The controversial “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” passed in the City Council by a slim margin last week, earning equal amounts of praise and criticism from lawmakers and residents around New York City.
City of Yes will update some of the city’s old zoning regulations, easing the construction of new housing in areas where it has historically been prohibited. Officials estimate it will bring 80,000 units to the five boroughs over the next 15 years.
The proposal — which was amended late last month in order to gain more support from various council members — passed 31-20 in the City Council on Dec. 5.
“Today, the greatest city in the world has been and has decided to become a City of Yes,” Mayor Eric Adams said after the vote. “This image represents the future. A little more housing in every neighborhood to lift our city out of crisis.”
A tight vote from the Brooklyn delegation
Support for City of Yes was split among the Brooklyn delegation. Nine of the borough’s 16 council members voted in favor of City of Yes, and seven against.
Council members Alexa Avilés, Justin Brannan, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Shahana Hanif, Crystal Hudson, Rita Joseph, Sandy Nurse, Chi Ossé, and Lincoln Restler voted “aye,” while Chris Banks, Farah Louis, Darlene Mealy, Mercedes Narcisse, Inna Vernikov, Kalman Yeger, and Susan Zhuang voted “nay.”
Their votes largely reflected the will of their districts, or at least of the community boards within those districts. Of Brooklyn’s 18 community boards, 11 disapproved “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” and six approved. The results of the vote in Bed-Stuy’s Community Board 3 are not available online.
Brooklynites, too, were split on the amended proposal: some, Brooklyn Paper reported last month, felt that even if it wasn’t perfect, City of Yes would provide at least some new affordable homes. Others worried it would displace longtime Black and brown residents who live in low-density neighborhoods or single-family homes by allowing developers to build much larger buildings, driving up rents and driving out existing residents.
Citing parking issues and ‘phantom’ funding, seven Brooklyn CMs vote ‘no’
All four community boards in Banks’ District 42 — which includes parts of Brownsville, East New York, Canarsie, and East Flatbush — voted against City of Yes, and so did Banks.
“It’s not enough just to say that New York City is in a housing crisis,” Banks said at the Dec. 5 council hearing. “The real crisis is regarding a lack of affordability and a path to homeownership.”
The district has seen a significant increase in affordable housing over the last 15 years, he said, but it’s still “nearly impossible” for his constituents to become homeowners — and he felt City of Yes wouldn’t do enough to address the issue.
And while the council amended changes to parking mandates, Banks said City of Yes could still allow developers to build new housing without new parking, straining the already-limited supply in parts of his district without easy access to public transportation.
Ultimately, he said, his constituents felt the proposal could “irreparably change the neighborhood” and open the floodgates for developers to build without concern for longtime residents.
Parking was a major hangup for Mealy, who said that with City of Yes, “developers have absolute power to not do any parking whatsoever.”
“I feel this body has taken our own power away from ourselves,” she continued. “We can’t negotiate with the developers, they can do whatever they want.”
Yeger agreed with Banks, and said City of Yes for Housing Opportunity was too broad for a city as large as New York. He was also doubtful of the $5 million investment for housing and infrastructure promised by City Hall and Gov. Kathy Hochul as part of the amended City of Yes — calling it a “phantom $5 million.”
“We can disapprove this one, vote for an actual plan that does this in a real way, and does it in conjunction with the city budget so we can actually achieve the monies we think we’re getting,” he said.
‘Yes’ voters say all nabes need to help end the housing crisis
The seven Brooklyn reps who voted “yes” slammed their colleague’s critiques as they voiced their support for the initiative.
Hudson, who sits on the council’s Land Use committee and voted to send the amended City of Yes proposal to the full council last month, said “some communities are doing their part to address the housing crisis, and others are not. And that’s the real controversy.”
Housing construction has been uneven in the city. Between 2010 and 2020, roughly 185,000 new units were completed in multifamily buildings across New York City, according to the Furman Center. But they weren’t evenly distributed.
More than 15,000 new units were built in Greenpoint and Williamsburg during that time, but only 231 in Bay Ridge. Roughly 20,000 new low-income units opened in the Bronx and 15,000 in Brooklyn; while Queens and Staten Island got fewer than 5,000 each.
Data also show that while low-density districts take up more than 44% of the total land across New York City, they house just 28.4% of all New York City residents.
City of Yes is the “bare minimum” to allow for the creation of new housing in the five boroughs, Hudson said, including accessory dwelling units where older New Yorkers could age in place near their families.
“It gives communities and developers alike new options to consider when planning a new project,” she said. “Let me be clear, these options are just that, options … nothing requires developers or homeowners to build anything.”
The 80,000 new units promised by city officials works out to about 100 new units per council district per year, Restler said. His district has seen enormous growth since the 2004 Williamsburg-Greenpoint rezoning.
“Come to the 33rd District today, there are dozens of projects underway that are bigger than 100 units right now,” he said, “My district has generated more new housing than any other council district in New York City over the last 15 years. We are doing our part, it has not been easy, but it has been necessary.”
Fresh off a win after the council passed his FARE Act nearly unanimously last month, Ossé said members voting against City of Yes have previously opposed other measures to protect tenants and end the housing crisis.
In recent decades, the city has added more jobs than homes, Ossé said, and an influx of new residents are competing with longtime New Yorkers for limited housing stock — driving up prices and in some cases, forcing people out of their homes.
“We cannot as a body and government sit idle and let this city become more and more unaffordable because of those who have continued to say no for decades,” he said.
