City of Yes Passes by a Vote of 31 - 20

Stephen Ross, REBNY Members & the Adams Family Won & NYC Lost

December 6, 2024 / NYC Real Estate & Business / NYC Government & Politics / City of Yes Special Section / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz.

The City of Yes for Housing Opportunities bill passed yesterday afternoon / evening in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. The City of Yes or NYC Municipal Legislative Bill - L.U. 181 & Res 689 - App. N 240290 ZRY (City of Yes Zoning for Housing Opportunity) amendment of the Zoning Resolution of the City of New York, modifying multiple Sections to expand opportunities for housing within all zoning districts, Citywide. *

The photo snapshot at right shows the NYC Council voting on the City of Yes.

City of Yes [Wo]Men - Roll Call Vote Tally 31-20

Voting For the City of Yes Members. Carlina Rivera District 2, Eric Bottcher District 3, Keith Powers District 4, Julie Menin District 5, Gale Brewer M District 6, Shaun Abreu District 7, Diana Ayala District 8, Yusef Salaam M District 9, Carmen De La Rosa M District 10, Kevin Riley Bx District 12, Pierina Ana Sanchez District 14, Oswald Feliz District 15, Althea Stevens District 16, Rafael Salamanca Bx District 17, Amanda Farias District 18, Francisco Moya Q District 21, Tiffany Caban Q District 22, Shekar Krishnan Q District 25, Julie Won Q District 26, Nantasha Williams Q District 27, Speaker Adrienne Adams Q District 28, Selvena N. Brooks-Powers Q District 31, Lincoln Restler District 33, Jennifer Gutierrez District 34, Crystal Hudson District 35, Chi Osse District 36, Sandy Nurse District 37, Alexa Aviles District 38, Shahana Hanif District 39, Rita Joseph District 40, Justin Brannan Bk District 47.

Pay attention to the delineation of NYC Council members by the boroughs noted above by letters. Speaker Adrienne Adams delivered enough Queens council member votes (7) in favor of the legislation, which had they voted as their Community Boards did, would have killed the City of Yes bill.

Did Adrienne Adams and these NYC Council members betray the people of Queens they were elected to represent? Well, if so, keep in mind they are up for re-election in June 2025. So please educate yourself, fact check the statements made herein by using the power of the internet, and then after you've done enough research to know what's true, start spreading the news and get behind people who will represent you, the voters, not the big money that funded their campaigns.

Voting in the Negative. Joann Ariola District 32, Chris Banks District 42, Joseph C. Borelli District 51, David Carr District 50, Eric Dinowitz District 11, James Gennaro District 24, Kamillah Hanks District 49, Robert Holden District 30, Linda Lee District 23, Farah N. Louis District 45, Kristy Marmorato District 13, Christopher Marte District 1, Diane Mealy District 41, Mercedes Narcisse District 46, Vickie Paladino District 19, Lynn Schulman District 29, Sandra Ung District 20, Inna Vernikov District 48, Kalmar Yeger District 44, Susan Zhuang District 43.

We will keep this roll call of the vote on our site indefinitely in the City of Yes Special Report Section, because you, the voters, can use it as one benchmark vote, that helps you understand who is representing you, and how they are representing you. This becomes particularly important as there is the Democratic Primary in June 24, 2025 and the general election is November 4, 2025. Almost all of the elections are decided in the June primary because 56% of NYC is Democratic and only 26% is Republican. The remaining 18% are independent.

* Editor's Note.  The summary of the bill leaves out the part about the NYC Council members forfeiting their power, and because they represent us, they are forfeiting our power and legal rights to weigh in on new developments in our neighborhoods.  The summary also leaves out the part where by rushed passage of the 1,388 bill, the real estate developers and international investors can harvest a huge amount of tax abatements for 'affordable housing' that would be 'affordable' to individuals making up to $141,000 and a family of three making up to $183,00 per year or making rental payments of $4575 per month.  And the summary leaves out the part about the negotiated deal, wherein how Eric Adams is going to miraculously fund the $4 billion, that magically appeared just by Eric Adams promising it, after Eric Adams tried to cut $100 million from the budgets of public schools in January 2024 and cut $22 million from the budget for public libraries as recently as November 2023.  Adams promise of $4 billion is just that, and only that - a promise - as it is NOT IN THE BUDGET. And we all know the value of a politician's promise, especially when it's made by someone like Eric Adams, who has a documented history of lying, and is managing a tight budget that doesn't have $4 billion of funding lying around. He's going to have to take that funding from other places like public schools, public libraries and the NYPD.

Just Saying No to the City of Yes

See What's Driving the Urgency to Pass the 1386 Page 'City of Yes' Bill Now ...

