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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 | The Indian Eye 24

Mayor Adams Launches Historic Effort To Build

“A Little More Housing In Every Neighborhood”

Most Significant Pro-Housing Reform Ever to City Zoning, “City of Yes for Housing
Opportunity” Would Create an Additional 100,000 Homes for 250,000+ New Yorkers

OUR BUREAU va-Hiatt. “The ‘City of Yes for Hous-
ing Opportunity’ proposal will help
NEW YORK, NY
create an abundance of housing for
ew York City Mayor Eric Ad- New Yorkers for years to come, with
ams has launched an urgent, an emphasis on bringing permanently
Ngroundbreaking effort to affordable homes to neighborhoods
tackle the city’s persistent and severe across the five boroughs.”
housing shortage and enduring af- These steps also build on the Ad-
fordability crisis by enabling the cre- ams administration’s record-breaking
ation of “a little more housing in every efforts in Fiscal Year 2023, producing
neighborhood” — making New York the most new supportive homes and
a city that working people can once homes for New Yorkers formerly ex-
again afford to live in. As the lack of periencing homelessness ever in the
available homes drives up rents and city, creating the second-most new
pushes more New Yorkers into the affordable homes in one year, and
shelter system, Mayor Adams’ “City connecting more New Yorkers to
of Yes for Housing Opportunity” pro- permanent homes with City Fighting
posal would help the New Yorkers housing, eliminate bans on apart- Torres-Springer. “At its root, this plan Homelessness and Eviction Preven-
who have built this city afford to stay ments across the city, and enable con- is driven by a simple insight: To solve tion Supplement (FHEPS) housing
here and raise their families here by versions of empty office buildings into our housing shortage, we need to vouchers than ever in the program’s
creating an additional 100,000 homes homes for New Yorkers. build more homes. Building is essen- history.
— enough to support more than “So many of the challenges we tial to our future as a city where work- The City of Yes for Housing
250,000 New Yorkers, roughly the face as a city are rooted in an ongoing ing families can live and thrive and to Opportunity plan could add 100,000
entire population of Buffalo, N.Y. — housing shortage that is forcing too our status as an economic and cultural homes to expected housing produc-
over 15 years and more than 250,000 many people to leave New York City capital. Recognizing that the time for tion over the next 15 years, create
family-sustaining jobs. and making life increasingly difficult tinkering is over, Mayor Adams has nearly 260,000 temporary jobs and
The steps Mayor Adams is pro- for those who stay. For more than 60 put forth a visionary and courageous an additional 6,300 permanent jobs,
posing would be the most significant years, we have added layers upon lay- plan to dismantle exclusionary zoning, and provide $58.2 billion in econom-
pro-housing reforms ever to the city’s ers of regulations, effectively outlaw- make New York City more affordable, ic impact to the city over the next 30
zoning code and a critical step towards ing the kinds of housing that our city and tackle this crisis head-on.” years. The policies have been devel-
Mayor Adams’ “moonshot” goal of has long relied on. Today, we are pro- “Our goal is to create ‘a little oped over the past year in close con-
delivering 500,000 new homes to New posing the most pro-housing chang- more housing in every neighborhood’ sultation with community partners,
Yorkers over the next decade. es in the history of New York City’s to finally tackle New York’s housing other stakeholders involved in creat-
This new initiative represents the modern zoning code — changes that shortage head-on,” said New York ing housing, and local and national
third of three citywide zoning changes will remove longstanding barriers to City Department of City Planning experts to draw on evidenced-based
that will be presented to all five bor- opportunity, finally end exclusionary (DCP) Director Dan Garodnick. “By best practices to make housing more
ough presidents, all 59 community zoning, cut red tape, and transform addressing the root cause of New affordable, ease displacement pres-
boards, and the New York City Coun- our city from the ground up,” said York’s high housing costs, displace- sures, and reverse segregation by race
cil as part of Mayor Adams’ vision for Mayor Adams. “This plan will spur ment, homelessness, and the imbal- and income reinforced by centuries of
New York City as an inclusive, equi- an additional 100,000 new homes for ance of power between tenants and housing policy.
table “City of Yes.” As the majority a quarter-million New Yorkers. If we landlords, we can build a city where Around the world, cities have low-
of New Yorkers spend more than do this right, decades from now, New working families can thrive. These ered housing costs by allowing mod-
one-third of their income on rent, and Yorkers will see this moment for what critical and urgently needed changes est apartments where residents share
fewer than 1 percent of apartments it was: a turning point away from ex- will not just create the housing that some common facilities, like kitchens
listed under $1,500 monthly rent are clusionary policies and outdated ideas New Yorkers need — they’ll also help and bathrooms. New York was once
available for new tenants, the City of and towards a brighter, bolder, more foster vibrant communities where full of options like these — but, over
Yes for Housing Opportunity marks equitable future — the moment when New Yorkers have easy access to tran- time, regulations have made this kind
the first time a mayoral administra- we came together and decided to be a sit and services, support multigenera- of housing all but impossible to offer.
tion has proposed unlocking more ‘City of Yes.’” tional families, and deliver good-pay- This proposal would adjust current
housing on a citywide basis — offering “Our housing crisis is severe, ing jobs and a greener city.” rules that mandate larger unit sizes, al-
a roadmap for every community to do and this landmark proposal meets “With NYCHA residents ac- low more smaller-sized apartments to
its part to address this citywide crisis. the moment with the most sweeping counting for one in every 17 New reduce the need for single adults to live
The plan includes measures to elimi- pro-housing changes in the histo- Yorkers, we know that the creation of with roommates, and re-legalize homes
nate mandates that parking spaces be ry of our zoning code,” said Deputy housing in our city is of critical impor- with shared kitchen or bathroom
constructed with new homes, create Mayor for Housing, Economic De- tance,” said New York City Housing facilities while maintaining strong
additional affordable and supportive velopment, and Workforce Maria Authority (NYCHA) CEO Lisa Bo- building code and livability standards.

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