PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Thomas Caffrey, Executive Director of Committee for Environmentally Sound Development
13:13:50
·
146 sec
Thomas Caffrey, representing the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, strongly opposes the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (CHO) plan. He argues that while New York City needs more affordable housing, the mayor's plan fails to address this need and instead focuses on opportunities for developers to build market-rate and luxury housing.
- Caffrey contends that the plan will result in a more crowded city and consume spaces that could be used for affordable housing.
- He criticizes the lack of mandates for affordable housing for middle-class or poor New Yorkers in the 1300-page plan.
- Caffrey questions why affordable housing is being treated as a secondary issue to be addressed in the future, rather than as the city's primary need.
Thomas Caffrey
13:13:50
Hi, Luke.
13:13:51
Can you hear me now?
Kevin C. Riley
13:13:53
Yes.
13:13:53
It's Thomas.
Thomas Caffrey
13:14:07
You're good to hear me?
13:14:08
Yeah.
13:14:08
Go ahead, Thomas.
13:14:10
Okay.
13:14:11
Thank you.
13:14:14
Thank you for working late too.
13:14:16
My name as I as you said, it's Thomas Caffrey.
13:14:18
I'm the executive director of a 1000 member committee for environmentally sound development.
13:14:26
We're on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
13:14:29
We try to support sound development.
13:14:34
We strongly oppose this plan because the city needs more affordable housing.
13:14:42
This is our main point, but the mayor's plan completely misses that need focusing instead on a raft of opportunities for developers to crowd their square feet of renewable, of rentable, and purchasable space into our already overcrowded city This results in a more crowded city and in spaces, potentially available for affordable housing being consumed by further housing for the rich.
13:15:16
More sinisterly as already cited by many other witnesses, it rewards the destruction of now affordable housing with that housing to be replaced by lucrative market rate units.
13:15:33
No one in the plan is there a mandate for housing that would be affordable to middle class or poor New Yorkers.
13:15:42
No such provision whatsoever.
13:15:44
1300 pages.
13:15:46
One speaker after another has first supported coy, COY, and then added that other or complementary plans could address affordable housing.
13:15:59
Why is the mayor treating the city's number one need, namely affordable housing, as a maybe issue, or a number 2, or number 3 issue, something we might do in the future after we do this.
UNKNOWN
13:16:11
Thank you.
13:16:11
Your times expired.
Thomas Caffrey
13:16:13
For the developers.
13:16:14
Thank you.
13:16:15
Thank you.