... in Addition to being a Dishonestly-Sold, Anti-Democracy Bill, that Strips Communities of their Rights, Guarantees NO Affordable Housing, Likely will Inflate the Cost of NYC Real Estate, and Mostly Benefits the Elite, Super Rich Class of Real Estate Donors who Staffed the Group that Wrote the 1386 Page Bill & Funded the Campaigns of Mayor Adams and Numerous NYC Council Members, and Deprives NYC & NYS of Much Needed Future Tax Revenue for 10 to 40 Years

December 3, 2024 vs 11.29.24 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Things To Do Events / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The photo above or at right shows NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who made an effort to rectify some of the deceitful promises of the City of Yes zoning changes, by negotiating some changes which are more likely to result in the creation of some truly affordable housing - but still very far short from justifying the incredible amount of government tax abatement giveaways that the City of Yes will enable, in light of the 421a NYS property tax law extension, wherein the taxpayers give the rich developers' properties 10 - 40 years tax free, in exchange for the real estate developers building apartments for tenants who earn up to between $141,000 and $183,000 per year.

Is this kind of public policy borderline or outright insane?

I STILL HAVE THE GRAPHICS TO DO, BUT THE VOTING BEGINS NOW, SO UP WE GO.

A democracy is only as good as the people who comprise it. 

The incredibly thoughtful and well written documents upon which our democracy was founded, as well as our historical precedent, help. 

But in the end, all of the earlier work that went into creating and maintaining our democracy, will be rendered meaningless, if the current and living heirs to our democracy, fail to pay attention to what their elected officials are doing to them - not for them. 

And once aware - or even awake - those people must then take intelligent, courageous and decisive action to quickly correct abuses of power, by those who have been entrusted with it. Generally a population doesn't lose the protection of the rule of law, and fall back into servitude, in one swell swoop.  They fall back into poverty and servitude, 1) one executive action, 2) one legislative action, and 3) one institutional action, at a time. And that is what we are witnessing on a local and national scale simultaneously.

Mayor Adams and his Cohorts Draft City of Yes without Community Participation

Campaign Funding in 2021.  After winning the Democratic primary in June of 2021, Adams continued on fundraising efforts, even though he had essentially won the Mayoralty, meeting with wealthy real estate developers and millionaires and billionaires out on Long Island and at Martha's Vineyard. I reckon the further away from the public eye, the better

Year One - Drafting the City of Yes Proposal 2022.  After raising the millions he didn't need to ride onto victory, and interacting with the well heeled developers, Adams set to work on their agenda.

During the first year of the Adams Administration, the Mayor met with members of the Real Estate Board of NY, representatives of large businesses, as well as representatives of a few non-profits and community groups that have been funded in part by these wealthy people.  They called themselves the New New York.

The New New York began setting up its goals for the Adams Administration, which focused almost entirely on zoning legislation.  Rank and file New Yorkers were NOT involved in helping the New New York draft the City of Yes legislation; and as far as I know, neither were any NYC Council members nor any board members of the 59 community boards that represent the people of NYC in conducting zoning and real estate related matters. 

Mayor Adams' Deputy Mayor, Maria Torres-Springer, reportedly led the effort. 

One could very reasonably ask whether the City of Yes zoning law changes are a quid pro quo between Mayor Adams and people like Stephen Ross and other REBNY members who supported Adams' bid for Mayor.

Mayor Adams & Garodnick of City Planning Plot Their Sales Approach

Year Two - Figuring Out How to Sell It to the Public 2023.  According to a January 2024 presentation by Alicia Boyd of MTOPP, a Brooklyn based community organization, the New New York group came up with a 111 points or text amendments they wanted to make into NYC zoning laws. This became the City of Yes legislative proposal. There are those who believe it was named City of Yes to psychologically suggest to legislators that they vote yes in favor of the zoning changes.  But that was only the beginning of the various manipulative sales techniques and deceits used to convince both the public and the NYC Council to approve it.

Mayor Adams and his cohorts at the Department of City Planning met with members of the community and boards - but only AFTER the bill had been drafted.  So, folks knew they weren't being asked for their input to solving NYC's 'affordable housing crisis' but rather used as focus groups by Daniel Garodnick and Adams, to figure out how to sell this real estate developer and billionaire-crafted legislation, to the public.

Thirty Eight Community Boards Say No to City of Yes

Year Three - Seeking Passage of the Bill 2024.  There are 59 Community Boards which are comprised of volunteers who represent the various neighborhoods located in the five boroughs.  The community board members are chosen by the Borough Presidents in tandem with the local NYC Council members.  These community board members are generally longstanding residents, closely connected to their communities, and somewhat knowledgeable through experience, about zoning regulations in NYC.

