On the Ballot: Will NYC Say Yes to Housing?
NEW YORK, NY— Once a national leader in urban policy, New York City has fallen behind in adopting innovative land-use and housing solutions. Decades of burdensome regulations and fragmented power in city government have produced an urgent housing supply crisis.
In a new issue brief, Manhattan Institute senior fellow Eric Kober examines three City Charter amendments proposed by the New York City Charter Revision Commission under Mayor Eric Adams, which will appear on the November ballot. These amendments are intended to address two issues: the cost and expense of obtaining land-use approvals, and “member deference,” a practice in which individual City Council members are allowed a veto over proposals in their districts, allowing some to block much-needed new housing.
Kober argues that these changes would mark important progress by creating a governing framework in which new housing is more likely to be approved. However, the amendments might have the effect of pushing more development than appropriate into low-density areas of the city heavily reliant on auto transportation. To mitigate neighborhood impacts, the city should work with the MTA to upgrade bus service in outlying parts of the city. Furthermore, the city should create a workable waiver for its Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, where the current requirements for mixed-income housing cannot feasibly be met. Implemented effectively, the latter change would allow more construction of apartment buildings in medium- and high- density neighborhoods that are better-served by public transit.
Click here to read the full report.
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