Q&A
Addressing housing affordability and the role of City Planning Commission
0:42:33
·
3 min
Keith Powers raises the issue of housing affordability in New York City, asking Raju Mann about the City Planning Commission's role in addressing these challenges. Mann discusses the complex interplay between land use policy and housing strategy.
- Emphasizes the need to link land use policy with housing policy, involving multiple agencies beyond City Planning
- Highlights the importance of encouraging housing stock growth at various income levels
- Stresses that solving the housing crisis requires cooperation between different levels of government (city, state, and federal)
Keith Powers
0:42:33
Thanks.
0:42:34
The the man out of our president is dominating you, I think has has talked a lot about the challenges around housing, particularly in our borough.
0:42:43
Yeah.
0:42:43
But frankly throughout the city.
0:42:45
I think it's been thoughtful at his approach to how to develop and find talent and try to build consensus.
0:42:50
But without losing the urgency associated with a city that has under a 2 point a 2% vacancy rate right now.
0:43:00
That's feeling the rising crunch of rents and pressures on families of an assortment of income ranges frankly, right now, people fleeing to go to places outside of the city to find refuge from soaring rents and low vacancies.
0:43:20
We are I'm not gonna ask you to talk about how you might vote on a specific proposal.
0:43:25
We have a long way to go.
0:43:26
But we are going to confront a number of these questions in the future about and then and and and soon enough about housing affordability and house supply and the relationship between those 2 things.
0:43:39
Can you talk about how you think about right now, the city planning's role, and so, frankly, the city's role in confronting those questions and how in in your and if if nominated, you might tackle the question around, you know, affordability when considering these the the applications that might be coming for you?
0:44:01
Sure.
Raju Mann
0:44:01
Yeah.
0:44:02
I mean, it's it's sort of the the question of of the decade here in New York.
0:44:07
I I think, you know, the City Planning Commission has a sort of, let's say, a particular role in in helping to set a land use framework for the city's growth, which is sometimes not perfectly coupled to an affordable housing strategy.
0:44:22
So I think really at a city wide scale, the challenge and the work, is linking our lane use policy with our housing policy, which includes a lot of other agencies, especially HPD.
0:44:36
To figure out where and how to subsidize formalizing development and to think about the resources necessary to really reach the lower incomes especially, which is not really, I think city planning, I would say, is not the best tool for reaching the lowest income levels, the ones that are most vulnerable to displacement in New York City.
0:44:57
You know, housing vouchers and housing subsidies are are usually the best tools for actually getting help to those communities.
0:45:05
So I think big picture, it's making sure our land use policy is linked with kind of housing strategy and that those 2 things are working hand in hand to address the need, and especially the greatest need, which is at the lowest incomes.
0:45:20
And so I think the role of the city planning commission is really more on the setting the growth and development framework side, which is how do we help encourage the growth in our housing stock.
0:45:30
So if you do have a housing voucher, you can actually find housing, which is actually isn't particularly easy these days, even if you have a housing voucher.
0:45:37
There's responsibility there to ensure that we have the housing supply both at the market rate, middle income.
0:45:43
And, also, I think it does help those low income, again, for voucher holders, opens up access to housing units that otherwise wouldn't be there.
0:45:50
But I think at the end of the day, the housing solution only gets solved with a lot of different agencies at the table.
0:45:56
Also a lot of different layers of government at the table, the city, state, and the federal government.
0:46:00
And obviously, there's been a lot of work done in the state this year, but I think continues to be more and especially at the federal level.