Good afternoon. My name is Maulin Mehta, and I am New York Director at Regional Plan Association. Thank you Chair Garodnick and all the members of the commission for the opportunity to provide remarks on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning reforms. This proposal closely aligns with housing solutions that RPA has long championed, and we support the proposal in its full scope.
New York City is experiencing a significant housing crisis, with the demand for housing units, particularly affordable ones, rising higher than ever. We also face a historically low rental vacancy rate of just 1.4%. This condition is exacerbated by the lack of new housing stock in the low density areas across the city, which is a direct result of policy choices that disproportionately impact lower-income families. The increasing number of people in temporary shelters and overcrowded conditions further underscores the pressing nature of our housing needs.
As a result of the housing shortage, market-rate rents in New York City have increased by 36% since 2015. Today, over half (52%) of all renters are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing, and nearly a third of renters are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half of their income. Homeowners are also being impacted, with 44% considered housing cost burdened.
A recent analysis conducted by McKinsey & Company for RPA highlights how our underproduction of housing will negatively impact our region in the coming decade. If the New York region only continues to add housing at its current rate of production, residents could see housing costs rise by 25% by 2035, resulting in over a quarter of a million new households facing housing cost burdens (260,000, a 7.6% increase). The report also found that the region’s current housing deficit of over half a million units would almost double in the next decade if we don’t course correct.
Current zoning regulations in New York City limit the construction of housing in many neighborhoods, even in places with good transportation and access to jobs. Restrictive zoning includes prescriptive use groups and bulk regulations, as well as excessive parking requirements among others. Together, they pose significant obstacles and costs to building new housing, and create financial burdens and limit flexibility for renters and prospective homeowners.
The Housing Opportunity proposal is designed to tackle these challenges by facilitating the construction of more homes across all five boroughs. Unlike the “one-size-fits-all” narrative we’ve heard, these initiatives are tailored to adapt to local conditions. The proposal includes significant expansion of inclusionary zoning, enables office conversions, reintroduces middle-density buildings by encouraging more Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), enabling Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and promoting Town Centers, and eliminates parking minimums among others. Together, these measures form a cohesive and interconnected strategy to equitably and reasonably expand the housing stock in every neighborhood, limiting development stresses on individual communities while still contributing to a critical citywide need.
We strongly support the proposal in full, and encourage the commission to do the same.
Thank you for your time.
