PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Isabel Kirsch, New Resident of Sunnyside
12:24:54
·
124 sec
Isabel Kirsch, a new resident of Sunnyside, expresses strong support for the City of Yes proposal, citing her personal experience with the challenging housing market in New York City. She emphasizes the need for various types of housing to accommodate different people and maintain New York's status as a welcoming city for immigrants and newcomers.
- Kirsch highlights the difficulties of finding housing in NYC, including low vacancy rates and competitive apartment searches.
- She stresses the importance of City of Yes in addressing the housing crisis and creating opportunities for new arrivals.
- Kirsch draws a parallel between her grandmother's experience as a Holocaust refugee and the current need for New York to remain a beacon of hope and opportunity.
Isabel Kirsch
12:24:54
Hi.
12:24:55
My name is Isabelle Kirsch, and I live in the sunny side.
12:24:57
Thank you all for your time.
12:24:59
I know it's been a very long day, and I'm really appreciative of you being here and and taking my inputs.
12:25:05
And I'm here because I unequivocally support city of yes, and I hope that you will pass it resoundingly and in the strongest possible form.
12:25:12
I am a very new New Yorker.
12:25:14
I moved here recently for a new job that I was very excited about, and it's really been the most challenging apartment search and transition to a new city that that I've experienced, and it's really been even more daunting than what I was expecting.
12:25:29
I'm incredibly lucky to have an aunt who lives here in sunny side and to be able to stay with her while I get settled.
12:25:35
And I really don't know how my move would have been possible to pursue this professional opportunity without this landing pad.
12:25:42
And I know that I'm obviously in a really select minority of lucky people who have a landing pad when they get here.
12:25:49
So you really feel that 1.4% vacancy rate.
12:25:51
I feel it.
12:25:52
At open houses, I feel it when I'm rushing to respond to an apartment listing when I'm spending money done application fees over and over and over again, and, of course, just seeing the people who are experiencing homelessness on our streets every day.
12:26:06
We need all kinds of housing for all kinds of people.
12:26:08
So that means market rate, that means low income, that means subsidized, that means affordable housing, and and the strongest possible term city of yes is what we need to help us get there.
12:26:18
My grandmother arrived in New York as a refugee after the Holocaust, and I strongly believe that this city is and still should be a beacon of opportunity and of hope.
12:26:29
And unfortunately, our current housing crisis makes that vision feel pretty far away.
12:26:34
So I'm incredibly enthusiastic about City of Yes, as of one step in the right direction to to make New York, to continue to be a welcoming place for immigrants, for new arrivals, for people who are seeking, you know, following a dream of being in New York for whatever that reason may be.
12:26:52
And I'm so appreciative of all of the thought and care that has been put into this.
UNKNOWN
12:26:55
Thank you.
12:26:56
Your time's expired.
Isabel Kirsch
12:26:57
Thank you very much.
