NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Department of City Planning and Mayor Eric Adams have started detailing a sweeping new zoning proposal that aims to cut red tape for developers.
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The City of Yes program will include three legislation packages presented to the City Council and Planning Commission for a vote focusing on the environment, housing and business respectively.
“We believe there are many areas in which government is getting in the way of progress, and government is limiting growth or housing creation or the ability for people to make greener buildings,” DPC Director and CPC Chair Dan Garodnick told 1010 WINS.
The city’s byzantine zoning code dictates what can be built where and regulates how buildings must be constructed. Zoning shapes the city and is therefore a powerful tool for implementing policy.
The city last updated its zoning laws in 2016 with the Zoning for Quality and Affordability initiative.
That program allowed for taller buildings and expanded opportunities to build certain specific types of housing — most notably facilities for seniors.
City of Yes is far more ambitious.
DCP has not yet released a detailed plan, but the outline for the housing initiative, dubbed Zoning for Housing Opportunity, would allow for senior, supportive and affordable housing to be built on a bigger scale than surrounding buildings; make it easier for buildings to change use; allow for denser housing; and limit parking requirements.
Councilmember Charles Barron, who sits on the Housing and Buildings Committee, is waiting to see a more detailed plan but worries changing zoning laws could provide an opportunity for handouts to developers at the expense of New Yorkers.
“I don’t trust that kind of general language without a detailed plan. That’s why I’m very suspect of this City of Yes,” Barron told 1010 WINS. “Yes to who? Yes to developers or yes to real affordable housing for our people?”
He sees the support of the Real Estate Board of New York, a trade association that represents real estate and development interests, as an early red flag.
“REBNY likes it — the real estate industry likes a lot of it,” said Barron. “It’s usually not good for us when they like it.”
REBNY released a statement in support of the program when Adams announced his intention to rework zoning laws in early June.
“The mayor has put forward a proactive framework for achieving several objectives needed for a strong economic recovery, including fostering vibrant commercial corridors, encouraging sustainability, and creating more housing,” said REBNY President James Whelan in a press release. “We look forward to working with City Planning and other stakeholders to see this framework come to fruition.”
In particular, Barron worries that developers could use overly-general language in the proposal as cover to circumvent Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, the process that allows elected officials to vet development proposals.
“That’s how we’ve been able to keep the real estate industry in check,” said Barron. “I’m suspicious when politicians like Eric Adams, who is backed strongly by real estate, come up with new housing plans with no real details.”
Garodnick said that increasing the amount of housing available will make for a more favorable market for renters and buyers.
“We believe the creation of new housing will have a material impact on the crisis that we’re in and the impacts that New Yorkers are feeling everyday,” he said. “They’re seeing the rising cost of rents, they’re seeing gentrification, they’re seeing abusive practices by landlords, harassment, unscrupulous behavior of all sorts. And that’s because the balance is tipped in favor of the building owner, because there’s a limit on the number of units we have in New York City.”
“Add more units, you tip the balance here more in line of tenants,” he continued. “You help to alleviate some of those pressures on rents and, overall, we believe that will be an enormous help to be able to create a more affordable city here.”
Garodnick pointed to New York’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program as a safeguard against the gentrification and displacement that often accompanies new development.
“New York City continues to have the most aggressive Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program in the country, which will be applicable in anything that we do,” he said. “When someone is experiencing a density boost as a result of a zoning change, they are required to deliver to the public a certain percentage of their units as affordable.”
What qualifies as affordable housing in New York City is determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Area Median Income calculation, which includes all of New York City and some affluent suburbs like Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties.
That leaves New Yorkers living in poor neighborhoods with the short end of the stick, with the cost of so-called affordable housing far exceeding local incomes.
Barron suggested that implementing a system in which the price of affordable housing matches the income of local residents would make him more enthusiastic to support the program.
For example, if the income of a neighborhood was stratified across three brackets with a 50%, 30% and 20% split, then 50% of the units would be priced low, 30% medium and 20% high, with all prices based on the incomes their bracket is representing.
“That’s real affordability,” he said. “If not, we’re gentrified.”
Barron also said mandating a portion of new units be set aside for homeless New Yorkers would be a good step that could win his support.
The environmental initiative, Zoning for Zero Carbon, aims to ditch limits on rooftop solar panels and in-building energy storage; scrap restrictions that could limit energy efficient construction; and allow for more electric vehicle charging stations.
“Zoning shouldn’t be the thing that’s getting in the way of reaching our climate goals here,” said Garodnick. “We want to make sure that it's really easy to install solar panels. That it is easy to create high performance walls… You might not be surprised to know that the 1961 zoning resolution does not make any reference to electric vehicle charging.”
Councilmember Lincoln Restler, who sits on the Environmental Protection Committee, thinks the policy goals are sound, though he’s waiting for a more detailed plan to make a final determination.
“City of Yes is a promising framework with overdue policy and zoning proposals, but the devil is in the details,” he told 1010 WINS. “We need this administration to set ambitious targets to force developers in New York City to go much greener. We don’t have a choice.”
In 2016, the city pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. DCP won’t have an estimate of how much of a reduction City of Yes could bring about until the agency rolls out a more detailed proposal, but Garodnick hopes zoning can play a meaningful role in reaching that target.
“We know we’ve got goals to hit. We know we’ve got obstacles in the way that are self-created. And we want to be able to deal with those,” he said.
“This is very much the right direction,” said Restler. “The only question is whether or not they’re going to go far enough. Because, unfortunately, the buildings department and the fire department have too often been impediments to the bold changes that we need in construction to decarbonize buildings.”
Restler said that buildings account for about 70% of emissions from New York City.
“If we’re going to fight successfully against climate change in New York, it’s all about our built environment and greening our buildings,” he said.
The councilmember also emphasized that retrofitting existing buildings will be crucial if the city is serious about meeting its goals.
“We can impose the most stringent requirements around future buildings that are constructed in New York City to make sure they are truly carbon neutral or zero carbon buildings, but the reality is that the vast majority of our housing stock is already built and that’s why, yes we need to prioritize new construction, but we also need to decarbonize the existing built environment across New York City,” he said.
The business initiative, Zoning for Economic Opportunity, would allow for dancing (and therefore loud music) in more nightlife establishments; allow more types of businesses to be built in certain economic districts; allow for small-scale production like breweries and bakeries to be built in business districts instead of just manufacturing districts; and standardize ground floor design requirements for buildings, which are currently decided neighborhood by neighborhood.
DCP intends to present the City Council with the environmental proposal in the spring. The business initiative should come “several months” later, and the housing program will be presented after that.
The first public information session for City of Yes is taking place Monday, and DCP plans on having more opportunities for public engagement as the mayor’s office pushes this major policy goal.
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