PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by David Holowka, Member of Manhattan Community Board 4
8:15:19
·
114 sec
David Holowka, a Chelsea resident, community board member, and architect, testifies against the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (CHO) proposal. He argues that the proposal will lead to the demolition of existing affordable housing to make way for luxury apartments, resulting in a net loss of housing units and increased housing costs.
- Holowka draws parallels between CHO and the practice of "tearing down" smaller houses to build mansions in Fairfield County.
- He cites examples of neighborhoods like the Upper East Side losing housing units despite new construction, and mentions 220 West 57th Street as a prime example of this effect.
- Holowka criticizes CHO's optional affordability preference, arguing that even with 20% affordable units, new buildings would have a higher median apartment cost than those they replace.
David Holowka
8:15:19
I'm David Haloka, a Chelsea resident community board member and architect.
8:15:24
I first heard the term tear down years ago in reference to Fairfield County Ranch Houses that were being bought for a replacement with mansions.
8:15:32
The practice increases bulk and housing costs without adding housing.
8:15:37
City of Yext will do just that for New York to the extent that it makes existing apartment buildings more profitable to tear down.
8:15:45
We'll get less housing, not more, as older apartments built for ordinary people are bulldozed to make way for much larger apartments for the rich, aimed at international secondary home and investor markets.
8:15:58
That's already happening in neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, which has been losing housing units even as new apartment buildings are added.
8:16:07
The poster child for this effect may be 220 West 57th Street.
8:16:11
The billionaires rode near Supertall that replaced a near 20 story building that had about the same number of apartments, a third of them rent stabilized.
8:16:21
In the absence of vacant lots, developers will profitably vacate buildings with buyouts.
8:16:27
City of Yext will throw gasoline on an ongoing bonfire of affordable housing.
8:16:32
In most of Manhattan and much of Brooklyn, market rate means luxury.
8:16:37
That's why even City of Yext's optional affordability preference is a losing proposition.
8:16:43
A new building that's 80% luxury and only 20% affordable and affordable as dubiously defined by AMI at that would have a far higher median apartment cost than almost any building it would replace.
8:16:57
That doesn't even factor in the cost in light air, climate impact, and quality of life.
8:17:03
The self defeating and dangerously naive parts of city of Yashk that put a target on the back of existing affordable housing deserve a thumbs down.
8:17:12
Thank you.
