PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Andrew Stern on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
13:32:04
·
118 sec
Andrew Stern, a resident of Lower Manhattan, testified in support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (CHO) proposal. He urged the city council to adopt all provisions of CHO in the strongest form possible, citing the need for more affordable housing and the potential benefits of the plan.
- Stern quoted Tim Walz and Barack Obama to support his argument for removing barriers to affordable housing development.
- He highlighted benefits of CHO beyond housing, including income opportunities for homeowners, increased MTA ridership, and environmental benefits from car-free living.
- Stern emphasized that the plan's elements are designed to work together, with each component complementing the others.
Andrew Stern
13:32:04
Hey, Bryce.
13:32:04
Riley.
13:32:05
My name is Andrew Stern, and I live in Lower Manhattan, where I am proud to be represented on this council by council member Carolina Rivera.
13:32:12
I want to thank you all for staying up and hearing out everyone's testimony.
13:32:16
Earlier, someone quoted Tim Walls, who I hope will be our vice president very soon, and I'd like to bring Tim Wall's quote of my own.
13:32:21
We have permitting that takes too long and prohibits or makes more expensive doing renewable energy product projects.
13:32:27
I think the same thing applies to housing.
13:32:29
We put up barriers to make it more affordable.
13:32:31
We've built 12% more houses in Minneapolis.
13:32:34
Prices went down on rent.
13:32:35
It's working.
13:32:36
While we're at it, I'd also like to quote something that President Obama said at the DNC back in August.
13:32:41
If we want to make it easier for young people to buy a home, we need to build more units and clear out the outdated laws that have made it harder for to build homes for working people.
13:32:50
Frankly, some very well intentioned laws and regulations at the local level, often generated from the left and from my own party, sometimes are inhibiting the creation of affordable housing and powering in the attitudes and making it very difficult to integrate communities and allow people to live close to where they work.
13:33:06
I'd like to urge the city council to adopt all provisions of CVS in the strongest form they can.
13:33:11
This plan is designed to work together with each with each element complementing the others.
13:33:15
For instance, the elimination of parking mandates will make affordable housing development easier to finance while the inclusion of Town Center zoning will open up new sites for this housing.
13:33:24
A lot has been said about the housing benefits of this plan for 1,000,000 of New Yorkers in need.
13:33:28
I also want to discuss some of the other benefits of this plan besides producing a 100,000 badly needed new homes.
13:33:34
80 youth will provide opportunities not only for a naturally affordable housing in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, but they will also provide a new stream income for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages.
13:33:45
Trends going to development will provide new ridership for the MTA, boosting fair revenue and supporting their continued modernization and expansion.
13:33:52
Alongside the elimination of parking mandates, It will also enable more New Yorkers to live car free, reducing a major cost of living and a significant environmental burden.
13:34:00
Towne Centre Thank you.
UNKNOWN
13:34:02
It's Object Fire.
