PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Amy Gross, President of Amy Gross Architects, on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
9:59:03
·
122 sec
Amy Gross, President of Amy Gross Architects, strongly supports the City of Yes legislation, arguing that it will address both the housing shortage and affordability crisis in New York City. She emphasizes that the proposal will make construction and renovation of housing more affordable, potentially resulting in lower rents due to economies of scale.
- Gross highlights that building larger buildings on the same land allows for more apartments and housing more people, with infrastructure costs spread over more units.
- She refutes the claim that the resolution is "one size fits all," stating that it will continue to vary by neighborhood and become more nuanced.
- Gross notes that this is the first major update to the entire zoning resolution in over 60 years, emphasizing the need for change that honors the city's growth.
Amy Gross
9:59:03
Hi.
9:59:04
Good evening.
9:59:05
I am Amy Gross, President of Amy Gross Architects.
9:59:09
We have designed affordable housing in large part funded by a PD for over 3 decades.
9:59:15
Our farm has deeply studied the details of City of Yes.
9:59:19
And no, not only will it address the deep housing shortage we have, but also the affordability crisis.
9:59:26
And we are certain it will help those with low and middle income to stay in this great city of ours.
9:59:32
We strongly support this legislation.
9:59:35
One of the main attributes of the city of Yes.
9:59:37
It has not been to us much is that it makes the cost of construction and renovation of housing more affordable.
9:59:45
Simply put construction of even slightly larger buildings on the same piece of land means more apartments can be created and more people housed.
9:59:56
It is simply well said that there is an economy of scale.
10:00:01
Cost per square foot decrease when more is built.
10:00:05
And one of the reasons this is is because of infrastructure, because bringing services to a building is the same cost whether we have a 100 units or whether we have 50 units.
10:00:16
If we can reduce cost per square foot, it could result in lower rents.
10:00:21
And there is a lot of data that supports this opposition.
10:00:25
Another point I want to make is that in listening to Tay's testimony and its city planning, I hear this resolution being described as one size fits all.
10:00:35
As architects, we do not at all see this is the case.
10:00:38
It is important to note that this will be the first major update to the entire zoning resolution in over 60 years.
10:00:46
That's over 2 generations.
10:00:48
The time has come for a change that honors the growth of our entire city.
10:00:53
The amount of square footage that can be built now, there is much by each neighborhood.
10:01:00
That variance will continue and actually become more nuanced with the city of yes.
Shaun Abreu
10:01:06
Thank you for your testimony.
