City Planning Releases 2023 Housing Production Update, Interactive Map Tools

 

Without 421-a Tax Program, NYC Permitted Just 16,359 New Homes in 2023, Fewest Since 2016 

Uneven Geographic Distribution Continued, with 10 Community Districts Producing as much Housing as Other 49  

Report Highlights Urgency of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity Proposal to Spur Housing Growth Across the City 

Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Dan Garodnick today announced the update of the DCP Housing Database through 2023, and the release of two interactive online tools that visualize where new housing is being

built and permitted within New York City. 27,980 new homes were constructed in New York City in 2023, which was a slight uptick from 2022. However, only 16,359 new homes were permitted, the lowest figure since 2016, and a clear indication that the lack of

the 421-a tax incentive program has depressed new housing development. An interactive tool showing total production over time and by borough is available

here,

and an interactive tool showing 2023 figures by community district is available

here. 

The distribution of new housing continued to be extremely uneven in 2023: 10 of New York’s 59 community districts – Bronx 1, 4, 5, 7, Brooklyn 1, 2, 5, 8, and Queens 1 and 2 – saw as much new housing built as the other 49, a pattern that locks New Yorkers out of housing opportunity in large swaths of the city while concentrating new development in select areas. Additionally, 39 of the city’s 195 Neighborhood Tabulation Areas (NTAs) saw fewer than 10 new homes built in 2023, with 10 NTAs, including East Midtown-Turtle Bay, Windsor Terrace-South Slope, Maspeth, and Brighton Beach, actually losing housing last year.  

“New York City is producing far less housing than needed, and the housing that is being built is concentrated in just a few neighborhoods. This imbalance is at the root of much of our housing crisis, and is driving up the cost of rent, exacerbating the imbalance of power between landlords and tenants, and forcing working New Yorkers out of our city,” said DCP Director Dan Garodnick. “It’s long past time that we tear down the invisible walls that hold back housing production in some parts of the city and build a little more housing in every neighborhood with City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.”  

The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal would alleviate the geographic disparity in housing production by enabling a little more housing in every neighborhood across the city, facilitating new growth in many of the areas that saw little or no new housing in 2023 due to overly restrictive zoning regulations. DCP recently released the draft annotated zoning text of the proposal, which will enter public review later this spring. It is anticipated to come to the City Planning Commission and City Council for hearings and votes before the end of the year.  

This update to the DCP Housing Database, which newly includes the second half of 2023, sheds further light on the drop-off in New York City’s housing production following the expiration of the 421-a tax benefit program in June 2022. The last time this few new homes were permitted in New York City, in 2016, a prior version of 421-a had also just expired. A successor tax benefit program, known as 485-x, was created as a part of the state budget approved on April 20, 2024, after successful advocacy by the Adams administration.   

The DCP Housing Database is the most reliable aggregated database of housing production in New York City, drawing on NYC Department of Buildings-approved housing construction and demolition jobs. It includes the three primary construction job types that add or remove residential units: new buildings, major alterations, and demolitions, and can be used to determine the change in legal housing units across time and space. Records in the Database are geocoded to the greatest level of precision possible, subject to numerous quality assurance and control checks, recoded for usability, and joined to other housing data sources relevant to city planners and analysts. The Database is updated biannually and tracks both permits, when a building is permitted to begin construction, and completions, when a building receives a certificate of occupancy. 

Department of City Planning 

The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the strategic growth and development of the City through ground-up planning with communities, the development of land use policies and zoning regulations applicable citywide, and its contribution to the preparation of the City’s 10-year Capital Strategy. DCP promotes housing production and affordability, fosters economic development and coordinated investments in infrastructure and services, and supports resilient, sustainable communities across the five boroughs for a more equitable New York City. 

In addition, DCP supports the City Planning Commission in its annual review of approximately 450 land use applications for a variety of discretionary approvals. The Department also assists both government agencies and the public by advising on strategic and capital planning and providing policy analysis, technical assistance and data relating to housing, transportation, community facilities, demography, zoning, urban design, waterfront areas and public open space. 

 

NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR’S RAPID RESPONSE TEAM TO ASSIST WORKERS IMPACTED BY RECENTLY ANNOUNCED

 

Impacted Workers Can Visit NYSDOL’s Jobs and Careers Page for Help with Career Development, Job Searches, and More

Businesses Encouraged to Use the Shared Work Program to Avert Layoffs

The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) is continuing to deploy resources to assist any workers who will be impacted by announced layoffs following notices received through the Department’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system. Notably, NYSDOL’s Rapid Response Team is offering resources to impacted employees at Tesla, which recently announced layoffs that include cutting 285 positions in Buffalo. Specialized regional Rapid Response teams with an in-depth understanding of the local economy prepare the impacted employees for employment transition. Employees are guided to the appropriate resources for their unique needs. 

“The sooner we know about layoffs, the sooner we can spring into action to help impacted workers," said New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. "In addition to providing benefits to enable New Yorkers to support themselves and their families, the New York State Department of Labor has a trove of no-cost career resources to help workers make their career dreams come true.”

The New York State WARN Act requires businesses to give early warning of closing and layoffs, which allows NYSDOL to immediately collaborate with businesses and provide affected employees with vital information on Unemployment Insurance (UI) and workforce programs aimed at facilitating swift reemployment. Early notification also benefits businesses by potentially reducing UI charges associated with layoffs or closures.

NYSDOL provides a comprehensive array of no-cost resources for all New Yorkers, including those impacted by a recent layoff.

