More than 2.7 million people call Brooklyn home. And between us, we live in a little over 1 million units of housing. Some of us own. Most of us rent. But all of us feel the housing crunch.
While the median asking rent across the five boroughs increased by 1.7% over the past year, in Brooklyn it increased almost three times as much– 4.5%. And today, more than 320,000 Brooklyn households are rent burdened, including many of the tenants that Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) organizes to prevent their eviction and displacement.
Brooklynites need more housing options, and we especially need more truly affordable housing for our families. And every neighborhood must be a part of the solution.
In Sunset Park, no new affordable housing had been built in more than 20 years. But just recently, FAC partnered with the Brooklyn Public Library to build a first-of-its-kind in NYC affordable housing development on top of a library. This innovative partnership has now created a safe, stable, and affordable home for 50 low-income New York families and a 21st century library. And Brooklynites are eager to continue adding new housing in ways that make sense for their neighborhoods.
That’s why we saw seven Brooklyn Community Boards vote in favor of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, legislation that will be in front of the City Council this Fall. Simply put, at a time when our housing supply crisis is the defining issue facing our city, the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity will make it easier to build housing in every neighborhood.
These changes would not open the floodgates on development or alter the distinct character of each neighborhood. Rather, City of Yes makes common-sense reforms that work for each neighborhood – lower-density neighborhoods could see projects like three-story residential buildings over businesses in commercial corridors, while in higher-density neighborhoods, developers would be permitted to build additional units of housing, so long as those units were set aside as affordable.
The City of Yes is not a free ride to unregulated development – it eases outdated, nonsense zoning regulations to make it easier to build a little more housing in every neighborhood without impacting the character of the neighborhood.
Communities will still have a say on land-use applications and project proposals in their neighborhoods. Projects requiring rezoning that impact the public will still need to go through the proper approvals process. Crown Heights residents would still have the opportunity to weigh in on projects like the proposed development that may cast shadows on a public good such as the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Community input will be as valuable and imperative to a proposed project’s outcome as ever.
Across decades of work, Fifth Avenue Committee has built or renovated over 1,400 units of affordable rental and homeownership housing in New York City, predominantly in Brooklyn. Each time a new development becomes available to apply to via the Housing Connect Lottery, we receive tens of thousands of applications that we can’t accommodate. There is far more demand for affordable housing than what we have in Brooklyn right now.
The need for more housing and affordable housing is indisputable, and urgent. But we have an important part of the solution on the table in front of us. As Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso said as he expressed his support for City of Yes: “Do not back down. Do not scale back. Do not shy away. If you’re going to do anything, do more.”
It’s time for us to seize this moment. It’s time for all our elected leaders to say, “Yes to Housing,” and support the City of Yes and advocate for the public investments needed to make its housing and affordable housing goals a reality.
Michelle de la Uz is the executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee and co-chair of the Board at the New York Housing Conference.