So, why did only one of these Community Boards recommend passage of the City of Yes without conditions, while 38 of them flat out said no [this is of 59 boards documented by Streets Blog]. And another 20 of them said they would consider passing it, but only if certain conditions were added to the bill.  Be advised that when conditions attached to bills are not in the interest of the rich and powerful, they are rarely acted upon.

Doesn't it seem that if the Adams Administration had any respect for our democratic processes, they would have scrapped the bill at this point and started over?  No and they didn't.  They put a fresh coat of lipstick on the legislative pig, and kept marshalling it through the approval process, to where we are today.  One vote away from it getting approved - or shot down.

Adams' Effort is Aided and Abetted by Real Estate Industry Millionaires & Billionaires Funding of Numerous NYC Council Members Campaigns & Many of Those Pols Won

But the real estate industry wasn't taking any chances, that NYC Council members would actually represent the people who voted for them, instead of the people who funded their campaigns. So, in the last municipal election in 2021, the real estate developers used their wealth to back NYC Council candidates they believed would work on their behalf and vote for the City of Yes. This is why the City of Yes is expected to be passed by the NYC Council - because many NYC Council members been signfiicantly funded by the people pushing the City of Yes.

The Dishonest Sales Promotion of the 'City of Yes' Legislation

There were a number of things the Adams Administration did, to try to deceive New Yorkers into thinking that the City of Yes would solve the 'affordable housing crisis'. 

First, they promised this will solve the affordable housing crisis, by igniting an affordable housing boom of some 109,000 units, when in fact there are no guarantees that any affordable housing will be built at all because of the zoning legislation.

Speaker Adrienne Adams corrected part of that dishonesty by negotiating for more money [$5 billion] and more truly affordable housing units [some available to folks making 40% of the AMI, which is an income of $43,500]. This resulted in the lowering of the estimate of the 'affordable housing' units the City of Yes will produce by 29,000 units down to 80,000 units - see our prior report dated November 27, 2024 in our City of Yes Special Reports section.

In a NY Minute, the Mayor Miraculously Comes up with $4 Billion, After Trying to Cut Millions from Public Schools & Libraries

So, one of the questions I have to ask, is how did Mayor Adams go from cutting $100 million out of the public schools budget and $36 million out of the public libraries budget about a year ago; to coming up with $4 billion of the $5 billion [NYS chipped in $1 billion] to get the City of Yes through the NYC Council Committee on what seemed a moments notice, during the negotiations with the NYC Council Speaker. When NYC public schools and libraries need funding, Adams says money is hard to find, but when the Mayor's millionaire / billionaire real estate developer funders / friends need it, POOF the money magically appears.

Editor's Note. You can Help by Taking Action. Henceforth if any NYC or NYS government official or any candidate running for office in NYC or NYS uses the term 'affordable' with housing - DEMAND that they give you monthly rental prices and unit sizes - or this rampant deceit of the Electorate vis-a-vis fraudulent 'affordabe' housing, will go on endlessly. Hold the tricksters, like Mayor Adams, accountable.

Where's the Fine Print?

NYC City Planning Leaves Key Points Out of Presentations - Taking Power Away

In their presentations to Community Boards, the Department of City Planning left out a HUGE number of relevant details, including that they essentially want to put the Community Boards out of business, and somewhere between minimize and eliminate, any input into zoning for new developments from the City Council. 

This, in essence, transfers all of the power over new developments or changing developments to, what today seems like an incredibly corrupt, Mayor and his Administration.  All of these changes are anti-democracy, anti-people, anti-community-engagement by and for New Yorker residents and businesses, vis-a-vis what the billionaire developers and their international investors can do to the streets and neighborhoods, we - not they - live and work in.

The Adams Administration told folks that a poll showed most New Yorkers were in support of City of Yes.  What they didn't and wouldn't [I asked and received no response] tell folks is who funded that poll, and that that poll was done using experimental methods.

The 1,386 page City of Yes Kitchen Sink Legislation isn't Ready for Passage

There are still too many issues with the huge legislative package for the NYC Council to pass it. Of course that doesn't mean they won't. The following are a few of them, provided to me by a community board consultant, George Janes, and a Brooklyn activist, Alicia Boyd.

Janes says that the bill doesn't provide any guidelines nor minimum requirements for how many units a huge buildings with few units should provide.  Conversely, it allows for the creation of buildings which could be comprised entirely of studio apartments, essentially ensuring that the people who live there, have lower incomes and less space.

It does nothing to address housing unit losses via conversions.

There aren't any mandates for affordable housing units, as in many [most?] other jurisdictions, including Westchester.  This is a way to not only fund affordable housing units, but also to ensure there's some level of integration between lower / middle income residents, with higher income residents in a building / neighborhood.

