing, often repeating the term “modest” to describe the plan.
“There are a set of facts and circumstances present under this proposal…but it is not an anywhere, any kind, hyper development,” Garodnick said. “This is a narrowly tailored, modest, respectful proposal that is designed to match existing buildings.”
On the other side of the debate, councilmembers questioned if the City of Yes would go far enough to address homeownership opportunities and affordability.
In relation to both issues, Garodnick argued the plan will make ownership available, and lower housing costs.
“Queens is not a monolith, and certainly my constituents think that this is a plan that does some good, but also that more needs to be done,” progressive Queens Councilmember Tiffany Cabán said. “We want to see more comprehensiveness to attack the affordability crisis.”
In response to questions about affordability, Garodnick argued that the Universal Affordablity Preference – a proposal within the City of Yes – will help the most struggling New Yorkers, many of whom leave the city to find homes.
“We believe that we will smooth that out, enable more opportunities, reduce costs and also reduce those displacement pressures,” Garodnick said.
Whether or not councilmembers agree with – or even believe – Garodnick’s assessment of the plan’s impacts, is ultimately yet to be determined.
On Tuesday, the council will continue hearing thoughts on the City of Yes, this time from members of the public, starting at 9:30 a.m.
The council is expected to vote on the package of proposals before the end of the year.
