PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jenny Dubnau, Member of Western Queens Community Land Trust
10:05:22
·
125 sec
Jenny Dubnau, a member of the Western Queens Community Land Trust and lifelong New York City resident, testified against the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. She argued that increasing market-rate housing supply would not solve the affordability crisis and would instead lead to displacement and gentrification of working-class, middle-class, Black, and immigrant New Yorkers.
- Dubnau emphasized the need for deeper affordability, citing the low vacancy rates for apartments with rents under $1,100.
- She criticized the proposal for relying on "trickle-down" theory or "filtering," arguing that this market-based solution has never worked.
- Dubnau suggested alternative solutions, including bringing vacant NYCHA units back online, tightening rent regulations, and demanding value capture from upzoning.
Jenny Dubnau
10:05:22
Some of you may know my mother, Jenny Dubnow.
10:05:24
My name is Jenny Dubnow.
10:05:26
I'm a member of the Western Queen's Community Lancaster.
10:05:28
I live in Jackson Heights Queens.
10:05:30
I live my whole life in New York City and have been priced out of neighborhoods from Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
10:05:35
My community organizing work is all about ending displacement and working for deeper affordability in all neighborhoods.
10:05:42
From what I've seen over and over again, adding more mostly market rate building with essentially zero units at the lowest AMI only causes an increase in local rents.
10:05:54
And displaces and gentrifies working class, middle class, black, and immigrant New Yorkers.
10:06:00
We have an affordability crisis, and increasing supply simply won't address this.
10:06:05
The vacancy rate for apartments with rents above $24100 is 3.39%.
10:06:11
The vacancy rate for apartments under $1100 is 0.39%.
10:06:17
CityBS would allow massive as a bright building, almost completely for the top of the market.
10:06:22
But the greatest need for most New Yorkers isn't being built for.
10:06:26
This leaves us depending on the disproven trickle down theory, also called filtering in which supposedly wealthier and supposedly wealthy or New Yorkers will vacate their old affordable units in favor of newer pricier ones.
10:06:39
This market based solution has never worked.
10:06:41
It's extraordinary to see city policy being built on this basis.
10:06:46
In Vancouver, the rate of building is through the roof.
10:06:49
Yet rents continue to rise.
10:06:51
Upstoning increases land value and speculation, which spirals rents ever higher until we devote more public funds to actually subsidizing rents and building public municipal and decommodified housing and tightening rent regulations and demanding massive value capture from up zoning, which is a gift to developers.
10:07:08
New York City's affordability and homelessness crises will continue to worsen.
10:07:12
If we really cared about deeply affordable housing, immediately we should bring 5000 vacant 19 units back online.
Lo van der Valk
10:07:20
Thank you
Shaun Abreu
10:07:20
for your testimony.
Jenny Dubnau
10:07:21
Gonna give us 5000
Shaun Abreu
10:07:23
We'll now we'll now
Lucie Levine
10:07:23
move to
Shaun Abreu
10:07:24
sorry.
10:07:25
Your time is
Jenny Dubnau
10:07:25
30% kind of AMI.
