PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Ben Wetzler on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
6:04:22
·
124 sec
Ben Wetzler, a resident of Stuyvesant Town, testifies in support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal without modifications. He emphasizes the critical need for housing creation and highlights the proposal's improvements to existing city programs, including making affordable units permanently affordable and allowing office-to-residential conversions.
- Wetzler distinguishes zoning from other housing policies like rent regulation and vouchers, arguing that comprehensive zoning reform complements these policies.
- He cites a Biden administration estimate that New York's zoning adds $50,000 to the cost of every home, emphasizing the need for reform to improve affordability.
- Wetzler draws parallels to past successful housing programs like Mitchell-Lama, which had fewer zoning restrictions, to support his argument for the current proposal.
Ben Wetzler
6:04:22
There we go.
6:04:24
Hello.
6:04:25
My name is Ben Letzler.
6:04:26
I live in Stuyvesantown.
6:04:27
I'm here testifying on behalf of myself.
6:04:30
I'm here to ask that you support the housing opportunity proposal without modifications or backsliding.
6:04:35
The proposal will allow for the creation of desperately needed housing while improving existing city programs.
6:04:40
These include improving affordable housing programs by making all affordable units created through inclusionary zoning permanently affordable.
6:04:47
It's gotta be permanent.
6:04:48
And allowing affordable home ownership options as part of those programs.
6:04:52
Additionally, it would allow for the conversion of empty office buildings into housing, which is critical for the economic future and public safety of the Midtown Manhattan community.
6:05:01
I say that it would allow for more housing because zoning does not represent the full breadth of housing policy in New York.
6:05:07
Zoning is not rent regulation.
6:05:09
It is not housing vouchers.
6:05:10
It is not the HPD or HDC capital budget.
6:05:13
All of those policies are critically important to New Yorkers, including me and my family.
6:05:17
We've heard from others earlier who need subsidized and stabilized housing, and our neighbors in Stuyvesant Town fought in court for years to preserve rent stabilization and tenant protections for the entire community.
6:05:26
I would have to leave Manhattan if I didn't have those protection and this council has taken historic steps to bolster those policies in recent years.
6:05:33
I hope that you will continue doing that, but every one of those policies is improved by a well considered and comprehensive plan for housing growth.
6:05:41
The Biden administration recently estimated that New York's zoning and permitting processes add $50,000 to the cost of every single home.
6:05:49
So if you want to make affordable make home ownership affordable, as many council members yesterday and today have said that they want, those rules add roughly $10,000 just to the down payment on every single home that can be bought in the state.
6:06:01
In the past, policy make in the city.
6:06:04
In the past, policymakers understood that.
6:06:06
When the Mitchellama co op program was created in the 19 fifties, the zoning resolution did not require a single parking space.
6:06:12
Anywhere in the entire city.
6:06:13
That those were added later in the 19 sixties.
6:06:15
It didn't require any limits on FAR.
6:06:17
So if you want to make our affordable programs work for working families, you need to address those unnecessary costs, and you can start doing that today by supporting this long overdue rewrite of the zoning code.
