PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Lora Tenenbaum, SoHo Resident and Artist Cooperative Member
5:07:47
·
169 sec
Lora Tenenbaum, a long-time SoHo resident, testifies against the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (CHO) proposal, arguing that it takes a flawed neoliberal approach to solving the housing crisis. She criticizes the plan for relying too heavily on market forces and potentially failing to provide truly affordable housing.
- Calls for substantial mandatory affordable housing in all new construction and recognition of rent stabilization's role in affordability
- Argues for reinstating the City Council and community boards' say in land use decisions
- Criticizes the SoHo/NoHo conversion fee as unfair to the community that pioneered adaptive reuse
Lora Tenenbaum
5:07:47
begin.
5:07:49
Well, I'm not David.
5:07:52
I'm Laura Tennenbaum.
5:07:54
I did sign up to speak, and I hope I'm not speaking out of turn.
5:08:00
Shall I get start?
Lynn Schulman
5:08:01
Are you are you part of the same household as David?
5:08:05
No.
Lora Tenenbaum
5:08:05
No.
5:08:05
I do not know David.
Lynn Schulman
5:08:08
What are we doing here?
5:08:09
Hold on one second.
5:08:12
You signed up?
Lora Tenenbaum
5:08:14
Oh, yeah.
5:08:14
I'm I I signed up.
Lynn Schulman
5:08:16
Alright.
5:08:16
So
Charles Ny
5:08:16
so so
Lora Tenenbaum
5:08:17
so I was gonna
Lynn Schulman
5:08:17
oh, so just can you just tell us your name again?
5:08:19
I'm sorry.
Lora Tenenbaum
5:08:20
It's Laura Tennenbaum.
5:08:22
Okay.
5:08:24
Alright.
Lynn Schulman
5:08:25
Go ahead.
5:08:25
You can testify.
5:08:26
2 minutes starts now.
5:08:27
Go ahead.
Lora Tenenbaum
5:08:29
I I I went to first thank my city council member, Chris Marte, for being such a fierce advocate for his constituents in the city.
5:08:38
I see that you too value his knowledgeable input here.
5:08:42
This plan seeks to solve and when overly broad stroke problems that beset our city respecting residential land use.
5:08:49
I think most of you have been clear you recognize its flaws and I hope it leads you to require the revisions within scope it needs to meet its goals or to an outright rejection.
5:09:00
The greatest flaw in the plan is its simplistic neoliberal approach to housing.
5:09:05
It seeks to have the marketplace solve our housing crisis removing most restrictions and the mistaken idea that bill, baby, bill is the solution.
5:09:14
That only benefits real estate, of course.
5:09:17
It may well bring us more housing, but not the kind needed.
5:09:21
Which is affordable housing, including supportive housing.
5:09:25
DCP has ignored the many economists and studies that expose its flaws, including a glacial and temporary growth in the type of residences we need.
5:09:35
So my major ask would be you require substantial mandatory affordable housing in all new construction, recognize a vital part when stabilization plays in affordability, and address the problems intrinsic in how we measure affordability which is a moving target to as communities gentrify.
5:09:54
Another ask was to reinstate the say the council and community boards have in land use decisions.
5:10:00
Democracy is messy.
5:10:01
But it beats the alternative, and DCP is offering the alternative.
5:10:06
I live in SoHo, in many artists, in an only artist's coop, and I moved into it as a young married back in 1973.
5:10:15
So would not be the generator of so much commerce if it had not been to those of us who brought an empty decaying manufacturing district life.
5:10:23
It's wrong that the community that practically invented adaptive reuse is now the only community required to pay an enormous conversion fee.
UNKNOWN
5:10:32
Your time is expired.
Lora Tenenbaum
5:10:33
No one needs to be fully inclusive.
