TESTIMONY
Carlo Casa on Support for the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity Initiative
4:17:02
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124 sec
Carlo Casa testifies in favor of the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity, advocating for modern zoning reforms to aid New York's businesses and commercial areas.
- Casa represents the New York Building Congress, emphasizing the need for zoning law revisions to support over 500 organizations and 250,000 professionals.
- He criticizes outdated zoning rules, using specific examples to showcase how they limit business operations within the city.
- Casa advocates for the elimination of antiquated zoning restrictions to facilitate business growth and support local economies.
- The testimony supports simplifying regulations and allowing for more flexible business locations, including protecting residential spaces in commercial areas.
- He concludes with a call for consideration of the initiative, highlighting its potential benefits for New York's economic landscape.
Carlo Casa
4:17:02
Honorable members of the subcommittee on zoning and franchises My name is Carlo Casa, the director of policy and research at the New York Building Congress.
4:17:10
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
4:17:13
The building congress represents over 500 constituent organizations and over 250,000 skilled tradespeople and professionals.
4:17:22
Dedicated to the growth and prosperity of our city.
4:17:25
We strongly express our support for the city of yes for economic opportunity.
4:17:31
A common sense initiative that holds the potential to reshape the landscape of small businesses and commercial corridors across all five boroughs.
4:17:40
The post pandemic shift in spending towards new residential economic hubs emphasizes the need for modern, sensible zoning reforms to meet and support local businesses and improved services.
4:17:53
Outdated Byzantine zoning laws fail to meet the modern needs New York communities to put it in perspective.
4:17:59
The 1961 zoning resolution was 8 whole years before Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon.
4:18:06
Today, many businesses that were restricted then can be done now safely in office buildings or in the home.
4:18:13
Yet, zoning rules restrict an interior decorator from holding a Zoom meeting in their living room, a small contractor from having a team meeting in his garage.
4:18:22
Or a state of the art laboratory from taking over a vacant office building.
4:18:26
The city of yes for economic opportunity is a necessary and long overdue fix.
4:18:31
We support eliminating antiquated rules that dictate how a business's own space can be used.
4:18:37
We support eliminating inflexible arbitrary distinctions that restrict where certain types of businesses can be located.
4:18:45
We support simplifying and streamlining regulations that contribute to storefront vacancies, which do nothing to help New Yorkers.
4:18:54
This initiative makes it easier for businesses to flourish, and it paves the way for companies to grow responsibly, including a provision that second story commercial space can't displace residential use.
4:19:05
Thank you for your consideration.