In his testimony before the NYC Council, Janes said, " ... COYHO changes basic zoning standards, reducing sizes of rear yards, side yards, legal windows, courts, and open space. City of Yes changes the fundamental building blocks of the City without conditioning those changes on the creation of affordable housing.  It creates new CPC [City Planning Commission] authorizations, where the Council would cede their power to an unelected and unaccountable CPC, which would hold no public hearings on those authorizations ...".

Brooklyn community activist, Alicia Boyd of MTOPP, said in her presentation in January of 2024, that the Adams Administration wants want to remove Environmental Assessment Statements (EAS) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) as a requirement for the development of a large class of large buildings.  Assuming I understand this correctly, [I'm reaching out to her] this means you could be living next to a toxic dump that has been dormant for decades [so no problem to date], but then a new building is planned on your block, which opens up the toxic site, and you don't get to know about it and react to it, before it becomes your problem.

Media Failures & Where's the Supporting Infrastructure?

The traditional media coverage of the City of Yes by TV and newspapers, has been somewhere between inadequate to ignorant to dishonest. It's worth pointing out that newspapers like the NY Daily News and NY Post are owned by billionaires who travel in the same social circles as the billionaire and millionaire real estate developers behind this plan, and with whom they share some of their media ownership.  And it's possible that Mayor Adams is using the NYC local ad spending, provided for in Local Law 83, to pressure the smaller ethnic and community media outlets to tow the Administration's party line on this bill.

The City of Yes is a 1,386 page document. So what's been identified above, is the only a small sampling of the issues we're going to have to deal with to compensate for the real estate developers and investors' tax abatement and housing windfall. For example, without Community Boards reviewing developments, public lands can be taken away from a community without them even knowing, like they could have been in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, had it not come to the attention of local pols via the community board. And without community board input, the infrastructure to support real estate developments likely won't be addressed until after the fact, at best causing temporary hardship, while forcing government spending in support of private industry without community input.

The Dirty Little Secret Driving the Urgency of the City of Yes

This brings us to the last City of Yes [COY] issue for you to consider and that's funding. Why are we, the taxpayers, giving all of this money to the richest people among us, to build expensive luxury apartments? Some will argue that the new tax abatement schedule, 425a, only gives tax abatements for between 10 - 40 years of property tax free ownership, to those developers who are creating apartments that are affordable to people making 60% or 80% of the AMI [Area Median Income].

My response to that is two fold - 1) Dishonest & Exaggerated HPD Area Median Income Numbers. The numbers they use to calculate AMI or Area Median Income are so dishonest that they are laughable. It's generally believed that the Area Median Income for an individual in NYC is about $ 60,000 to $65,000. The HPD chart says that half of the people in NYC make over $108,000 - not $65,000 - and they use their higher number, not the real one, to calculate the tax abatement numbers. I can only hypothesize that the real estate industry exercises an incredible amount of influence over the conjuring up of those numbers.

2) NYS Extension of 421a Tax Breaks Means Huge Loss of Tax Revenue for COY 'Affordable' Luxury Apartments. In April the NYS legislature approved the extension of 421a Tax breaks for another five years to June 2031. The 421a allows for tax abatements of between 10 - 40 years for the creation of affordable apartments which may be defined by apartments that are 'affordable' for those earning up to 130% of the AMI, which for an individual [using the HPD chart] is $141,000 and for a three person family is $183,000. The assumption is that they then spend up to 30% of their income on rent - or $4,575 / month for the $183,000, and that's what they are calling an 'affordable' apartment. You tell me if you think that's what most New Yorkers would consider an affordable apartment.

So why are taxpayers going to pay all of this money for these rich developers to create apartments for rich tenants? This makes no sense, when you consider that this loss in funding is coming from public education, libraries, sanitation, healthcare, the NYPD, the NYFD, social services and the creation of real affordable housing - not the dishonest kind, as just described above.

Will somebody please get an estimate of how much this will cost taxpayers and what we will get. And don't tell me 80,000 units of affordable housing because 'affordable' the way NYC and NYS government officials use it, is absolutely meaningless. Tell me 30,000 studio apartments at $2,700 / month, 30,000 one bedroom apartments at $3,500 / month and 20,000 two bedroom apartments at $4,500 / month.

What's wrong with the 'mainstream' media that they're not reporting this? And what's wrong with our elected officials that they are doing this to us? And ultimately, you have to ask yourself, what's wrong with us in the electorate, that we let these sorts of abuses go unchecked. There's an election coming up in June 2025 - the Democratic primary. And if anyone out there is thinking of running for NYC Council or Mayor, pay attention to this issue and this vote, because this could easily be made into the defining issue of the year.

