REMARKS
Council Member Holden opposes the City of Yes plan
1:05:41
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101 sec
Council Member Robert F. Holden strongly criticizes the City of Yes plan, arguing that it threatens the character of many New York City communities, particularly in Queens. He emphasizes that the plan is a "developer's dream and a neighborhood nightmare" and urges his colleagues to vote against it.
- Holden cites his 30-year experience as a community board member and his involvement in previous zoning adjustments to support his opposition.
- He argues that the plan is a "one size fits all" approach that doesn't consider the unique needs of different neighborhoods.
- Holden expresses skepticism about the $5 billion funding guarantee, calling it "monopoly money."
Robert F. Holden
1:05:41
Thank you, majority leader.
1:05:42
And the city of Yaz threatens to change the very character of too many communities in New York City, particularly in Queens.
1:05:50
And that's why it was mentioned earlier that 12 out of the 14 community boards voted against the city of YES.
1:05:56
Now as a 30 year member of a community board in, 5 in Queens, I know the neighborhoods in and out because I've I've done my my work as a volunteer.
1:06:07
And I also did my work as mapping the entire community in our, zoning, adjustments in the 19 eighties and in the early 2000s.
1:06:18
I went door to door and many of my we had 75 volunteers that went around to protect the housing stock, to protect going in our backyards and able to to feel the sun on our faces.
1:06:30
It's so important that it's not a one size fits all, like, was mentioned by my colleagues, council member Banks, Hanks, Marte and and Joerger.
1:06:40
This is, this is something that threatens the very character of our neighborhoods.
1:06:45
And it's really, it's really egregious that we're turning over many of the decisions to developers.
1:06:53
So, most of our accomplishments will be totally eliminated.
1:06:57
So the city of Yesss is a developer's dream and a neighborhood nightmare.
1:07:02
This is all this is.
1:07:03
And a guarantee of $5,000,000,000 is just again, it's not worth the the paper that it's printed on.
1:07:09
So it's really, like my colleague councilman Joerger said, monopoly money.
1:07:14
Let's not give away our vote.
1:07:16
Let's let's turn down the city of yes because it's really a rush job for developers.
1:07:22
Thank you.
