NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday a new 40-point action plan for the future of New York City.
The set of proposals was created by the New New York Panel, a group of movers and shakers working to implement post-pandemic reforms in transit, safety, housing, business and other sectors.
Adams challenged the lip service offered by City Council members, who have historically opposed high-density housing developments.
"'Build more housing,' build more housing,' but then in the next sentence, 'not on my block,'" he said. "No, every block must be open to building housing in the city."
Hochul also addressed the need to solve some of the city's most pressing concerns as well as a plan to create 800,000 new housing units over the next decade, which she pledged to outline in her next State of the State address.
"We're taking a similar, no-holds-barred approach to our other intractable problems," she said. "You know, childcare, public transit."
The governor noted the "historic investments" in a third track to Penn Station and Grand Central access to the Long Island Rail Road. She also acknowledged there's still work to do to address public safety.
"I will take parts of what you're talking about here today — the parts that say, 'state laws need to change,' and I'll work hard to get it done," Hochul added.
In terms of new business opportunities, Adams said that "we're going to have a combination of remote work," but that there would be "a conversation on how that impacts the mom-and-pop stores that depend on foot traffic."
Co-chair Dan Doctoroff said that one of the major challenges addressed by the action plan is the pandemic's impact on public transit.
"We're stuck at roughly 47 to 50% of people coming into the office every day," he added.
Doctoroff and Richard Buery, another chair, said the report encourages discounts to encourage mass transit travel.
Notably, the unveiling of the post-pandemic strategy comes just days after the city's health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, issued a public health advisory urging the use of a high-quality mask indoors or in crowds outdoors amid a spike in "tridemic" cases of COVID-19, flu and RSV.
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