A Few Last Things To Consider

Pols are Transferring Your Money & Power to the Rich Who Fund Their Campaigns & Compromising Our Future

First former Governor Cuomo tried to get $20 billion in funding included in the NYS budget, and then Hochul tried to get $25 billion in the budget to fund 'affordable housing'. NYS and NYC government officials cannot seem to give away tax revenue fast enough to the billionaires, and real estate developers and investors fast enough. If you want to understand why rich people don't pay taxes at the same rate you do, this is just one - but a glaring one - example. And you're responsible in part, because you keep electing people who work for those who fund their campaigns instead of for those who voted for them.

The unrelenting greed of Wall Street and REITs will, over time, outbid everyone else for all the land in America. Left unchecked, they will make all Americans tenants, unless, we the people, get the government to step in and regulate REITs and similar entities.

Is Eric Adams to be trusted? After convincing NYCHA residents to give up their rights, Adams facilitated the transference of those rights to rich real estate developers. Adams seems to encourage those who have placed their trust in him, to sell now and pay later.

When Adams was Brooklyn Borough President, he encouraged the Brooklyners to relinquish ownership of the property upon which the Brooklyn Library once stood, in exchange for some fast cash.

Why have 5,000 NYCA Housing units become vacant since Adams took office, if we're really in an 'affordable' housing crisis?

And a little known / discussed fact is that Adams spent some time in real estate while on the NYPD and while a State Senator. According to a January 19, 2024 report in the Real Deal, "... The mayor worked as a broker in the 1990s when he was off-duty from the New York Police Department, according to a City Hall spokesperson. He also disclosed work as a real estate consultant when he was a state senator ...".

The 'Affordable Housing Crisis' Government Sponsored Lies?

The Hugely Inflated AMI ...

Make no mistake about it, the media in NYC and NYS isn't doing a very good job of covering one of the most important issues of our present time. They just repeat - without thinking - whatever the government or big business tells them - like they're reading it off of a teleprompter.

The real estate industry's influence within HPD seems visible in the AMI's published by HPD, which are so out of touch with the economic reality of most New Yorkers. I don't know how they get away with it. HPD states that the AMI income is $108,700, while all other estimates I find are far below that ranging from $40,000 which is wrong, but less wrong than the HPD figure, and the figure I find most often is in the $65,000 range. Google AI says that 80% of NYC salaries fall between $34,000 and $74,000, so how HPD comes up with $108,700 as the median income, that we use to provide tax forgiveness to the rich real estate developers and investors would seem terribly erroneous, if not corrupt.

... and the Hugely Deflated 1.4% Vacancy Rate

The real estate industry's influence over what I've come to believe are the brain dead teleprompter readers on TV is also very recognizable, as much of what I see presented on their media outlets appear to be pretty close to unedited publicity pieces. So caveat emptor - buyer beware - reader / viewer beware of who you're trusing to provide you with intelligent and reliable information.

One of the statistics the TV folks have been repeating like a parrot press, is the 1.4% vacancy rate in NYC. Thankfully, not all of the media is brain dead yet.

There were some 42,860 vacant rent stabilized apartments in 2022 per the Census Bureau. In 2023 the Census Bureau said that there are only about 26,310 vacant apartments, of which about 3,000 were categorized as uninhabitable. These numbers are not factored in when the Census Bureau published that NYC has a 1.4% vacancy rate. So note that we have a vacancy rate if you don't include all of the rent stabilized apartments being warehoused by the land owners in this city. Use this link to learn more about the vacancy rate lie.

https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/02/14/rent-stabilized-apartments-vacant/

... And Incompetently Managed & Completely Ineffective Tenant Protection Bureaucracies

Based on reliable anecdotal reports, neither the NYC nor NYS tenant protection units, HPD and the DHCR, actually do what they falsely claim / advertise they do. Instead of protecting tenants, they seem to be agents of the real estate industry and landlords. Why aren't NYC and NYS officials talking about actually enforcing the tenant protection laws, which I know for a fact anecdotally that they don't do.

To give you an idea of how ineffective the DHCR and HPD are consider this. New York has lost over ONE HALF MILLION rent stabilized apartments since 2000. Possibly more because the agencies entrusted to track this information in NYC and NYS, which are HPD and DHCR respectively, don't seem very competent at anything, except perhaps kowtowing to the landlords and real estate industry.

Alternative Approaches to Solving the 'Affordable Housing' Crisis without Providing Huge Free Passes on Taxes to Some of the Richest People in NYC, NYS, USA and the World

The City of Yes is expected, probably dishonestly, to generate the creation of 80,000 'affordable' housing units over the next 15 years that may not honestly be truly affordable to the average New Yorker at all. That translates into 5,333 per year. Here are a few remedies, off the top of my head, that will result in far more real rent stabilized / affordable housing availabilities than the stinky City of Yes. in the nearer term, and they'll cost very little

1. YEAR ONE. Use the 5,000 NYCA units that became vacant since Eric Adams took office to house people.

2. YEAR TWO. Legislate Huge & Escalating Rent Stabilized Apartment Vacancy Penalties. Why hasn't Adams and the NYC Council imposted a vacancy fee on all rent stabilized apartments in NYC that have been vacant for more than a year? Why doesn't Adams implement an escalating fee that rises for each additional vacant unit in any rent stabilized building, because these landlords are in the process of destroying existing rent stabilized apartments and likely in the process of attempting to harass the rent stabilized tenants out of their homes.

