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TESTIMONY

Eric Rosenbaum, President and CEO of Project Renewal, on addressing homelessness and affordable housing through City of Yes zoning reforms

2:37:31

·

165 sec

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Eric Rosenbaum, representing Project Renewal, a major homeless service provider in NYC, speaks in favor of the City of Yes initiative. He emphasizes the critical role of stable housing in addressing homelessness, mental health issues, substance use disorders, and public safety concerns.

  • Highlights the historical context of housing inequality, including discriminatory practices like the GI Bill and urban renewal projects
  • Argues that City of Yes proposals can significantly impact affordable housing availability by overhauling zoning regulations
  • Predicts that increasing affordability will reduce homelessness and address root causes of generational challenges, leading to a more affordable and safer New York City
  • Stable housing is the foundation for resilient families and communities
  • Lack of affordable housing contributes to mental health issues, overdose crises, and public safety problems
  • Historical housing discrimination has created profound inequity, especially for people of color
  • City of Yes proposals can address affordable housing availability and reduce homelessness
  • Increasing affordability will address root causes of mental health challenges, substance disorders, and criminal justice involvement
  • The alternative is increased spending on shelters, mental health treatment, and jails
  • City of Yes will make New York City more affordable and safer for families at all income levels

[EXPERIMENTAL]

Which elements of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity were discussed in this testimony?

I was not able to tie quotes from the testimony back to specific elements of the proposal. Check out another testimony here.

About this analysis:

This analysis is done by AI that reasons whether or not a quote from the testimony discusses a particular element of the proposal.

All the prompts and data are open and available on Github.

You can search for testimonies that mentioned a specific element in the table on the main meeting page.

When an element is explicitly stated in the testimony (e.g. "Universal Affordability Preference" or "UAP"), the analysis is accurate.

But the connection between a quote from the testimony and an element of the proposal is sometimes implicit.

In these cases, the AI might eagerly label a testimony as discussing a proposal when the connection is tenuous, or it might omit it entirely.

↗ Why are there transcription and diarization errors?
Eric Rosenbaum
2:37:31
Hi there.
2:37:32
Can you hear me?
Dan Garodnick
2:37:34
I can.
Eric Rosenbaum
2:37:35
Great.
2:37:36
Thanks for
2:37:36
letting me speak today in favor of the city of yes.
2:37:39
I'm Eric Rosenbaum.
2:37:40
I'm the President and CEO of Project Renewable.
2:37:43
We're one of New York City's largest homeless service providers.
2:37:46
We know that stable housing is literally the foundation on which people build resilient families and communities.
2:37:53
Many of our clients who are unhoused are also struggling with mental illness, substance use disorders, and histories of criminal justice involvement.
2:38:02
These conditions are themselves often rooted in patterns of unstable housing that stretch back to childhood.
2:38:09
And I'll note that yesterday, there were 32,968 kids living in a New York City shelter.
2:38:16
So without equitable access to affordable and supportive housing, our city will continue to face rising mental health concerns, overdose crises, and public safety issues.
2:38:27
Our extreme shortage of affordable housing has its origins at least as far back as the aftermath of World War 2.
2:38:35
The GI bill created a generation of homeowners, but also systematically excluded black soldiers and their families.
2:38:42
Denying them the wealth building opportunity of homeownership at devastating consequences that continue to reverberate today.
2:38:50
The GI bill was just one of the many discriminatory housing practices that created profound inequity that go well beyond housing.
2:38:59
Urban renewal projects in 19 sixties seventies often led to the displacement of non white and low income communities.
2:39:07
Gentrification, which still happens to this day, has the same impact.
2:39:11
And, of course, housing discrimination is no longer legal, but the impact is still disproportionately skewed to people and communities of color.
2:39:21
This long legacy of housing and equity has resulted in generations of displacement and instability, which are major root causes of the challenges our clients face.
2:39:32
The city of yes proposals can make a real difference in overhauling zoning regulations and addressing the availability of affordable housing.
2:39:41
Increasing affordability will reduce homelessness and address this key root cause of generational mental health challenges substitute disorders and criminal justice involvement.
2:39:52
The alternative is a depressing and ever increasing spiral of spending on shelter, mental health treatment, and jails.
2:40:00
We applaud the mayor, city planning, and the city council from working to address the housing challenges that impact all of our neighbors.
2:40:09
With the city of yes, New York City will become more affordable and safer.
2:40:13
A city where families at all income levels kind
2:40:15
of thoughts.
2:40:16
Thank you.

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