By Mary Alice Miller
Mayor Eric Adams has achieved his crowning achievement: an update to outdated zoning rules that will build new housing in every neighborhood. New York City is experiencing a housing crisis, with demand outstripping a 1% vacancy supply.
Earlier this month the City Council passed an amended plan, dubbed City for All. Mayor Adams originally proposed more than 108,000 new units. The City Council reduced the number of units to 80,000 over 15 years, adding affordability incentives, and a $5 billion commitment for infrastructure upgrades and affordable housing.
“City for All demonstrates that it is possible to create a significant amount of new housing in every neighborhood while respecting neighborhood character and investing in more affordable housing, communities, and homeownership,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “Today is an important step forward to address the city’s housing crisis that is making it unaffordable for working- and middle-class New Yorkers. Residents of our city need affordable and stable homes to rent and own, and addressing that shortage while supporting existing homeowners and tenants, deepening affordability, and strengthening the infrastructure of neighborhoods are goals we must all share for a safer and stronger city.”
The $5 billion investment includes housing development and preservation for NYCHA and Mitchell-Lama developments and upgraded sewer and drainage systems to mitigate flooding and accommodate increased housing density. In addition, the investment will fund rental vouchers, a contentious issue between the Council and the Mayor. The affordability incentives will mandate 20 percent of income-restricted units for households earning 40 percent of the area median income for developers who want to build larger buildings while taking advantage of the new zoning rules.
Designed to work differently in different neighborhoods, the City of Yes will update zoning rules to allow vacant offices and other non-residential buildings to become homes. The plan will allow Accessory Dwelling Units like backyard cottages, garage conversions, and basement apartments in one—and two-family homes in all low-density districts, with restrictions to address concerns around flooding and context.
Transit-oriented modest-sized apartment buildings in low-density districts will be re-legalized. They must be near transit, over 5,000 square feet, and either on the short end of a block or facing a street 75+ feet wide. The buildings may be 3, 4, or 5 stories and must match the scale and character of existing buildings.
Buildings with studios and one-bedrooms will be allowed for New Yorkers who want to live alone instead of forcing them to live with roommates and bring back single-room occupancy with shared kitchens and other common facilities. This plan will free up multi-bedroom family-sized apartments that would otherwise be occupied by roommates.
Landmark buildings, such as churches, will be allowed to sell development rights to any lots on the same block, across the street, or at the next intersection while maintaining all landmarks and historic district protections.
Experienced Supportive housing providers can more easily classify projects as residential or community facilities.
City of Yes is a three-part plan which includes Carbon Neutrality and Economic Opportunity, as well as Housing Opportunity.
“We are taking the threat of climate change head-on. We want all New Yorkers to live in a city that has clean air, healthy buildings, and more resilient neighborhoods,” said Mayor Adams. “We are de-carbonizing our building and transportation sector to reach our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.”
The Carbon Neutrality component will make buildings greener, including retrofitting them and decarbonizing the energy grid by making it easier to install solar and wind energy systems and critically needed energy storage. It will remove barriers to infrastructure that support electric vehicle adoption, biking, and e-mobility. The waste stream will be decarbonized by supporting efforts to grow food, compost, and collect rainwater. Property owners will be able to more easily make energy-efficient retrofits.
City of Yes for Economic Opportunity removes outdated zoning limitations on businesses, supports growing industries, and helps local retail streets and commercial corridors thrive. The plan will activate vacant storefronts, simplify district types, enable more small-scale production, allow older buildings to adapt by eliminating unnecessary loading docks, allow commercial businesses on upper floors, and modernize how zoning defines different businesses.
The City of Yes explicitly permits indoor agriculture in commercial areas, allows regulated, licensed labs to expand near hospitals and universities, allows dancing and live comedy shows more broadly, better defines and enables amusements such as arcades and virtual reality, and gives New Yorkers more flexibility to have businesses in their homes.
The plan will create a consistent and easy-to-understand set of rules for ground-floor design, reduce conflicts between auto repair shops and pedestrians on sidewalks, and allow safe and sustainable micro-distribution neighborhood delivery hubs.
In addition, City of Yes Economic Opportunity enables resident-serving retail, services, and maker spaces at NYCHA and other residential campuses, creates a process for small, new bodegas and other locally-serving corner storefronts in residential areas, adapts spaces for industries like film, and create brand new loft-style zoning districts for future development of job-intensive buildings in manufacturing zones, and for the preservation of core industry areas.
The City Council doubled funding for HPD HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program, expanded funding for HPD HomeFix to provide financing to working- and middle-class homeowners for maintenance and repairs to preserve homeownership, increased Affordable Homeownership Production through increased funding, and increased Funding of Legal Services for Homeowners.