Rezoning neighborhoods to allow for increased housing production has always been a smart strategy for addressing New York’s affordable housing crisis. Last week’s court decision allowing the rezoning of Inwood to move forward after years of legal challenges is therefore a fundamentally positive development for New York.
At the same time, New York after the COVID-19 crisis is a different place
than it was when the Inwood rezoning was initially crafted. The pandemic hit low-income
populations hardest and exacerbated
the housing crisis even as it brought on economic
contraction.
The timing of the Inwood decision raises an important question: how can
we fully realize the housing opportunities presented by neighborhood rezonings
in the current climate?
We now have an opportunity to create thousands of affordable homes in
northern Manhattan. This is an important accomplishment, but we need to do
more. The City should also target residential rezonings in high-opportunity
neighborhoods, as many activists are fighting
for in SoHo and NoHo. This strategy will not just create more inclusive
neighborhoods and break down longstanding barriers,it will also allow communities
to build more affordable housing with
fewer public dollars further leveraging our taxpayer investments.
Realizing this vision will require bold political leadership from elected
officials representing these high-opportunity neighborhoods across the five
boroughs. They will need to prioritize the interests of low- and middle-income
New Yorkers over more parochial concerns held by NIMBYs who obstruct growth. At
a time when the City, state and our nation face unprecedented housing and
health care crisis, the time for that leadership is now.
The City’s resumption of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) process next month is an excellent opportunity for that leardership to step up. This process has been on hold since early March, when the city was in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic. The result has been that the development of many new affordable housing and other projects needed to stimulate the economy are essentially in limbo. Resuming the ULURP process presents the with the opportunity to move forward with these new developments. To do so will again require political leadership from elected officials representing districts with proposed projects.
Resuming
the planning process will also help kickstart the local economy and create
local jobs in a time of severe unemployment. A 2017 study commissioned by the New
York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) found that the average affordable
housing development in New York creates hundreds of jobs and generates millions
of dollars in economic activity for the surrounding neighborhood. This impact,
multiplied by the dozens of new projects that accompany a neighborhood rezoning,
will stimulate struggling local businesses and incentivize entrepreneurship.
The Inwood ruling is the most recent step toward this vision for New York. But it alone will not be enough.
Building on the success of the Inwood rezoning, we can help create more affordable units for New York City residents while addressing the current fiscal crisis. That would be a win for everyone.
Jolie
Milstein is the president and CEO of the New York State Association for
Affordable Housing.
