Joseph Rosenberg from the Catholic Community Relations Council on support for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative
7:18:05
·
3 min
Joseph Rosenberg, representing the Archdiocese of New York and Diocese of Brooklyn, expresses strong support for the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity initiative. He highlights how the proposal addresses zoning obstacles and unlocks property use for religious organizations to develop housing.
- Emphasizes the removal of parking mandates and the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) as beneficial changes for affordable housing development
- Supports the expansion of landmark development rights transfers to adjacent blocks, which could help fund church maintenance
- Advocates for modifications to the infill initiative, specifically exempting houses of worship from certain distance requirements between buildings
- Supports City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
- Focuses on removing zoning obstacles that prevent housing development
- Unlocks use of properties owned by religious organizations
- Removal of mandatory parking spaces in housing developments
- 20% additional affordable housing units in medium and high density districts
- Expansion of landmark development rights transfer
- Encourages residential conversion of office, commercial, and unused community facility buildings
- Modifications needed for infill initiative, especially for houses of worship
- Proposals are timely and critical for addressing housing crisis
[EXPERIMENTAL]
Which elements of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity were discussed in this testimony?
- UAP
- Residential Conversions
- Parking Mandates
- Campuses
The following are AI-extracted quotes and reasoning about which elements of the proposal were discussed in this testimony.
This is a quick, close approximation. Occasionally, the connection between a testimony's transcript and specific elements of City Planning's proposal is tenuous.
Read about this AI-generated analysis here.
UAP
"The UAP would also greatly benefit both Catholic Charities Housing Programs by providing a 20% additional affordable housing units in medium and high density districts where the underlying development is 100% affordable."
This quote directly mentions the UAP (Universal Affordability Preference) and describes its benefit of allowing 20% additional affordable housing units, which aligns with the proposal's description.
Residential Conversions
"We are also strongly supportive of the zoning text amendment that encourages the residential conversion of office and commercial buildings."
This quote directly addresses the residential conversions element of the proposal, showing support for converting office and commercial buildings to housing.
"The city of Yes would also allow the conversion to housing of many unused community facility buildings such as condos and rectories that are no longer utilized by our Parishes and sit empty."
This quote further elaborates on the residential conversions aspect, mentioning the conversion of unused community facilities to housing, which aligns with the proposal's goal of converting non-residential spaces to homes.
Parking Mandates
"For too long, New York City has required Wall Street parking spaces to be incorporated into housing developments regardless their proximity to public transit. Removing this mandate is long overdue. It would allow space that was once reserved for motor vehicles to now be used to produce apartments for New Yorkers."
This quote directly addresses the removal of parking mandates, which is a key element of the City of Yes proposal. The speaker supports this change and explains how it would benefit housing production.
Campuses
"The City of Yes includes an infill initiative that modifies existing regulations on campus over 1.5 acres with buildings located. It is intended to allow housing development. However, it requires some modifications. One for example is houses of worship should be exempt from distances between should be exempt from distance between building requirements."
This quote discusses the campus element of the proposal, specifically mentioning modifications to regulations for campuses over 1.5 acres and suggesting changes to building distance requirements for houses of worship, which aligns with the proposal's goal of making it easier for campuses to add new buildings.
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.
Follow-up discussion/remarks
Commissioner Benjamin seeks clarification on transfer of development rights
7:21:17
·
46 sec
Commissioner Gail Benjamin asks Joseph Rosenberg, Director of the Catholic Community Relations Council, to clarify the proposed changes to the transfer of development rights for landmark buildings in historic districts.
- Rosenberg confirms that the transfer of development rights would only apply to landmark buildings within historic districts, not the entire district
- The proposal would expand transfer rights to blocks facing the landmark's block, beyond just adjacent or catty-corner properties
- Rosenberg notes this change is not as extensive as in Midtown East, but still significantly helpful
- Supports City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
- Focuses on removing zoning obstacles that prevent housing development
- Unlocks use of properties owned by religious organizations
- Removal of mandatory parking spaces in housing developments
- 20% additional affordable housing units in medium and high density districts
- Expansion of landmark development rights transfer
- Encourages residential conversion of office, commercial, and unused community facility buildings
- Modifications needed for infill initiative, especially for houses of worship
- Proposals are timely and critical for addressing housing crisis
[EXPERIMENTAL]
Which elements of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity were discussed in this testimony?
- UAP
- Residential Conversions
- Parking Mandates
- Campuses
The following are AI-extracted quotes and reasoning about which elements of the proposal were discussed in this testimony.
This is a quick, close approximation. Occasionally, the connection between a testimony's transcript and specific elements of City Planning's proposal is tenuous.
Read about this AI-generated analysis here.
UAP
"The UAP would also greatly benefit both Catholic Charities Housing Programs by providing a 20% additional affordable housing units in medium and high density districts where the underlying development is 100% affordable."
This quote directly mentions the UAP (Universal Affordability Preference) and describes its benefit of allowing 20% additional affordable housing units, which aligns with the proposal's description.
Residential Conversions
"We are also strongly supportive of the zoning text amendment that encourages the residential conversion of office and commercial buildings."
This quote directly addresses the residential conversions element of the proposal, showing support for converting office and commercial buildings to housing.
"The city of Yes would also allow the conversion to housing of many unused community facility buildings such as condos and rectories that are no longer utilized by our Parishes and sit empty."
This quote further elaborates on the residential conversions aspect, mentioning the conversion of unused community facilities to housing, which aligns with the proposal's goal of converting non-residential spaces to homes.
Parking Mandates
"For too long, New York City has required Wall Street parking spaces to be incorporated into housing developments regardless their proximity to public transit. Removing this mandate is long overdue. It would allow space that was once reserved for motor vehicles to now be used to produce apartments for New Yorkers."
This quote directly addresses the removal of parking mandates, which is a key element of the City of Yes proposal. The speaker supports this change and explains how it would benefit housing production.
Campuses
"The City of Yes includes an infill initiative that modifies existing regulations on campus over 1.5 acres with buildings located. It is intended to allow housing development. However, it requires some modifications. One for example is houses of worship should be exempt from distances between should be exempt from distance between building requirements."
This quote discusses the campus element of the proposal, specifically mentioning modifications to regulations for campuses over 1.5 acres and suggesting changes to building distance requirements for houses of worship, which aligns with the proposal's goal of making it easier for campuses to add new buildings.
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.