There are currently an estimated [but we don't really know because HPD and the DHCR don't really seem to know] 26,000 plus vacant rent stabilized apartments [it was as high as 42,000 in 2019 but it is believed that landlords are 'hiding' them] and some of those should shake loose, and in the meantime begin investigating those landlords' actions vis-a-vis their rent stabilized tenants, and you'll likely find a lot of harassment that hasn't been remedied by HPD or the DHCR. That should help stem the loss of rent stabilized units because the tenants will be more likely to stay.

3. YEAR TWO. Stop or Moderate the Rent Stabilized Rent Increases like Mayor de Blasio did. These unrelenting rent increases, particularly during the Bloomberg years, forced thousands out of their rent stabilized apartments. This will stem the losses of rent stabilized housing, as we saw after Mayor de Blasio came to office and moderated / stopped the price increases on rent stabilized units.

4. Use Real Economics - Not the Pseudo 'Silent Hand' Economics to Create Real Affordable Housing Supply. Why doesn't NYC and NYS stop giving tax breaks to rich developers to rent to people, and instead invest the money to create new truly affordable housing units, where the purchase price is pegged to the real - not HPD - Area Median Income. This would foster a city of owners, not a city of tenants. This proposal shares some characteristics with the Mitchell Lama housing units, a small amout of which Speaker Adrienne Adams negotiated into the City of Yes deal.

The Mayor and Governor keep wanting to throw billions of taxpayer funded abatements in the direction of the real estate industry that funds their campaigns, instead of doing their job which is to make those bloated ineffective bureaucracies HPD and the DHCR actually do their jobs. This could be kicked off by setting up a dashboard of all complaints filed with each agency and then record tenant / landlord satisfaction. Currently I'd wager it's 85% landlord satisfaction and below 15% tenant satisfaction [if not ZERO].

5. Implement the Low Hanging Fruit of the City of Yes Proposal. Why doesn't the NYC Council scrap the City of Yes, and implement the low hanging fruit outlined in that package in separately drafted bills - written by the NYC Council with community input.  Examples of the low hanging fruit seem to be no parking for housing near public transit, allowing for adjacent dwellings in those neighborhoods that agree to them, and basement apartments outside of flood zones. And instead of transferring NYCHA development rights, use them to create affordable housing units, with sales prices pegged to the AMI.

Mayor Adams has Agreed to Cede Our Power & Funding to the Real Estate Industry - What Will the NYC Council do?

That the Mayor and legislators allow private industry to write - not comment - on legislation they drafted, shows who is in control of our government. And it's an indication of how close we all are - because they represent us - to relinquishing theirs and our role in the governance process. Those who give up their power - and because they represent us they are giving up our power - don't deserve to be re-elected. The Democratic primaries are only 6 months away. 

Watch this vote, because it will tell you a lot about who is who, and what is what.

UPDATED NEW LINK _ Click this link to go to the NYC Council votes on the City of Yes tomorrow, Thursday, December 5, 2024.

LINK

The 'City of Yes' is an All Around Bad Deal

Novelist Rita Mae Brown said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results." Based on that definition, I'd say NYC municipal government efforts to solving NYC's affordable housing crisis - including the City of Yes - are insane. Six months from now we get to again choose who will represent us. Pay attention to this vote and decide for yourself whether these people are solving our problems, or making not just housing, but all of them worse, by giving away so much future tax revenue, for so very, very little in return.

A child not beholden to the real estate industry for funding could negotiate a better deal.

2025 NYC Mayoral Candidates are On Board with REBNY, Stephen Ross & Company

If you're looking for a paladin in the upcoming 2025 NYC Mayoral primary, thus far none has materialized. All five of the announced candidates for NYC Mayor already appear to be beholden to the big money real estate, big money investors, that seem to have an outsized influence throughout a good portion of NYC government. As the graphic above or at right indicates, all are on board for the City of Yes.

But it's not too late for someone like Kathryn Garcia to set foot in the race. And she could be just what the doctor ordered to clean up all of the ineffective - if not corrupt - enforcement agencies in NYC that are part and parcel of NYC's housing problem.

Stay tuned.

Hearings Next Week on Billionaires' & Developers' City of Yes Power Grab

NY City Council to Hold Open Hearings & Take Public Comment

October 15, 2024 / NYC Government & Politics / NYC Real Estate & Business / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz.

