PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Hien Piotrowski on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
10:38:13
·
97 sec
Hien Piotrowski, a born and raised New Yorker, spoke in support of the City of Yes proposal, emphasizing the need for more affordable housing in New York City. He shared his personal story of immigrant parents who were able to settle in Hell's Kitchen, which would be impossible now due to high housing costs.
- Argued that New York can't function as a city that accepts immigrants without building more affordable housing
- Criticized those who oppose development, stating that not building housing actually emboldens developers to drive up rents
- Called for incorporating Borough President Reynoso's recommendations, increasing renter protections, and streamlining permitting
Hien Piotrowski
10:38:13
Yes.
10:38:14
Good evening.
10:38:15
My name
Charles Ny
10:38:15
is
Hien Piotrowski
10:38:16
Hen.
10:38:16
I'm Born raised in New Yorker.
10:38:18
Speaking on behalf of myself in support of the city of yes.
10:38:23
My parents were broke 1st generation college students who took a chance on New York.
10:38:29
And for that, I'm always been grateful.
10:38:32
They settled in Hell's Kitchen, and they most certainly would not have been able to do that now given how expensive the neighborhood is.
10:38:40
And now you have to make, like, 250,000 in order to afford.
10:38:44
A market rate unit.
10:38:46
We can't function as the city does accepted immigrants for generations and centuries unless we build more affordable housing.
10:38:55
We can't be a city of yes without more housing.
10:38:59
For far too long, our housing discussion has been dominated by people who claim to be against developers when not building affordable housing or any housing emboldens developers to drive up rents and monopolize housing.
10:39:12
Talking about upzoning, removing housing is interesting given that downzoning encourages converting multifamily brownstones into urban McMansions without Uber approval.
10:39:24
These are a tiny minority with 80% of New Yorkers supporting this plan.
10:39:29
We can't build the next generation of Mitch Alama if the zoning code only allows for single family homes.
10:39:35
We need to listen to our church leaders, union members, and working families and build much more affordable housing.
10:39:41
Incorporate borough president Reynosa's recommendations for the city of the US, increase render protections and streamline permitting.
10:39:49
Thank you.
