City of Yes for Housing: See How Your Community Board & Borough President Voted

As the mayor’s citywide zoning reform plan undergoes public review, City Limits is keeping tabs on responses. So far, more than half of the city’s community boards have voted unfavorably, though four out of five borough presidents have come out (largely) in favor.

Mayor Eric Adams’ citywide zoning reform plan, the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, continues to weave its way through the public review process before heading to a final vote in the City Council later this year.

The proposal is a key part of the Adams administration’s plans to address the city’s housing crisis by “making it possible to build a little more housing in every neighborhood,” through eight main changes outlined in the Department of City Planning graphic below.

So far, more than half of the city’s 59 community boards voted unfavorably on the plan, either outright or “with conditions”—meaning they might get on board if certain changes are made. Meanwhile, four out of the five borough presidents have come out in favor of the proposal (but with conditions they’d like to see met).

The latest came from Queens BP Donovan, who shared his recommendations with the Queens Daily Eagle on Monday. While he’s generally in favor of the proposal, Donovan called for various city agencies to examine the impact of new residential development on the borough’s infrastructure, “such as school enrollment and classroom capacity, hospital bed availability, municipal service delivery and more.” He also pushed for the plan to maintain parking mandates for new buildings in areas with fewer public transit options, like eastern and southeastern Queens.

The city’s community boards have issued a mix of recommendations on the mayor’s plan, with many neighborhoods in or closer to Manhattan coming out in favor, and opposition concentrated in lower density, outer borough districts.

“We believe implementing COY will make New York City environmentally sound, economically equitable, and more affordable,” Brooklyn Community Board 6, which includes Park Slope, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Red Hook, wrote in a letter accompanying its “favorable” recommendation.

Boards opposed to the proposal have cited a bevvy of reasons: concerns about retaining current neighborhood character, the potential impact on existing infrastructure, allowing more as-of-right development without the need for community review, and calls for deeper affordability requirements among them.

Queens Community Board 3, which spans East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and North Corona, wrote in its unfavorable resolution that it is “not against the development of affordable housing.”

“We acknowledge the need for more affordable housing particularly within our district,” Chairman Frank Taylor wrote, lamenting that most new construction in the area so far has been unaffordable. “While the proposal claims the development of new affordable housing there is no guarantee.”

Under the city’s land use review process, community board and borough president recommendations are only advisory—after they weigh in, the plan will go before the City Planning Commission and then the City Council, whose votes are binding.

Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick, who spearheaded the proposal, previously told City Limits that he and the agency “take community feedback seriously.”

In his bid for the plan, Mayor Adams has urged the public to consider the city’s record-high homeless shelter population—which sat at more than 146,000 people in June, the most recent month for which complete data is available—and last year’s 1.41 percent rental vacancy rate, a historic low.

“Just about every place we go to talk about building housing like this, people give us a reason not to,” Adams said during a press briefing Tuesday, when asked about opposition to another proposal to build affordable homes for seniors on city-owned land that’s currently a community garden.

“I don’t know how to get clearer to New Yorkers. People are homeless,” the mayor said. “My responsibility is to place as many people as possible inside a home, because it feeds additional problems.”

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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