• Upcoming - Monday & Tuesday, October 21 & 22, 2024 - NY City Council Hearings / Public Comment Period on the City of Yes Zoning Changes Legislation. If you care about this city, this is legislation you'll want to pay attention to as Mayor Adams is pushing a biillionaire real estate and investor power grab agenda, that takes away power from local communities and transfers it to the Mayor's Office, wealthy real estate developers and international investors.
  • To pay attention and get involved see - NY City Council Land Use Public Hearings / Public Meetings October 21 & 22, 2024 - https://council.nyc.gov/land-use/
  • Click here to view our City of Yes Zoning Law Changes NYC Special Report Series

You can get involved, and stop the billionaires and wealthy real estate developers from wresting power away from the people.  They have been aided and abetted by the candidate they funded for Mayor - Eric Adams. Adams has been selling this legislation as the Cure All for - not the housing crisis in NYC - but the affordable housing crisis in NYC.

There aren't any 'guarantees' that even a single unit of truly affordable housing will be built because of the City of Yes legislation [I hope to publish more about this soon]. The Adams Administration's promise of more affordable housing is all based on huge government funded incentives and give aways, which are compensated for by either your tax dollars, or by reduced funding of your government services, so the real estate developers and international investors can increase their profit margins.

Next week the NY City Council takes up the matter and they are hosting two days of hearings [see details above].  A couple of activist groups are working to get people involved to stop the NY City Council from passing it or completely rework it, as only 12 of 59 Community Boards favor it. 

But that doesn't matter when the billionaires and wealthy real estate developers are backing the City of Yes proposal, because they helped fund many NY City Council members' campaigns too. So those NY City Council members who were funded in part by wealthy real estate developers will have to choose between voting in favor of those who helped fund their campaigns, or in favor of the people who actually went out and voted for them.

Community Groups Urge People to Participate in Our Democracy, or Risk Losing More of our Power to Wealthy Developers & International Billionaire Investors

So one community group launched a letter writing campaign, while the other is holding a Zoom conference call on the eve of one of the hearing dates.

• Village Preservation Society Organized Online / Letter Writing Campaign.  To learn more about / participate in the letter campaign made easy, click - City of Yes Letter Writing Campaign - https://www.villagepreservation.org/campaign-update/mayor-adams-city-of-yes-plan-to-get-city-council-public-hearing-tuesday-october-22-send-letters-now/

• City Club Organized Zoom Conference Call Prior to the Hearings.  To learn more about the Zoom Conference Call - which is free but for which you must register - click - City of Yes Zoom Conference Call Registration - https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8017289520592/WN_r7SQ-9iWQoC3KA3lPzHLvg#/registration

A government of, for and by the people only works if the people pay attention to what their representatives do after they've been elected. 'We The People' must then exercise our power when it matters most, which means before - not after - that power is legally taken away from us by a coalition of the rich and powerful and less-than-honorable politicians. And that is exactly what the City of Yes will do - if it is passed.

• To read our ongoing report series covering this important issue, click City of Yes NYC - Adams Rezoning of NYC for Billionaires, Wealthy Real Estate Developers and International Investors.

An Online Debate of the City of Yes Zoning Overhaul

• CLICK this link to read an online debate showcasing both the Mayor's advocacy for the City of Yes sandwiched in between two OpEds written by critics of the Mayor and his billionaire and real estate development campaign funders. The Mayor's arguments appear light on facts, while those of his critics marshall the facts in opposition to passage of the legislation. Scroll down to OpEds written July 9, 15 & 8, 2024.
• There's more to come, including a report about the surety of the promises that the City of Yes legislation has embedded into it to GUARANTEE [NOT - NONE] that affordable housing will be built in exchange for all of the great breaks provided to real estate developers and international investors. Stay tuned.

Is a Housing “Shortage” Really the Cause of Unaffordability?

 May 15, 2024 / NYC Government & Politics / NYC Real Estate & Business / City of Yes Zoning Changes NYC Special Report Series / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC. Published with permission from Andrew Berman, Executive Director of Village Preservation in NYC.

With the recent conditional repeal of the state’s cap on the allowable density of new residential construction in New York City, and the Mayor’s “City of Yes” proposal making its way through the public approval process, it’s an opportune time to look at the arguments behind this ever-growing push to increase the permitted size and amount of new residential development in New York City. Undergirding all of these is the contention that housing prices are up in New York City because we’re not building enough market-rate housing, and that certain parts of the city, like most of Manhattan south of Harlem, aren’t doing their fair share to address New York City’s housing needs. Let’s look at how well these claims line up with the facts.

