Council Member Eric Dinowitz - City of Yes, Final Vote

 

New York City Council Member 

ERIC DINOWITZ

Proudly serving the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Norwood, Van Cortlandt Village, Spuyten Duyvil, Wakefield, and Woodlawn

11th Council District, Bronx · 277 West 231st, Bronx, NY 10463 Tel: (718) 549 - 7300

 

City of Yes

Dear Neighbor,

The NYC Council voted to pass the Mayor’s City of Yes plan, with Council modifications, by a relatively slim margin of 30-21. The goal of this plan is to make it easier for developers to build more as-of-right housing (housing that bypasses community input) and to increase housing density throughout the city. From the beginning, I had strong concerns about the impacts of this proposal, and skepticism about its impact. I want to thank every constituent that contacted me with your opinion. I heard you.

This proposal and my vote have been many, many months in the making. Throughout the process, I have held numerous community forums, communicated frequently with my constituents, shared a litany of updates to the plan, and attended meetings with local community boards and civic organizations to gather input. 

This proposal, billed as an “affordable housing production plan,” does little in the way of building affordable housing. Instead, it is an “as of right housing production plan.” There is no guarantee that this plan will yield more affordable housing, but there is a guarantee that it will remove more community input from land use decisions. 

With your feedback in mind, I advocated for important changes to the original plan to protect much of our community from overdevelopment, ensure parking minimums were not completely abolished, maintain environmental protections, and secure much-needed investments in our current affordable housing stock and infrastructure. 

Although the plan that passed yesterday ultimately fails to meet the needs of our community, I worked with the NYC Council’s Land Use team to make critical changes to the Mayor’s proposal that protect District 11 from some of the most egregious elements of the original plan. Additionally, Speaker Adrienne Adams led negotiations that yielded an additional $5 billion commitment for investments for infrastructure and affordable housing, including rehabilitating vacant apartments and supporting Mitchell-Lama housing. 

I have long been, and continue to be, a fighter for housing affordability that meets our community’s needs. The legislation I authored and passed to streamline the SCRIE process will help thousands more older adults freeze their rent and stay in their homes; I continue to host housing and tenant advocacy organizations in my office monthly; I have spearheaded tax exemption legislation for the preservation of affordable apartments in my district; I consistently advocate for term sheets from HPD that incentivize the production of two and three-bedroom apartments, rather than an oversaturation of studios and one-bedroom apartments; I have negotiated rezonings in the district to ensure the production of 100% affordable housing; and I secured hundreds of thousands of dollars for neighborhood resource centers to help keep people in their homes. 

Housing in our city is far too expensive, but through community action, legislation, negotiation, and budget advocacy, I have facilitated the production of more affordable housing and worked to keep current housing affordable for many residents. Housing is a right, not a privilege, and I will never stop fighting to protect everyone. More still needs to be done to make our city one that is affordable and welcoming to individuals and families.

A proposal that seeks to build more housing cannot come at the expense of the quality of life for those already living here. There were numerous concerns raised with me over the past few months with this proposal: it would require even less community input for new development, allow for developers to knock down more smaller homes to build taller buildings with no investment in infrastructure, strain community resources with no investment in those resources, and reduce parking significantly, all while circumventing the typical environmental review process. Obliterating community oversight, while removing environmental reviews, would leave the community vulnerable to the whims and wishes of developers, who would be given carte blanche. This proposal ultimately shifts power away from the community and into the hands of individuals not familiar with our neighborhoods and who, at the end of the day, leave our community behind, leaving us to deal with their decisions that went unchecked at any point in the process.

We have seen the impact of unfettered as-of-right development. Too often, the experience in District 11 is that when development happens, the community is cut out of the process and no permanent housing is even built. When as-of-right housing is actually built, it is often built without the community in mind. This community has seen too many buildings constructed that are not permanent housing, and housing that is built is saturated with studio and one-bedroom apartments, and as little parking as possible. 

Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Land Use team went to great lengths to improve this plan from its original proposal and secure promises from the Mayor. However, like many government promises, it is unclear where this money will go or how much of it will benefit The Bronx, let alone District 11. 

Moreover, I did not have the opportunity to vote on individual components of the plan. While some elements are good, this plan removes power from community members and places it in the hands of developers who may not have our community’s best interests in mind.

A plan that takes power away from the community is not something I can support. We need community-driven solutions to our housing crisis, not one-size-fits-all policies that sideline us.

Ultimately, I found the City of Yes plan, in its totality, to be the wrong way forward. That is why I voted no. 

I am deeply grateful to the hundreds of constituents who reached out to my office, attended community meetings, and made their voices heard. Your input was invaluable in shaping my decision. We will continue to stand together to make our city affordable, to create a greater economy for everyone, and to build and rehabilitate affordable housing for individuals and families seeking to prosper in our great city. 

My goal will always be to represent the community I serve and ensure that your voice is heard at City Hall.

Council Member Eric Dinowitz Council Member Eric Dinowitz Chair, Higher Education Chair, Jewish Caucus District 11 dinowitz@council.nyc.gov