PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Stanley Liao on Housing Crisis and City of Yes Proposal
11:16:40
·
116 sec
Stanley Liao, a renter in New York for 6-7 years, testified in support of the City of Yes proposal, highlighting the severe housing crisis in NYC. He shared personal anecdotes and statistics to illustrate the shortage of housing and its impact on renters.
- Over half of NYC renters are rent-burdened due to insufficient housing construction (1.2 million new jobs vs. 400,000 new homes in the past decade)
- NYC has approved significantly fewer housing units per capita compared to other dense cities like San Francisco, Boston, and DC
- Liao cited examples of similar reforms working in other cities like Minneapolis, Austin, and Auckland, resulting in slowed rent growth
- He referenced a poll showing 80% of New Yorkers support the City of Yes proposals
Stanley Liao
11:16:40
Good evening.
11:16:41
Thank you for your time.
11:16:42
I really appreciate it.
11:16:44
My name is Stanley Al.
11:16:45
I've been a renter.
11:16:46
I've lived in New York for around 6 or 7 years.
11:16:49
And as long as I've lived here, we've just been experiencing a terrible housing crisis.
11:16:54
I've seen people share tiny hundred foot rooms, you know, two twin beds with barely foot in between.
11:17:01
I've had friends who didn't even get, like, bed frames so they can put their mattresses up during the day for some extra space when they were sleeping.
11:17:09
And this isn't endless.
11:17:10
I've lived next to families in one bedroom.
11:17:13
And this isn't just anecdotes, you know, like over half New York renters, as you guys know, are rent burdened.
11:17:19
And this is because we just don't build housing in New York City in the past decade, three times as many jobs, were created, then homes were built.
11:17:28
So that's 1,200,000 jobs versus only 400,000 homes.
11:17:33
Significantly fewer units were approved for capita than incomparable other densities.
11:17:39
For instance, like, 40% less than San Francisco, half as many as Boston, and, you know, we don't like losing to Boston and anything, and 2 thirds less than DC.
11:17:49
And this is even getting into, like, you know, fast growing cities like Austin, Seattle, etcetera.
11:17:55
The common sense reforms in the city of yes, have worked in the past, and they will work in New York.
11:18:02
Other cities like Minneapolis, Austin, and Auckland, New Zealand, have passed similar reforms and seen slowed rent growth and sometimes even rent decreases.
11:18:14
The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers, 80% as a recent poll shows, understand this and they support the proposals in the city of yes.
11:18:25
So I urge the members of the city council to pass city of yes in its entirety and to improve the lives of everyday New Yorkers and bring rent and the cause of living down.
11:18:35
And thank you so much for your time.
