PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Ilan Rabinovich on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
5:01:56
·
119 sec
Ilan Rabinovich testifies in support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative, emphasizing its potential to address the housing crisis by increasing supply. He argues that historically, when supply exceeds demand, housing costs decrease. However, he also raises concerns about the proposal's limitations and potential economic challenges.
- Highlights the need for removing barriers from the Landmarks Commission that prevent housing expansion or modernization in older buildings
- Expresses concern about the lack of a "release valve" in the Universal Affordability Preference program if housing costs outpace median income growth
- Suggests follow-up initiatives to address operational costs of housing, including property taxes, insurance costs, and utility regulation
Ilan Rabinovich
5:01:56
opportunity to testify in support of city of yes for housing.
5:01:59
Think it's a key for strep in addressing our housing crisis.
5:02:01
It's more any initiative that adds more housing units to our city that directly meets them.
5:02:06
History has repeatedly shown us that having supply that exceeds demand is the best way to bring costs down.
5:02:10
We saw this during the pandemic when demand dropped, prices dropped.
5:02:15
Supply remained constant.
5:02:16
We saw the zoomingopolis in Austin where supply was allowed to outpace demand.
5:02:19
So prices went down.
5:02:20
We need to do the same here.
5:02:22
I understand the changes aren't palatable to everyone.
5:02:24
We all want our neighborhood to stay the way it was when we moved in, but we have to hold their noses and vote yes, rather than saying not in that backyard because we want people to have homes, beds, safe places to live.
5:02:34
That being said, I wanna raise a few concerns.
5:02:36
The promos will not do anything to remove the barriers from preventing that prevent housing expansion or modernization coming from the Landmarks Commission.
5:02:44
My building was built in 1890.
5:02:46
A time when the city of New York had 18th the current population.
5:02:49
There's nothing I can do to change my building because landmarks will say, no.
5:02:53
I can't add more housing.
5:02:55
Similarly, there's economic challenges here as well.
5:02:57
The universal affordability preference builds in permanently affordable housing, but has no release valve or pressure valve should the cost of providing housing grow at a faster rate than medium incomes do.
5:03:10
We've had years of this happening already with inflation, taxes, insurance, outpacing income growth here in New York.
5:03:15
So there's no reason to believe that median area income will suddenly grow faster than it has in the past, leaving housing insolvent.
5:03:23
We want more affordable housing, we need to make it affordable to provide that housing.
5:03:27
So while I ask you to approve the city of yes, I also want you to sit back and think about the operational costs of that housing and how we can make that housing pencil out and quickly follow-up with initiatives that bring our tax property tax property taxes to match our goals, bring insurance costs down, regulate utilities and other compliance costs so that our rents can be in our costs for providing rentals can be in line with affordable rentals you want us to provide.
5:03:51
So thank you.
5:03:52
Please please please support the initiative.
