PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Claudia Valentino, President of Forest Hills Community And Civic Association
7:00:20
·
132 sec
Claudia Valentino, representing the Forest Hills Community And Civic Association, strongly opposes the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. She argues that the plan does not address affordability or homelessness effectively and unfairly blames homeowners for these issues.
- Valentino emphasizes that the infrastructure in her area, which was downzoned 20 years ago, cannot support ADUs or apartment buildings.
- She criticizes the elimination of community review in the proposal, stating that homeowners' knowledge of their neighborhoods is crucial for competent planning.
- Valentino urges the city council to reject the plan and instead focus on examining how developers have contributed to the lack of affordability in housing.
Claudia Valentino
7:00:20
Yes.
7:00:21
Hi.
7:00:21
Can you hear me?
Kevin C. Riley
7:00:23
Yes.
7:00:24
Yes.
7:00:24
We hear you.
Claudia Valentino
7:00:25
Okay.
7:00:26
Thank you.
7:00:26
I'm Claudia Valentino, president of the Forest Hills Community And Civic Association.
7:00:31
I've been involved in civic life for over 30 years.
7:00:35
I represent an area that we down zoned over 20 years ago.
7:00:38
And if you were to walk the perimeter, take you over an hour to walk it, it's that large.
7:00:45
The homes are old, sit on small lots, many with porous cinder block foundations, all just the driveway apart.
7:00:52
Our infrastructure, electrical grids, so our ability to clear rainfall is even more seriously challenged now.
7:00:59
Than it was when we originally undertook our down zoning.
7:01:03
ADUs and apartment buildings situated among our homes simply won't work.
7:01:08
City of yes type plans have come to us from other cities and counties across the country where properties are much, much larger than our own.
7:01:16
Urban planners have not taken this into account.
7:01:19
Regrettably, City of Yes does not address affordability or homelessness over any kind of reasonable timeline because the sources of these problems are incorrectly called out.
7:01:29
City of Yas has, from the beginning, been framed as an accusation, loaning blame laying blame for affordability and homelessness at the feet of 1 or 2 family homeowners.
7:01:39
That framing discredits homeowners so that our knowledge therefore is automatically discounted.
7:01:44
Homeowners know their neighborhoods best, and that knowledge is the foundation for competent community review.
7:01:51
Including safety, quality of life, and availability of city services, which city of yes eliminates disenfranchising all New Yorkers.
7:01:59
To conclude, I urge the city council to reject this plan and undertake the necessary work of examining how developers have now and for decades been able to pick and choose the best properties to build what they like.
7:02:13
Developers are the true source of lack of affordability, not homeowners.
7:02:17
Take them on.
7:02:18
We will support you.
7:02:20
Let's create a new plan, a New York City plan that built homes fast on fast tracks available land and offers people.
7:02:28
Thank
UNKNOWN
7:02:28
you.
7:02:29
Your time's expired.
Claudia Valentino
7:02:30
And more than a garage.
7:02:31
Thank you so much.
