PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Antonio Reynoso, Borough President of Brooklyn, on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
1:51:29
·
5 min
Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President, strongly supports passing the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal to address housing inequality across NYC neighborhoods. He emphasizes the need for all areas to contribute to solving the housing crisis, particularly through legalizing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in lower-density neighborhoods.
- Highlights stark disparities in housing development between different community districts in Brooklyn
- Stresses the importance of including ADUs in the proposal, warning he will withdraw support if they are removed
- Cautions against over-regulating the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) program, which could discourage developer participation
- Draws parallels to the previously controversial but now widely supported Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) initiative
Antonio Reynoso
1:51:29
Thank you, chair, and thank you to the council members.
1:51:31
It's always great to be back.
1:51:33
Tomorrow's stomping grounds.
1:51:35
Again, I wanna thank you and the counsel for holding this important hearing today and for splitting it up into 2 days to allow for the public's voice to be heard in a meaningful way.
1:51:44
I am a broken borrower president and Turner Reynoso representing the greatest borrower in the city of New York.
1:51:49
Brooklyn, chair Riley, and I'm encouraging the city council to pass.
Kevin C. Riley
1:51:54
I'm about to stop the testimony.
Antonio Reynoso
1:51:57
Encouraging the city council to pass, the city of yes, and housing opportunity in entirety because our city doesn't plan.
1:52:04
Unfortunately, we zone.
1:52:06
Certain neighborhoods usually low income communities of color have done all the work or more of the work than their fair share to address the housing crisis.
1:52:14
So all the neighborhoods have done close to nothing.
1:52:16
For example, between 2010 2020, Brooklyn Community District 1, which was rezoned in 2005, added more than 18,000 new units of housing.
1:52:26
While Community District 18, only added 500 units during that same time.
1:52:30
It's almost 40 times the number of housing units created in one district over another.
1:52:35
Our affordable housing for affordable housing, the discrepancy is even worse.
1:52:40
During that decade, Brooklyn Community District 5, constructed and preserved over 12,000 units of affordable housing.
1:52:47
While community district 10, the number is a meager 7 units.
1:52:50
That is a 1700 times the number of affordable units constructed are preserved in East New York, New Lots, a start city.
1:52:57
Versus in Bay Ridge, Diker Heights, and Fort Hamilton.
1:53:00
Low density neighborhoods make up almost half of the city.
1:53:03
And in some of those areas, no affordable housing has been permitted since 2015 according to the NYU Firmen Center.
1:53:09
This is how we ended up with the least available housing in our city, Since 1968, the regional plan association estimates that New York State needs to build over 800,000 units by 2032 to address current needs and meet expected population and job growth.
1:53:23
The New York state needs to do its part.
1:53:25
City of US is in a silver bullet that's going to get us all the way there.
1:53:29
But with this proposal, we have the opportunity to set a standard citywide that no neighborhood is exempt from doing their part for the greater good and contributing to no housing.
1:53:38
In my recommendations, I supported the proposal with significant conditions and modifications.
1:53:43
Most importantly, the proposal to legalize ADUs must move forward.
1:53:48
If the city council removes ADUs from the city of yes, I will withdraw my support because this is how we get to a more equitable framework that allows for lower density parts of the city to contribute.
1:53:58
In parts of Burrow Park Bay Ridge And Bensonhurst, more than a quarter of households are overcrowded with families doubling and tripling up.
1:54:06
Allowing ADUs means more units in these neighborhoods on a practical level, and it means that for these families, grandma can move over to the garage or a daughter and her family can move into a safe and affordable basement unit down the street instead of out of our city.
1:54:19
Right now, the families living in New York City at the fastest rate families leaving New York City at the fastest rate are people of Qatar who make roughly between 30 50% of the AMI according to New York Times.
1:54:31
And this has to stop meaning we need more options for them.
1:54:34
We need everyone here in this city.
1:54:37
Research has shown that the chains of moves sparked by new construction, free up apartments that are then rented or retained by households across the income spectrum.
1:54:48
In short, the availability of all kinds of new housing options benefits everyone.
1:54:53
To be clear, I'm not saying we don't need to build more affordable housing.
1:54:56
I know there are some council members who want to require deeper affordability in the UAP program.
1:55:01
I support this effort and acknowledge that more affordable housing is desperately needed, especially at lower incomes.
1:55:06
However, I wanna caution the council to be mindful that this is a voluntary program.
1:55:10
We need to find the balance that maximizes my maximizes affordability without the incentivizing developers from taking advantage of the option.
1:55:17
If the numbers don't pencil out, at the end of the day, we'll be left with less affordable housing than we could have under a well considered plan.
1:55:24
In conclusion, I want to remind everyone that this proposal is just one chapter in a much larger book.
1:55:29
The planning has to be comprehensive.
1:55:32
And and planning for housing must consider not just zoning, not just production, but preservation of existing affordable housing and strong tenant protections as well.
1:55:40
The Council should also pass meaningful legislation aimed at these goals, including those around broker fees, co op disclosure and public benefits on public land.
1:55:50
To the city council, I wanna repeat what I said to DCP, do not back down, do not scale back, do not shy away.
1:55:56
If you're gonna do anything, do more.
1:55:58
Many things about the future are uncertain.
1:56:01
But we know that right now this is our shot to make changes that our city needs to move forward.
1:56:05
That's not wasted.
1:56:06
Thank you.
1:56:07
And I do have a 22nd, I just wanna say, we were we were when I was in the city council, we passed MIH.
1:56:16
It was a wholly, wholly more unpopular initiative amongst the community boards than this plan.
1:56:26
They were the last community board supportive of my age.
1:56:28
And now almost every single person on these days would say that the work that we did on MH is insufficient.
1:56:34
It's not enough.
1:56:35
We should have done more.
1:56:36
We're hold we're held accountable for it not being affordable enough or not more affordability.
1:56:40
It was arguably the most unpopular proposal we had in the city council.
1:56:44
And looking back because we took that bold step against an unpopular community board position.
1:56:52
We're looking back and thinking, should we've done more?
1:56:55
Should we push back more?
1:56:56
And I hope that when you were here 10 years later, 20 years later, you'll see that these are the right decisions to make even if it's community board unpopular.
