PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Austin Celestin, Graduate Planning Student at NYU Wagner and Member of Open New York
4:10:44
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127 sec
Austin Celestin, a graduate planning student at NYU Wagner and member of Open New York, testifies in support of the Bronx Metro North rezoning proposal. He emphasizes the benefits of transit-oriented development and the opportunity for economic and residential growth in the area.
- Encourages the development of 7,500 housing units near the new Metro North stations
- Cautions against focusing on parking, citing research that shows it can worsen congestion and make housing more expensive
- Recommends improving bus connections to the Metro North stations and potentially introducing shuttle services
- Suggests this project could serve as a model for transit-oriented development at the state level
Austin Celestin
4:10:44
Hi.
4:10:45
Good afternoon.
4:10:45
My name is Austin Sullivan.
4:10:47
I am a graduate from Planning Student at NYU Wagner.
4:10:49
I'm also a member of Open New York.
4:10:52
This plant embodies transgoing to development, which is probably the 3 favorite words of everyone in the urban planning sphere.
4:11:00
It embodies what green development looks like and climate conscious development looks like.
4:11:05
It'll be the arrival American North stations in an area of the Bronx as a huge transit desert is a gigantic opportunity for economic and residential development.
4:11:14
And 7500 units of housing is something that should be encouraged.
4:11:18
And as Michael said before, he should be the floor, I would caution against concerns for parking.
4:11:24
Obviously, it must be acknowledged that this part of the Bronx, the Southeast Bronx, and the East Bronx general has higher car ownership rates than the rest of the city at large.
4:11:34
But research does indicate that splurging on parking and adding more lanes time and time again does not help to accommodate for increased congestion.
4:11:44
In fact, it causes the exact opposite.
4:11:45
It can worsen congestion and worsen park worsen parking issues that encourages people to drive through induce demands.
4:11:52
And the parking mandates that we're trying to get rid of and to deal with, yes, is also found to make housing more expensive, which would undermine the concern, the very valid concerns about affordability rates.
4:12:03
What is a valid concern is that there's not great bus connections to the metronor stations.
4:12:08
So Paul is for a commitment to Hudson Real Lake type solution like a Riverdale or shuttles to the the Metro North stations from various areas in the Bronx is very necessary along with calls for increased bus service or new bus routes.
4:12:23
I know the redesign is just over 2 years old, but it doesn't help to just revisit that and introduce new bus service.
4:12:30
But this serves not just the model as what we can do at more mechanore stations in the region, but also things that we can expand to the state level as well.
4:12:38
I mean, governor Hoco last year, advocate transitioning to development, and this is a good practice of that.
4:12:44
Building around, you know, recommendation, building around transit is something that we should be doing.
4:12:48
Exactly.
4:12:48
Thank you.
4:12:50
Yes.
4:12:50
To spell yes.
4:12:51
Thank you.