Planning commission chair discusses City of Yes’ potential impact on Queens
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City Planning Commission Chair and Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick with Mayor Eric Adams at a rally in support of their City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal in April. File photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By Jacob Kaye
Next week, the New York City Planning Commission will hold its first major public hearing on the Adams administration’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal, a controversial plan to change land use rules citywide in an effort to spark housing development.
Leading the Wednesday meeting will be Dan Garodnick, the chair of the CPC and the director of the Department of City Planning.
Garodnick, who formerly served in the City Council, has, aside from Mayor Eric Adams, been the most prominent voice speaking out in support of the proposal, which the city says will facilitate the creation of “a little bit more housing in every neighborhood.”
But he’s also had to serve as the chief defender of the proposal, which has seen little support from community boards and other local groups in Queens, and throughout the city. Only two of Queens’ boards, which issue advisory votes and recommendations on the plans and proposals they review, voted in support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan.
The proposal consists of a number of rule changes to the city’s current zoning regulations, many of which the Adams administration have long been out of date and no longer align with the needs of the city’s housing demand.
In low-density neighborhoods, the proposal would allow for buildings with ground floor commercial space and two to four stories of housing above. It would also allow for “transit-oriented development,” or the building of three- to five-story apartment buildings in large lots within a half mile of a subway or rail station. Homeowners in low-density neighborhoods would also be allowed to build backyard cottages or other accessory dwelling units to rent out or offer to their family under the City of Yes proposal.
Citywide, the proposal would make it so that developers are no longer required to build a certain number of parking spots with each new development. It would also allow for the conversion of office buildings into apartments and for the re-introduction of a type of housing similar to single-room occupancy housing.
While the city has claimed that the change in rules will have little material effect on any one neighborhood in New York City, a number of the proposal’s opponents have warned that the city’s more suburban, low-density areas will be reshaped completely under the plan.
Those opposed to the plan claim that with the passage of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity will come major development in areas that aren’t equipped for it, putting strain on the area’s sewer systems, schools and police precincts.
In a conversation with the Eagle, Garodnick attempted to assuage those fears by claiming that City of Yes will “see incremental change that allows for a little bit more housing, which does not affect the character of the neighborhood and is well within the context of what is already there and recognized.”
He also touted the city’s efforts to share the proposal with community boards and groups, and solicit feedback. In all, they’ve held at least three meetings on the proposal with each of the city’s 59 community boards.
“We are doing everything that we can think to do to help present this in a manner that is transparent, clear and easy to digest,” he said.
Read more from the Eagle’s conversation with Garodnick about the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the city’s goals with the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity?
We are in the midst of a housing crisis that has boiled up to a place where inaction is no longer an option. It is not a two-year, five-year or 10-year problem in the making. This has been brewing for decades.
In the last decade, the city saw the creation of 800,000 jobs, and only 200,000 homes. And in the past 40 years, we created housing at half the rate than we had in the prior 40 years. And in that prior 40 years, our population actually had decreased. Today, we have a 1.41 percent vacancy rate, which is the lowest since 1968. And people feel the human costs of housing scarcity, whether it's the cost of housing, the pressures of gentrification, or displacement, homelessness, homeowners who can't make small changes to their own property, families that want to bring in an elderly relative to live with them. Are kids returning home from college and want to return to their old neighborhood and can't? These are the result of a policy choice that New York City has made, and it is not working for us. So, that is what animates City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
Say the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity passes – when do you see the changes to the problems you just described begin to take root? When do we see the city’s housing opportunities begin to transform?
We have projected that this proposal would deliver about 100,000 units over 15 years. But zoning is an enabling tool. It does not make anything happen immediately. Change happens over time. It's important to know that we have crafted this proposal very carefully and respectfully to neighborhoods around the city that are frequently concerned about any change.
And change through this proposal will happen incrementally over time.
While the city is pursuing the City of Yes zoning proposals, it is also pursuing a neighborhood rezoning in both Long Island City and Jamaica. Those rezonings appear to be all about making changes that address needs specific to those communities. Why take a blanket approach to rezoning with the City of Yes when you have the option to do neighborhood-based rezonings?
In a moment like this, it is a ‘yes, and’ situation. We have proposed a citywide initiative here, to be able to allow for a little more housing in every neighborhood, without the sorts of dramatic changes that individual communities frequently worry about. In areas where we know that the zoning is mismatched with the needs of a specific neighborhood, that's where we do neighborhood plan. A little more housing in every neighborhood is designed to give us a significant impact citywide while not having dramatic changes in any one area. Neighborhood plans are a fresh look at what an individual area needs and how we can get there.
You’ve described City of Yes as a plan to build ‘a little more housing in every neighborhood’ but critics have described it as a much more impactful proposal, and not in a good way. The proposals biggest critics have said they believe City of Yes will fundamentally change the character of the city’s more suburban neighborhoods, many of which are in Queens. What is your response to those critics?
