PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Tom Wright, President and CEO of Regional Plan Association, on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
0:48:40
·
123 sec
Tom Wright, representing the Regional Plan Association (RPA), expresses strong support for the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative. He argues that this zoning amendment would address New York City's critical housing shortage by equitably expanding housing stock across all neighborhoods.
- Wright cites a McKinsey & Company analysis for RPA, projecting a 25% increase in housing costs by 2035 if current production rates continue.
- RPA's research estimates that City of Yes would create 15,000-30,000 new jobs, generate $1.1-$2.1 billion in annual earnings, and have a $4.1-$8.3 billion economic impact over 15 years.
- He notes that if the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) had been in place since 2014, an estimated 20,000 additional income-restricted affordable housing units would have been created.
Tom Wright
0:48:40
Good morning.
0:48:40
My name is Tom Wright, President and CEO of Regional Plan Association, and I'm here today to register RPA's strong support for City of Yes for housing opportunity.
0:48:49
This pragmatic and innovative text amendment would equitably expand New York's housing stock in every neighborhood, limiting development pressure on individual communities while addressing a critical citywide shortage.
0:49:02
The restrictive zoning in many neighborhoods in New York City poses significant obstacles and costs to building new homes for both affordable and market rate even in places with good transportation and access to jobs.
0:49:15
This drives up prices, drives out working in middle class residents and constrains flexibility and choices for renters and prospective homeowners.
0:49:24
A recent analysis conducted by McKinsey And Company for RPA concluded that if the New York Metropolitan region continues to add housing at its current rate of production, residents could see housing costs rise by another 25% by 2035, resulting in over a quarter of a 1,000,000 new households facing severe housing cost burdens.
0:49:46
Together, the zoning reforms in city of yes form a cohesive and interconnected strategy to equitably and reasonably expand the housing stock in every neighborhood, and the payback will be enormous RPA's research has concluded that City of Yes would deliver between 15,030,000 new jobs, generating between $1,102,100,000 in earnings each year and an overall economic impact of between $4,183,000,000,000 over the next 15 years.
0:50:17
More than half the jobs would result from building accessory dwelling units and smaller multifamily buildings throughout the city which would be a huge benefit for smaller firms, especially MWA's.
0:50:29
And finally, if the UAP had been in place since 2014, we estimate an extra 20,000 income restricted affordable housing units would have been created.
0:50:39
City of Yes increases the land area by five times.
