New York may soon become the “City of Jesus.”
The City Council narrowly voted to pass Mayor Eric Adams' controversial sweeping plan to build tens of thousands of homes across the Big Apple with a $5 billion funding pledge from Hizzoner and some concessions. It was approved.
On Thursday, after hours of delays, a pair of City Council committees signed off on a major zoning adjustment and sent it to the full body for a vote early next month.
But the City Council's approval included several caveats, including limiting backyard homes to basement dwellings in flood-prone areas and areas close to transportation.
Three zones were also established depending on parking requirements. Councilors argue that different regions have different needs for cars.
The Adams administration had worked to eliminate all parking space requirements for new housing additions and lift nearly all restrictions on basement and backyard apartments.
Additionally, the mayor, who has made rezoning a cornerstone of his first term, asked City Council members to provide $5 billion to fund things like roads, public building renovations and water and wastewater facilities.
Still, Adams praised the development.
“I never go into a negotiation expecting to get everything I want and end the negotiation,” he told reporters after the vote.
“I would like to come to a negotiation where both sides meet enough terms to accomplish their goals and walk away, and that's what we did. The most historic home in the city's history. It's reform.”
City Council President Adrian Adams said the vote was an “important step forward” in addressing the city's housing crisis.
“Residents in our city need affordable, stable housing that they can rent or own. While we address that shortage, we are supporting existing homeowners and tenants and providing affordable housing. “Strengthening the infrastructure of our neighborhoods is a goal we all must share for a safer, stronger city,” said Adams. He said he has nothing to do with the mayor.
Despite the concessions, the plan is touted as the first major change to the city's zoning rules since 1961, paving the way for builders to build tens of thousands of new homes.
The 11-hour delay stemmed from neighborhood-specific details being ironed out between City Hall and council before a midnight deadline, including the development advocate's Yes in My Plan. It included concessions that fell short of the wish list of “Backyard” supporters, but are likely. Not enough to reassure “Not In My Backyard” opponents.
“They did a good job of pissing off YIMBYs and NIMBYs,” one person familiar with the negotiations told the Post as negotiations dragged into the evening.
Officials said Mr. Adams was able to cut off fiscal relief late Wednesday with the help of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who promised an influx of $1 billion from the state over 10 years.
“We're proud to be alongside them as they move forward with their plans to build a little more housing in every neighborhood,” Hochul says. “We need to do everything in our power to build more housing and make New York more affordable for all of us.”
The funding would provide $1 billion for affordable housing, $2 billion for home construction, and another $2 billion for infrastructure expansion, including expansion of sewers and other urban systems, which would provide tens of thousands of homes. Adding more housing was a major concern for lawmakers.
Officials say the large-scale implementation of the project is expected to increase the number of housing units in the city by 80,000 from the original estimate of 100,000.
But neighborhood opponents across the city have balked at the zoning plan, which has been in the works for a year.
More than half of the city's 59 community boards voted against the proposal.
The protests extended into Thursday, when Laurelton resident Sherwin James confronted Adams in the City Hall Rotunda in a last-ditch effort to voice his concerns about the proposal.
“I just don't think it's a good place to have another influx of people,” he said of Queens.
Meanwhile, supporters of the plan were stunned that negotiations appeared to have watered down a proposal to remove a requirement that all new developments include parking.
The so-called parking mandate eats up space that could be used to build new apartments, they argued.
“This is truly a failure of leadership on the part of this council,” Sarah Lind, co-executive director of Open Plans, tweeted.
“As more than 80 cities lift parking mandates citywide, New York City shows once again that we can’t do hard work.”
