PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Amit Bagga, Resident of Sunnyside Queens
13:53:28
·
123 sec
Amit Bagga, a native New Yorker and resident of Sunnyside Queens, spoke in support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (CHO) proposal. He praised the plan as well-thought-out and focused on New Yorkers' needs, drawing from his personal background as the child of immigrants who were able to buy a home in the Bronx in the 1970s.
- Emphasized his roots in a 1-3 family zoned neighborhood similar to areas where opposition to CHO is coming from
- Thanked city officials involved in developing the CHO plan, citing their long-term dedication to housing issues
- Shared his parents' immigrant story and their ability to buy a home in the past, implying support for policies that would make similar opportunities available today
Amit Bagga
13:53:28
Good evening, council member Riley and the committee.
13:53:31
I don't know if you can see me.
13:53:32
If you can't, I will be happy to speak to you nonetheless.
13:53:36
My name is Amit Baga.
13:53:37
I am a very proud resident of Sunnyside Queens, and I am a native New Yorker.
13:53:42
I was born and raised council member Riley.
13:53:44
Very close to your council district in the great neighborhood of Pelham Gardens in the Bronx.
13:53:49
A 1 to 3 family zones neighborhood very much like the one that are the types of neighborhoods where most of this opposition is coming from.
13:54:00
I would argue it's actually even a little bit nicer.
13:54:02
Than some of the neighborhoods where some of this opposition is coming from.
13:54:05
I first wanna just quickly start out by thanking the great noble and brilliant public servants, Layla Bozor, Genevieve, Michelle, deputy mayor, Maria Torres Springer, and chair Gerodnik for their tireless service of for many decades for the city.
13:54:20
They have been working on housing issues for a long time.
13:54:23
This is a plan that is incredibly well thought out and puts New Yorkers at the heart of what it does.
13:54:31
I have had the great honor and pleasure of serving the people of New York over 17 years in public service, federal city, and state government.
13:54:39
But I am speaking to you today entirely in personal capacity.
13:54:43
My parents who are now in their eighties fled a very horrific war in 1947 where they had to cross borders and ultimately found their way to New York City and to the Bronx in the early 19 seventies.
13:54:57
My mother was a psychiatric social worker who served the state of New York for nearly 50 years.
13:55:02
My father was a junior engineer.
13:55:05
They were able to buy a home in Pelham Gardens at the very end of the 19 seventies with the incomes that they had at the time, precisely because New York City in that moment was providing a sufficient amount of housing for the people who were seeking lives and livelihoods that were better than what they people who had come from all over the world who had escaped famine, war, lack of economic.
UNKNOWN
13:55:30
Thank you.