Services Include:

• Job search and networking tips
• Career resources through the Virtual Career Center
• Virtual and in-person Career Centers
• Access virtual and in-person Career Fairs
• Coursera
• Resume assistance
• Interview tips

New Yorkers can visit NYSDOL’s UI Webpage to apply for benefits the first week they become unemployed. By law, the UI program provides benefits to people who:

• Have enough employment to establish a claim
• Have lost employment through no fault of their own
• Are ready, willing, and able to work and
• Are actively seeking work

If you are deemed eligible for benefits, you will need to certify online or over the phone weekly to continue receiving payments.

Businesses are encouraged to explore alternatives to layoffs, such as the Shared Work Program, which enables employees to receive partial unemployment benefits while working reduced hours. This initiative aims to retain skilled employees during temporary downturns, facilitating a quicker recovery for businesses when conditions improve and maintaining job security for workers. Full-time, part-time and seasonal employees are eligible.

For more information on available resources and support, visit: https://dol.ny.gov/rapid-response-services-jobseekers.

SCHOOL CROSSING GUARD CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED RAPE, MISCONDUCT AFTER UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION

 

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jared Jeridore was charged with attempted use of a child in a sexual performance, attempted rape and other crimes following an undercover investigation during which the defendant, who was working as a school crossing guard in Jamaica, allegedly tried to lure an NYPD officer he believed to be 14 years old to participate in a sexual act.

District Attorney Katz said: “Young people need to be able to trust the adults who are charged with keeping them safe. This defendant is accused of violating that trust with someone he thought was a teenager. His arrest should serve as a warning to any sexual predator who thinks they will not be caught and held responsible. Thank you to our partners at the NYPD for their work on this.”

Jeridore, 24, of Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica, was arraigned today on a seven-count criminal complaint charging him with attempted use of a child in a sexual performance, three counts of attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors in the first degree, attempted rape in the third degree, official misconduct and attempted endangering the welfare of a child.

Judge Julieta Lozano ordered Jeridore to return to court June 7. If convicted, Jeridore faces up to seven years in prison.

According to the charges:

• An undercover operation was started based on complaints about Jeridore — a crossing guard near a Jamaica school — from underage individuals to the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau.

• On March 28, 2024, at approximately 7:36 a.m., an undercover posing as a 14-year-old girl met Jeridore at the intersection of 108th Avenue and 167th Street near the school.

• On April 18, the undercover and Jeridore exchanged their Instagram screen names. At about 2:10 p.m. they walked together from the intersection of 108th Avenue and 167th Street to a nearby bus stop and he interlocked his arm with hers.

• At 11:22 p.m. on April 18, Jeridore had a video call with the undercover, whom he believed to be 14 with a birthday on April 20, and asked her to join him in a sexual act.

• From April 18 to April 21, Jeridore sent text messages through Instagram to another undercover officer, posing as the first one, describing sexual interactions he wanted to have with her. He also sent the officer nude photos and a sexually explicit video.

• On April 23, at approximately 7:30 a.m., the first undercover received multiple phone calls from Jeridore asking her to meet him at a hotel at 87-07 Van Wyck Expressing in order to have sex.

• Police were at the hotel, waiting for Jeridore. Jeridore arrived at the hotel room and was arrested on scene. Police recovered three condoms from him.

The investigation was conducted in conjunction with the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau.

Manhattan Fentanyl And Methamphetamine Trafficker Sentenced To 270 Months In Prison

 

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MOUNIR MRABET was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff to 270 months in prison for trafficking wholesale quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine in and around midtown Manhattan.  On November 9, 2023, a jury convicted MRABET of narcotics conspiracy, narcotics trafficking, and a firearms offense. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “The defendant flooded the streets of New York with methamphetamine and fentanyl and kept a gun as part of his drug operations.  He sold these dangerous drugs to other dealers in wholesale quantities and even stored and sold these drugs in hotel rooms with abject disregard for those he endangered.  This sentence is a just punishment for an individual who chose to profit from destroying others and actively contributed to a drug crisis that continues to claim lives across our city and our nation.” 

According to public filings and the evidence presented at trial:

From at least late 2021 to January 2023, MRABET coordinated with suppliers in Mexico and California to receive boxes of crystal methamphetamine and fentanyl in the mail.  He then worked with co-conspirators to distribute wholesale quantities of these drugs to other drug dealers in New York City, and he kept a gun and used threats to promote his drug operations.  For example, in October 2022, he texted a fellow dealer, “I will fucking shoot u one day,” and “Now bring me a pound.”  MRABET’s voice was also captured on a video depicting stacks of cash, bundles of apparent drugs, and a revolver.  Additional videos, photographs, and text messages confirmed that MRABET stored and sold drugs out of hotel rooms.

After MRABET was recorded selling drugs to an undercover detective, including fake oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, law enforcement agents conducted a search of his Manhattan apartment and seized 24 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and, from the scaffolding outside his window, approximately half a pound of fentanyl powder.

The evidence at trial included the defendant’s own texts arranging sales to co-conspirators and texts from customers who described being sickened by his drugs.  The evidence also included numerous videos and photographs of drugs and drug proceeds, including some that depicted MRABET pouring and weighing containers of crystal methamphetamine and wrapping and spritzing a scented spray on stacks of cash.

In addition to the prison term, MRABET, 40, of New York, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Task Force Officers assigned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Homeland Security Investigations, the New York City Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.