Q&A
Potential for affordable housing on Port Authority-owned lots
1:09:27
·
3 min
Council Member Bottcher raises the possibility of using Port Authority-owned lots for affordable housing in the future. Port Authority representatives discuss their stance on this proposal.
- Port Authority acknowledges the importance of affordable housing in New York City
- The lots in question will be needed for transportation purposes during and after construction
- If lots are determined to be surplus in the future, they could potentially be made available for residential development
- Port Authority must prioritize their mission as a transportation agency when considering land use
Erik D. Bottcher
1:09:27
Port authority in this in the footprint of the port authority bus terminal area has property that we believe would be good location for affordable housing.
1:09:47
On the west side of Manhattan, we have very few opportunities for new affordable housing with respect to buildable lots, and the port authority has 3 on your property that we believe should be utilized for affordable housing.
1:10:09
One is on the northeast corner of Dyer Avenue and West 33rd Street.
1:10:14
Another is on the northwest corner of Dyer Avenue and West 40th Street, and the third is on the northeast corner of ninth Avenue and West 40 First Street.
1:10:26
The Port Authority has, made it clear that you you believe that you need these spaces now.
1:10:34
You can't, build affordable housing on them now or or RFP them for for new affordable housing.
1:10:45
What are you, what commitments can you make to making these available in the future for affordable housing when they're no longer needed?
Hersh Parekh
1:11:01
Sure.
1:11:01
Thanks, council member, for that question.
1:11:03
I'll just start by saying, you know, I think as a as a agency that operates within the city of New York, with, you know, thousands of employees that live within the city of New York, we recognize that affordable housing is is a critical need, in this city and and around the region.
1:11:21
The the 3 lots you identified, as you noted, will be, of importance, for use during the course of this construction program.
1:11:30
We also anticipate that they will have ongoing use for transportation purposes following the conclusion of this program, especially as many of the surface level lots that I described in my presentation will no longer be be available, for that transportation use.
1:11:46
With that being said, if we determine that those you know, any one of those lots are are not, necessary for transportation use, and to advance the mission of the port authority, we do have a process under which we would review those, those lots, make sure that, they can be declared what we call surplus.
1:12:11
And, it would go through that review process.
1:12:13
If that determination is made, we can make those lots available for a period of time, for residential development, under our governing statutes, under the laws that we operate under.
1:12:26
But that is something that we can lay out.
1:12:29
But as I mentioned, as a mentioned, as a transportation agency, it is important that the land that we have, is utilized to advance our mission as a transportation operator of facilities.
1:12:40
But in the event that that is not necessary in those lots, we can, go through this process about, making them available for development of residential and affordable housing.
