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Council Member Kevin Riley addresses neighborhood planning and investment concerns
0:05:33
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Council Member Kevin Riley emphasizes the need for substantial investment in neighborhood planning, expressing concern about the lack of progress in initiatives like the SEED fund and the Neighborhood Development Fund (NDF). He highlights the importance of addressing community needs alongside housing development, particularly in areas of infrastructure, affordability, and public spaces.
- Riley questions the status of the $5 billion investment negotiated alongside new housing initiatives
- He criticizes the slow progress of the SEED fund, with only three investments made in two years
- The councilman calls for more information on the status and funding of both SEED and NDF programs
Kevin Riley
0:05:33
Thank you chair Salamanca and welcome once again to DCP leadership and members of the public who are watching this hearing.
0:05:40
I would like to really focus on the need for investment in our neighborhood planning.
0:05:45
Should not and cannot be just about headline numbers.
0:05:48
Yes, we need more housing and the city council has worked with the administration to create 82,000 new homes in the next fifteen years, but council had to negotiate very hard for the administration to invest $5,000,000,000 alongside of this new housing.
0:06:04
From that $5,000,000,000 pool, 2,000,000,000 will go toward affordable housing, 2,000,000,000 will go toward infrastructure projects, and 1,000,000,000 will be set aside for public housing, vouchers, and tenant protections.
0:06:17
Today, I would like to hear what the status of this capital commitment is.
0:06:22
In addition, new capital funds are needed.
0:06:24
In March 2022, the administration launched its rebuild, renew, and reinvent blueprint for the city's economic recovery which launched the New York City strategy for equity and economic development also known as the seed fund.
0:06:40
Seed was intended to invest city dollars into neighborhood wide capital improvements with a new framework.
0:06:46
However, we've only heard of three seed investments in two years.
0:06:51
This is not acceptable and neighborhoods in my district are experiencing more and not less flooding, homeownership is becoming more and more unaffordable, and my constituents are not seeing improvements in public spaces.
0:07:04
We cannot simply add density to our neighborhoods without addressing the needs of our communities.
0:07:10
When seed was first introduced by the administration, it seemed to replace the previous administration tool for guiding investments into our communities which was called the neighborhood development fund.
0:07:21
While the NDF remains funded in the city's capital plan, it appears most of the remaining money is on hold and otherwise inaccessible.
0:07:30
We look forward to hearing more about the status and size of the seed fund, the status of NDF, and how either of these will be funded more to actually meet the needs of our communities and which neighborhood DCP and the administration are focusing on for capital improvements.
0:07:49
Other topics we will like to cover this afternoon include how DCP is supporting office conversion and climate change resiliency, proposing homes to the city plan commission, conducting timely land use reviews, and planning for fair house housing and more manufacturing and industrial jobs.
0:08:07
I will now pass it back over to chair Thank you, chair.