PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jess Coleman, Board Member of Manhattan Community Board 1, on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
6:28:37
·
122 sec
Jess Coleman, a lifelong resident of Lower Manhattan and member of Community Board 1, strongly supports the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. He argues that the housing crisis in New York City is both an affordability and supply issue, emphasizing the urgent need for more housing options across all price points.
- Coleman uses a personal search on StreetEasy to illustrate the severe lack of affordable housing options in Lower Manhattan.
- He contends that current zoning restrictions contribute to skyrocketing costs and reduced economic growth.
- While acknowledging that the proposal alone won't solve all housing problems, Coleman argues it is a necessary step to address the crisis.
Jess Coleman
6:28:37
Thank you, Chen O'Reilly.
6:28:38
Thank you, Speaker Adams, member of the sub committee.
6:28:41
My name is Jess Coleman.
6:28:42
I'm a member of Community Board 1.
6:28:43
I'm a lifelong resident of Lower Manhattan.
6:28:46
This morning, I searched street easy for a 2 bedroom apartment in Council District 1 at $6000 per month or less.
6:28:53
There are 5 options.
6:28:55
With that in perspective, that means that a household has to earn around $240,000 per year just not to not be rent burden in Lower Manhattan, and you still only have 5 options.
6:29:06
Some will tell you as we've heard here today that this illustrates we need less housing, that we simply have an affordability crisis, not a housing crisis.
6:29:14
That is simply not credible.
6:29:16
Anyone who has tried to rent an apartment in this city knows that there is hardly an oversupply of housing at any price point.
6:29:22
For the contrary, there are so little options out there that landlords are literally celebrating the market dynamics that give them all of the leverage and leave tenants powerless.
6:29:31
We are not talking here about eliminating smart progressive market interventions designed to protect the most vulnerable.
6:29:38
We're talking about arcade restrictions that in many cases were designed, in fact, to harm the most vulnerable.
6:29:44
And all it's done and will continue to do, if not changed, is contribute to skyrocketing costs, reduce economic growth, continue coughing up congressional seats to Republican states, and so so much more.
6:29:56
PDFs will not solve all these problems on its own.
6:29:58
We need more social housing.
6:30:00
We need more public housing.
6:30:01
We need much more robust tenant protections.
6:30:03
But what will we tell young people, saddled with student debt, seniors at risk of being booted from their communities?
6:30:09
Families who can't imagine raising a child while still covering their rent.
6:30:12
What are we gonna tell them if we can't do something as basic as build a three story building near a train station or get rid of antiquated parking mandates?
6:30:20
City of yes is a modest proposal relative to the scale of the problem and it is the very least that we can do for the millions of New Yorkers for whom this housing crisis is literally an existential one.
6:30:30
It is not sufficient to solve this crisis, but it is necessary.
6:30:34
And I urge the council to pass this text amendment and stand up for the next generation of New Yorkers.
6:30:38
Thank you.
