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TESTIMONY

Joy Goldberg on the affordability gap in NYC's housing market and concerns about the City of Yes initiative

6:37:53

3 min

Joy Goldberg, a Brooklyn resident, testifies about the severe affordability crisis in New York City's housing market, citing statistics that show a significant gap between median renter income and the income required to afford typical apartments. She questions the effectiveness of current affordable housing initiatives and expresses skepticism about the City of Yes rezoning proposal.

Presents data showing NYC renters need to earn $119,120 to afford median-priced apartments, while the median renter household income is only $67,358
Criticizes the income requirements for 'affordable' housing listings on Housing Connect, which often start at 130% of the Area Median Income (AMI)
Raises concerns about who will truly benefit from the City of Yes initiative, suggesting it may favor 'lesser rich' rather than those most in need

The gap between median renter income and required income for affordable housing in NYC is significant
Current 'affordable' housing options on Housing Connect are not truly affordable for those in dire need
Many affordable housing options still require high incomes (often above 100% AMI)
Questions who the City of Yes initiative is actually making housing affordable for
Criticizes the initiative as benefiting the 'lesser rich' rather than those truly in need
Expresses concern about rezoning and densification of the city
Suggests that dividing land for profit is harmful to the city

[EXPERIMENTAL]

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

UAP
Small and Shared Housing

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

"A need for affordable housing is indeed dire for those who truly need it, people who are disabled. People who are forced to choose between paying their exorbitant rent and eating because their jobs don't pay them enough for both. The poor, the lowly, those who truly need it, no doubt."

This quote discusses the need for affordable housing, which is directly related to the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) element of the proposal. The speaker is highlighting the urgent need for affordable housing for vulnerable populations.

"Are the inaccurate assessment at 80% area median. So while you intend to carve up the land in the beloved city, rezone it, densify as you so describe it. I feel the need to ask, who is this being made affordable 4. City of yes for whom."

This quote indirectly refers to the UAP element by questioning the affordability metrics and who the proposal is actually benefiting. It relates to the UAP's goal of providing affordable housing at 60% AMI, though the speaker is skeptical about its effectiveness.

Small and Shared Housing

"On July 7th, there were 17 rentals on housing connect deemed, quote, affordable. Household size starts at 1. 8th started with 130 percent area median income. Eligible income starting 99,006, 113,726, 104,000,100 505, 106, 504, 72 to 218 on July 8th. Another one for 8943. There are many where the tenant must pay for heat. A person earning 50,000 paying 13.74 month rent for a studio with the HEETS slaps on him or her literally in figures, hopefully. Sometimes it's heat and hot water. Starting at 70,000 and changed, one bedroom from 1929."

This quote indirectly relates to the Small and Shared Housing element of the proposal. The speaker is discussing studio and one-bedroom apartments, which are types of small housing units. They are questioning the affordability of these units, which is relevant to the proposal's aim of re-legalizing and increasing the availability of small housing options.

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?

Joy Goldberg