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TESTIMONY

Kyle Jeremiah from Bowery Residence Committee (BRC) on support for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity and its potential to address homelessness

9:22:33

·

3 min

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Kyle Jeremiah, Director of External Affairs for the Bowery Residence Committee (BRC), testifies in support of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. He emphasizes the initiative's potential to address New York City's severe homelessness crisis by increasing affordable housing options and facilitating the creation of more housing units.

  • Highlights the current homelessness crisis with over 80,000 individuals in shelters and 4,000 unsheltered individuals
  • Advocates for relegalizing shared housing, allowing conversions of underused spaces, and supporting modern Single Room Occupancy (SRO) housing
  • Stresses the importance of increasing affordable housing supply to help organizations like BRC assist more people in transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing
  • Support for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal
  • Need for affordable housing to address homelessness crisis
  • Benefits of relegalizing shared housing and permitting more studio and one-bedroom apartments
  • Importance of converting underused spaces into housing
  • Support for modern SRO housing to increase affordable housing supply
  • Benefits of converting vacant offices and non-residential buildings into homes
  • Urging support for the initiative to create a more equitable and livable New York City

[EXPERIMENTAL]

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

  • Residential Conversions
  • Campuses
  • 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.

Residential Conversions

"Lastly, enabling the conversion of vacant offices and other nonresidential buildings into homes will increase housing supply, boost property values and create more vibrant neighborhoods, particularly in areas impacted by the pandemic."

This quote directly references the residential conversions element of the proposal, discussing the benefits of converting vacant offices and other non-residential buildings into homes.

Campuses

"Second, allowing the conversion of under use spaces such as residential and faith based campuses into housing will help fund repairs for existing buildings and revitalized community institutions."

This quote directly refers to the campuses element of the proposal, mentioning the conversion of underused spaces in residential and faith-based campuses into housing.

Small and Shared Housing

"First, relegalizing shared housing and permitting more studio and one bedroom apartments will provide affordable living options for recent graduates downsizing older adults and those who prefer living alone."

This quote directly addresses the small and shared housing element of the proposal, mentioning the relegalizing of shared housing and permitting more studio and one-bedroom apartments.

"In particular, BRC is thrilled that the city is proposing to make it easier to build a modern 21st century version of SRO housing."

This quote refers to SRO (Single Room Occupancy) housing, which is a form of small and shared housing mentioned in the proposal.

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?
Kyle Jeremiah
9:22:33
Good evening, everyone.
9:22:34
Steve, members of the commission.
9:22:36
My name is Kyle Jeremiah, and I am the Director of External Affairs for the Bowery Residence Committee, more commonly known as BRC.
9:22:45
BRC is one of NYC's largest, most experienced and most effective housing and social service nonprofits.
9:22:52
We serve nearly 13,000 individuals each year through more than 30 programs across the Greater Metropolitan Area.
9:22:59
Today, I'm here to testify in support of the city of yes for housing opportunity proposal and to advocate for the necessary reforms that will facilitate the creation of more affordable housing in New York City.
9:23:13
Now we're grappling with the severe homelessness crisis.
9:23:16
Each night over 80,000 individuals seek refuge in the city's shelter system, and nearly 4000 individuals live on sheltered on our streets.
9:23:26
High cost of housing makes it nearly impossible for many to transition from shelters to permanent housing.
9:23:32
For our clients who are among the city's most disenfranchised residents, These external challenges are compounded by personal barriers such as limited education, criminal records, and behavioral health and medical condition.
9:23:45
Renburden families also struggled to meet essential needs such as food, health care, education with over 500,000 New York is paying more than 3% of their income on rent.
9:23:56
Last year, PRC assisted over 1000 New Yorkers experiencing homelessness transition to more independent housing.
9:24:05
But what kept us from helping more?
9:24:08
One thing, the insufficient supply of affordable housing to the people we serve.
9:24:13
Increasing housing in New York City through the City of Yes, for housing opportunity initiative offers several key benefits.
9:24:20
First, relegalizing shared housing and permitting more studio and one bedroom apartments will provide affordable living options for recent graduates downsizing older adults and those who prefer living alone.
9:24:34
This will help reduce the homelessness crisis and free up larger apartments for families 2nd, allowing the conversion of under use spaces such as residential and faith based campuses into housing will help fund repairs for existing buildings and revitalized community institutions.
9:24:51
In particular, BRC is thrilled that the city is proposing to make it easier to build a modern 21st century version of SRO housing.
9:25:00
For those with no homes, SROs would dramatically increase the supply and reduce the per unit cost of creating housing allowing us to build more housing that is affordable to those who needed most.
9:25:11
Lastly, enabling the conversion of vacant offices and other nonresidential buildings into homes will increase housing supply, boost property values and create more vibrant neighborhoods, particularly in areas impacted by the pandemic.
9:25:25
So I urge you to support the city of Yes for housing opportunity and work towards creating a more equitable and a livable New York City for all its residents.
9:25:34
If you desire to see to see less homelessness in this city, then you should be in support of this city.
9:25:40
Yes.
9:25:40
No policy is perfect, but don't let That's my time.

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