PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sylvia Morse, Senior Program Manager for Research & Policy at Pratt Center For Community Development
1:27:47
·
163 sec
Sylvia Morse from Pratt Center For Community Development testifies in support of two local laws to advance the safety of basement and cellar apartments in New York City. She emphasizes the critical role of these units in providing affordable housing and the need for regulation to protect residents.
- Urges the committee to pass bills on ADU regulations and a program to safely convert existing basement and cellar apartments
- Recommends expanding the geography of the basement and cellar conversion program beyond the current 15 community districts
- Stresses the need for adequate funding to serve low-income homeowners and tenants, and implementation in partnership with community-based organizations
Sylvia Morse
1:27:47
Good afternoon, chair Sanchez and members of this committee.
1:27:50
Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of these 2 urgently needed local laws to advance the safety of basement and cellar apartments in our city.
1:27:59
I'm Sylvia Morse of Pratt Center For Community Development, which has been working on this issue for more than 15 years with the basement apartments, save for everyone, or BASE coalition.
1:28:08
As we heard earlier today, basement apartments are a critical part of the city's low income housing stock, home to tens of thousands of New Yorkers.
1:28:15
Pratt Center has found that unaccounted for units are concentrated in neighborhoods that are majority people of color and where rent burden and poverty rates are higher than citywide.
1:28:25
Amidst our city's, housing affordability crisis, many low income New Yorkers will continue to rely on basement apartments.
1:28:32
Yet because this housing is unregulated, residents lack basic tenant protections and may be living in unsafe conditions.
1:28:39
To protect our neighbors and mitigate the fire, flood, and eviction risks, basement and cellar apartment safety must be regulated.
1:28:46
We urge this committee and the council to pass the 2 bills related to ADU regulations and a program to safely convert existing basement and cellar apartments.
1:28:55
We also ask that city council consider steps to ensure these bills have the greatest possible public safety impact.
1:29:02
Most urgently, the geography of the basement and cellar conversion program should be expanded to include as much of the city as possible.
1:29:09
The program area currently includes the 15 community districts auth authorized by the state to pilot reforms to the multiple dwelling law, which affects 2 and 3 family homes converting a basement or cellar unit.
1:29:21
As reported in the press at the time, these 15 districts were decided in Albany without transparency and seemingly arbitrarily excluding many neighborhoods where unregulated units are concentrated.
1:29:32
The city has the authority to extend significant regulatory relief to single family homes, which are not affected by the state multiple dwelling law outside of those 15 districts.
1:29:41
A Pratt Center analysis found that half of the city's potentially convertible units and sellers citywide are in single family homes.
1:29:47
We urge city council to use its powers to make sure the basement and seller program improves safety in as many neighborhoods and homes as possible.
1:29:55
Additional recommendations to strengthen these bills are detailed in our written testimony and testimony you'll hear from our colleagues in the base coalition.
1:30:02
If I can briefly just add that beyond regulatory reforms, the city will need to ensure that the basement conversion program is adequately funded to serve low income homeowners and tenants and is developed and and implemented in partnership with community based organizations in frontline communities.
1:30:18
BASE has been sounding the alarm on this issue for more than 15 years.
1:30:22
And in that time, the growing severity of our climate and housing crises have only increased this need.
1:30:28
We urge city council to act now.
1:30:30
Thank you.
