The City Council on Thursday passed Mayor Eric Adams' controversial and ambitious plan to build 80,000 new housing units across the Big Apple over the next 15 years.
The initiative, known as the “City of Yes,” was approved on a 31-20 vote after months of tense negotiations at City Hall as Hitzner seeks to address the city's housing and affordability crisis. Ta.
“Today is a historic day for New York City, but more importantly for working-class New Yorkers. By passing the most pro-housing legislation in our city’s history, we are showing our government that we can still be bold and brave. We showed the people,” Adams said after the vote.
“Our administration proposed this proposal and fought hard for it for over a year, and now New Yorkers are the ones who will benefit from lower rents.”
The new law includes a $5 billion investment to build tens of thousands of new homes, but it's also aimed in part at making the first large-scale adjustment to zoning rules in decades. and adding housing above the basement or store.
The plan also aims to change off-street parking requirements for new construction and allow homeowners to build apartments on single-family lots to encourage housing production.
Developers can also now build 20% more homes as part of their construction projects, provided they are affordable.
“The only way to solve New York's affordability crisis is to build more housing. That's why I'm committing $1 billion to projects that make the City of Yes possible. ” said Governor Kathy Hochul.
“Earlier this year, I signed the strongest pro-housing bill in three generations, but the work is far from done. That's why for New York City, we need zoning reforms that will create more housing that New Yorkers so desperately need. It is important to move forward.”
Still, more than a dozen City Council members tried to veto the plan. He asserted that local residents were concerned that their area did not have the infrastructure to support such a large population increase, and that the “character of the area'' would change.
Democratic Brooklyn Borough Councilman Chris Banks said, “My constituents believe that this proposal would irrevocably change the character of the neighborhood, allowing developers to build and build without regard for their own interests.'' “I'm concerned that this will open the floodgates and destroy families that will be uprooted for generations.”
Queens Borough Councilman Bob Holden, also a Democrat, added that the plan is “a developer's dream and a neighborhood's nightmare.”
“It's really terrible that we're leaving so many decisions in the hands of developers,” Holden said.
“A $5 billion guarantee is not worth the paper it is printed on.”
