City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced Friday that the city’s legislature would create a new Advisory Group on Housing Affordability, with the goal of reevaluating regulations and cutting red tape to allow housing development on nearly 3,000 vacant lots across the city.
The lots the council initially identified are generally considered too small for development — generally about 17 to 25 feet in width. But with a few changes to the city’s construction code, Menin said on April 24, those lots could potentially generate up to 35,000 new units of housing amid the city’s historic housing shortage.
“ We’re talking about revitalizing our neighborhoods and rebuilding our communities that are facing blight and abandonment,” Menin said during a luncheon for the American Institute of Architects. “We’re also talking about adding tax dollars to our revenue stream and creating new economic opportunities. And finally, we’re talking about affordability and we’re talking about improving quality of life, not just for our children, but for our children’s children.”
The advisory group will be made up of housing affordability advocates, engineers, architects, finance experts and urban planners. One of the advisory group’s co-chairs, Barika Williams, executive director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) leads a nonprofit focused on ending displacement, equitable development and fighting for affordable housing.
“For ANHD and our members, preserving and expanding access to deeply affordable housing must be at the center of any housing strategy,” Williams said in a statement.
Williams will lead the advisory group along with Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, and James H. Simmons III, CEO and founder of developer Asland Capital Partners.
LaBarbera said the group will need to make smart reform choices that maintain the safety and integrity of construction codes while also enabling a streamlined process that quickly results in more housing.
“By taking a hard look at outdated rules and unlocking the potential of small lots across the five boroughs, we have a historic opportunity to create tens of thousands of new homes while putting thousands of New Yorkers to work in good-paying, union jobs,” LaBarbera said.
Menin did not elaborate on specific codes or regulations that the City Council may look to eliminate, alter, or roll back. She did say that the council would focus on advancing development on the nearly 3,000 vacant or underused lots for up to eight stories. She represented these lots as a proverbial Goldilocks zone of development, housing that can be constructed more quickly with a lower cost than large projects to preserve affordability.
Still, she acknowledged and assuaged concerns that deregulation automatically compromises safety.
“ For decades, we’ve relied on these regulations to ensure that our buildings are developed and maintained to prioritize safe and livable environments for our residents,” Menin said. “They’re important to be sure, but like any set of regulations, they must be reevaluated and updated over time.”