Our low-density areas in New York City are not a monolith. They have different housing types. They have different contexts. This proposal very carefully matches what is already there. And in many cases, was made illegal. We've got 14,693 multifamily buildings in one- and two-family districts today and in many cases, our low-density districts, or even multifamily low-density districts, are not able to produce the housing that they are technically allowed to produce under our zoning resolution. So, we want to open the door to enable a little bit more of that housing that already exists and to re-legalize a type of housing that exists throughout New York City.
Given the city’s housing crisis, what role do you believe the city’s more suburban areas play in the grand scheme of the city? Has the city’s low vacancy rate and affordability crisis dictated a need for change in lower-density areas like Jamaica Estates, Hollis Hills and similar areas?
Fundamentally, no. At the same time, we can't have certain areas that are simply walled off from housing creation in New York. We recognize that New York City is a complex place. We have areas that have single-family homes with picket fences, we have medium- and high-density areas in the middle of Manhattan and everything in between. We celebrate that.
We also are in the middle of a crisis. So, we need to enable the possibility of a little bit more housing, even in areas that have been functionally shut off for decades.
Under the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, the construction of three- to five-story apartment buildings in certain areas within a half-mile of public transit would be permitted. However, looking at some of the areas these types of buildings would be allowed, I saw areas that are largely considered transit deserts. Can you explain the concept of transit oriented housing and how it applies here?
It’s an important planning principle to allow for housing close to transit. It makes life easier for people, it's good for our local economy and it's good for the environment. That's why we propose to allow for modest, multifamily housing on very specific sites, within a half mile of transit. Not every site is going to be eligible. This is not a broad brush of opportunity. It is a site specific opportunity near transit, which we think is both smart and respectful of lower density.
But looking at the map, you have places like Oakland Gardens in Queens listed as a transit oriented housing area. That neighborhood is not accessible by subway. While there are buses and a Long Island Railroad stop in the neighborhood, most would not consider this a public transit rich area.
That's what this part of the process is for. People have specific area level critiques, we welcome the opportunity to have that conversation. We're at the community boards, we’re before the borough presidents, you'll be hearing this at the City Planning Commission. This is a proposal and we welcome that sort of feedback.
Is there any concern that because City of Yes is such a massive proposal with multiple components that it may naturally lead to this feeling that people are being hoodwinked? Do you think there would be any benefit to passing the components of City of Yes piece by piece instead of all at once?
It's an ambitious proposal that meets the moment that we are in. We are very sensitive to the fact that it is a lot of material for people to digest. That's why we’ve taken some unprecedented steps to engage at the community board level and in communities and with community organizations. Even more broadly, we have been talking about this proposal for at least a year and a half. We have had public town hall meetings citywide. We sent the draft text of this proposal to community boards several weeks early, because we know that they wanted that opportunity. We created an illustrated guide to the proposal to help make it easier to digest. We have offered substantive one-page descriptions of each area of the proposal that people can easily find and digest. We annotated the text to explain what specific words actually mean, to the extent that they are complicated for an average reader. And we told community boards that we would accept their comments beyond their 60 days of official review, right up to the moment that the City Planning Commission votes.
So, we are working really hard. We created an entire division at the Department of City Planning, whose job it is to meet with community board members and to answer questions and to fulfill our responsibility to explain the importance of the proposal and to dispel myths and mischief out there. So, we are doing everything that we can think to do to help present this in a manner that is transparent, clear and easy to digest.
The city has a housing supply problem and an affordable housing problem. The two issues are obviously correlated but how is the city thinking of addressing those two issues – both separately and collectively – and how does City of Yes exemplify that thinking?
We have seen in other areas of the country and world that have added supply and they have seen the cost of housing come down. It is one tool to be able to get there and it's an important word. New York City has for decades failed to keep up with its own needs for housing and that's why you have real challenges for people who are looking to find an apartment or buy an apartment or come home after college or expand their own homes. This proposal is designed to directly deal with the affordability of housing in New York City. Creating opportunities for people will bring costs down.
The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal would allow for the conversion of vacant office space into retail and housing. Rendering via DCP
Do you have a favorite proposal included in the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity?
I love all my children. It's an important proposal in sum because it is a little bit more housing everywhere and is respectful of the needs and contexts of neighborhoods throughout the city. I think that it makes sense as a package.
You said that you imagine the change we see as a result of the City of Yes will happen incrementally, but what do you expect to see on a random block in Queens in 20 years as a result of the proposal?
We would expect to see incremental change that allows for a little bit more housing, which does not affect the character of the neighborhood and is well within the context of what is already there and recognized. That's what I expect. New York City is a big place with significant housing needs, and a modest amount of new housing can very easily be absorbed in ways that will truly not have a negative impact on communities.
A lot of the criticism of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity has centered around the fear that it may drastically change the character of more suburban neighborhoods. You’ve defended the proposal consistently by saying it will result in a little more housing in every neighborhood. But given the affordability and housing supply crisis you, the mayor and other city leaders have described, does the City of Yes go far enough to ensure affordable housing opportunities for all who need it?
We're in the middle of a process. If people think that we haven't gone far enough, I would encourage them to endorse what we have proposed, and we will continue to revisit as we move through the process. We will hear from all sides.
