Fresh off a state budget that delivered long-awaiting housing reforms, a new battle begin over a city-level package that could significantly boost construction in the five boroughs, testing Mayor Eric Adams’ ability to push the policies through against likely opposition. After months of preparation, the Adams administration’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan was formally referred to the city’s 59 community boards, starting the clock on a roughly seven-month review that will culminate with a vote by the City Council near the end of the year.
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Howard Slatkin, executive director of the nonprofit Citizens Housing & Planning Council, predicted that the City of Yes reforms would slow rent growth relatively quickly if enacted, by allowing more housing to come online within a few years and reduce pressure on the hot housing market. But, he added, zoning is only part of the puzzle.
“There is no single silver bullet for the housing crisis,” Slatkin told Crain’s. “Many steps are needed to give us a functioning housing system, including tax incentives to make new privately financed housing work, expanded resources to support housing for people at the lowest incomes, and efforts to limit the escalation of construction and operating costs.”
Read more at Crain’s New York Business.
