* Will 'City of Yes' Become a Law Enforcement Mess?

• How will New Yorkers React to their Neighbors' Businesses Daily Foot Traffic in Their Buildings?

• What Impact will Home Based Businesses have on Building Infrastructures including but not limited to Storage, Garbage Removal, Parking, (Hot) Water, Noise Levels & Security?

• Will NYC & NYS Government Agencies Need a Search Warrant to do Routine Regulatory Enforcement in Residence-Based Businesses?

May 28, 2024 / City of Yes Special Report Series / NYC Real Estate & Business / NYC Government Media & Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The City of Yes legislation has been moving through the NYC Council, having just been approved by another committee last week.

It's reportedly a billionaire and real estate developer crafted piece of legislation. And it seems to be guided by the invisible hand of billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross, who has been involved in many NYC government related real estate efforts, since former Mayor Bloomberg first gave that fox full entry into the chicken coop during Bloomberg's three terms in office. And of course, this legislation appears to be aided and abetted by Ross's campaign finance Political Action Committee efforts, which helped elect those who will enable his agenda, which in this case is one of essentially taking power from the people, and transferring it to Ross and his billionaire and real estate developer cohorts.

COY is Taking Power from New Yorkers, Because New Yorkers Aren't Paying Attention, Because They're Relying on TV's Knucklehead News

Reportedly, 30 of the 52 Community Boards voted against the City of Yes Part II legislation. Another 20 of the 52 said ok, but with conditions. And two voted for it. If this were a real democracy, The City of Yes legislation would never have gotten as far as it has, with reportedly a better than fair chance of passing.

It's worth reminding New Yorkers, that a government of the people, by the people and for the people - doesn't run without the people's involvement. Democracy crashes and burns when it's on auto pilot. If 'the people' don't pay attention, they will soon have nothing once again.

Pay attention to this vote. And I urge you to get involved if you can, because this is the largest usurpation of the everyday New Yorkers' power in my lifetime. The vote is expected to take place on or before June 6, 2024, because the NYC Council session ends next week. The NYC Council could vote it down, or table it to give folks more time to digest the mega changes, that are going to intrusively affect their daily lives.

Also, last Friday, after 5 pm, on the beginning of a three-day holiday weekend, a notice went out about proposed changes to the NYC Charter to be voted on this November. The first meeting is only one day after the three day weekend, at 1 pm today, which leads me to believe that whoever is behind these changes, wants as few people to know about them as possible. So fyi - https://www.nyc.gov/site/charter/index.page

I'll have more on the City of Yes, as soon as I can square away the time.

• CLICK here for prior short reports on the City of Yes zoning changes in NYC.

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.

• More coming later on ReThinking the Housing Crisis.