PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Michelle Kuppersmith, Member of Manhattan Community Board 3
5:05:40
·
119 sec
Michelle Kuppersmith, a member of Manhattan Community Board 3, testifies in strong support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. She emphasizes the urgent need to address New York City's housing crisis and criticizes her own district's lack of progress in creating affordable housing.
- Kuppersmith urges council members to vote in favor of the entire proposal, citing 45,000 children sleeping in shelters nightly.
- She criticizes her own council member (District 1) for failing to create affordable housing and accuses him of prioritizing wealthy SoHo apartment owners over addressing the housing crisis.
- Kuppersmith highlights that Manhattan Community Board 3 overwhelmingly supports the proposal and that 80% of New Yorkers support addressing the "racist housing crisis".
Michelle Kuppersmith
5:05:40
Thank you, and thank you, council member, Sheldon.
5:05:42
I spend a lot of time in your district.
5:05:44
My grandmother has lived on 62nd Drive for almost 70 years now.
5:05:49
I also wanna thank the other council members for being here and listening to our testimony.
5:05:53
My name is Michelle Cooper Smith, and I'm here to ask you to vote in favor of the entirety of the city of yes housing opportunity proposal because our city is an shameful and dire house increase crisis that leaves 45,000 children sleeping in shelters every night.
5:06:06
I'm a council district 1 resident, which had the dishonor of creating 1 subsidized housing unit last year, and I thank my council member for that failure.
5:06:13
Please be skeptical when he says he supported subsidized projects in our districts, such as Grand Street, Guild or Go Broom.
5:06:19
Both of which were approved many years before he was elected council member.
5:06:22
We need a set of yes that we can build in districts with do nothing council members like mine who say they want affordable housing, yet take no steps to propose zoning changes that would hasten their creation.
5:06:33
Folks might have been a little confused about earlier testimony, and I think there might be some coming up regarding the SoHo NoHo rezoning, which passed all the way back in 2020.
5:06:41
You should be aware that this is a stunt by my district 1 council member to set up the removal of certain provisions of that rezoning from the dezoning texts during city of Yosun, negotiations in an effort to benefit his real constituency.
5:06:53
Rich Soho apartment owners, who knew full well that purchasing multimillion dollar apartments zoned only for artists and residents, was illegal.
5:07:00
It's distressing that my consulate member seems more interested in protecting the profits of rich Soho apartment owners than welcoming neighbors to his district.
5:07:08
When CB 3, my cons my community board that I'm a member of all down here in my personal capacity has year after year named affordable housing as our number one district need.
5:07:17
And in fact, Community Board 3 in Manhattan did overwhelmingly support this proposal.
5:07:22
So please vote yes on City of Gas in its strongest possible form so that we can address the racist housing crisis that is ongoing, and what's your recent pulse at 80% of New Yorkers support.
5:07:33
It's not only the right thing to do, it's a popular thing, and thank you for spending so much time here.
Emily Eisner
5:07:37
I know it must be
Michelle Kuppersmith
5:07:38
very difficult.
5:07:39
Have a good one.
Lynn Schulman
5:07:39
Thank you very much.