Some data points often cited include the large increase in New York City’s population, which according to the census rose from 8.175 million in 2010 to 8.804 million in 2020, or a 7.7% increase. Figures from this same period say housing prices in New York City also rose dramatically, and the recent NYC housing vacancy survey shows record low housing vacancy rates in the city. Taken alone, this would seem to present a compelling argument that housing construction in New York City is not keeping up with population growth, leading to insufficient supply and rising prices.

But the complete picture tells a very different story.

• CLICK here to read the rest of Andrew Berman's report examining the City of Yes and NYC's unaffordable housing crisis.

Saying No to the City of Yes

City of Yes is ...

• An Attempt to Overcome NIMBY [Not in My Back Yard] in Favor of YIMBY [Yes in My Back Yard]

• Yes to the Billionaires & Developers Who Created the Plan

• No to the New York City Residents Who Already Live & Work Here

May 15, 2024 / City of Yes Special Report Series / NYC Real Estate & Business / NYC Government Media & Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Since the beginning of the new year I've attended over a half dozen different lectures, presentations and community discussions, about the City of Yes and related topics. Two of them were presentations given by the NYC Planning Department who are selling the plan, one by the Federal Reserve which took a stance that leaned pro business but did not ignore the possible destructive ramifications of passing the legislation, one by a community activist group in Brooklyn, another by a Community Board in Manhattan, and two others by a civic group, also in Manhattan.

I tried to keep an open mind about the pros and cons of the legislation, but I couldn't help but begin forming opinions about the proposed legislation, as I collected, sorted and analyzed the legislation and information surrounding it. Over time, the ramifications of actually passing this legislation have begun to appear.

The Mayor's Rationale for Pushing Legislation Created by and for the Billionaires & International Real Estate Development Community

The legislation was concocted by billionaires, real estate developers and the NYC Planning Department, headed by Daniel Garodnick. As such, it reflects their interests, and seems to almost completely ignore the interests of the communities that the NYC government is supposed to be serving.

The Mayor has been pushing the City of Yes, because he believes it will eliminate the 'Not in My Back Yard aka NIMBY' that many infrastructure projects [including affordable housing] encounter when the government or real estate developers are trying to foist them on a community. Hence this would have the effect of enabling projects to move more quickly from conception to fruition, and at a lower cost to the government, billionaire or real estate developer pushing the project. The Mayor also believes that this will enable the creation of more affordable housing.

It might enable the creation of more affordable housing, and it might not. It could just enhance the bottom lines of the billionaires and developers pushing the plan, which in my mind is the more likely scenario.

The Downside of Passing Legislation that Usurps the Power of the People

But, more importantly, it would usurp the power that the people living in these communities currently have, to voice their concerns about new construction projects like affordable housing, commercial buildings or transit, being built within their neighborhoods. While I appreciate the Mayor's interest in reducing the time and cost of getting things built - like affordable housing - I don't think that taking away the power a community has over what is developed within their midst, is the right way to go about changing things. And perhaps even more importantly, I think any time you're transferring power from the little people to the rich and mighty, you're moving power in the wrong direction.

City Club of NY - ReThinking the Housing Crisis

So, with this in mind, I'm going to take you into a Zoom conference hosted by the City Club of New York which was entitled ReThinking the Housing Crisis, held on May 7, 2024. While not specifically about the City of Yes, it provides some contextual background which should help in evaluating it. And later this month we'll also have a report on the Federal Reserve's April 25, 2024 conference entitled 'Fostering Neighborhoods: Faith-Based Organizations and the Development of Affordable Housing' which was largely about the proposed City of Yes legislation. At that conference there were several speakers who promoted the legislation, but not without reservations, both of which we'll include in our report.

• We'll have more to report later on ReThinking the Housing Crisis [2nd part of GB 531].

The City of Yes Voting Tonight in Sunnyside Queens

The Most Sweeping Zoning Law Changes in a Half Century are Underway.

Why is the Media MIA?

February 21, 2024 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Real Estate & Business / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

There's a vote tonight on the City of Yes zoning law changes beginning at 6 pm at 43-22 50th Street in Sunnyside Queens.

The City of Yes zoning law changes are the most sweeping changes to zoning laws in NYC in over a half century. I've not yet had a chance to thoroughly study them, but a cursory review indicates that one of the main tenets of the proposal is a significant rollback of local control in favor of real estate development. The Mayor's argument for this rollback is that it will enable developers to create more housing and enable more integration in neighborhoods.

COPY & PASTE this url into your browser to go to the website of Alicia Boyd of Brooklyn, who is a non-profit activist who's analyzed and been monitoring the 1,500 page City of Yes proposal - https://mtopp.org/index.php/2024/02/05/wake-up-do-you-know-whats-about-to-happen-to-your-new-york/

• CLICK here for a wee bit more commentary on the City of Yes Text Amendment Voting Tonight in Sunnyside Queens.