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TESTIMONY

Layla Law-Gisiko, President of the City Club of New York, on concerns about the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal's impact on affordable housing and urban planning

1:00:11

·

3 min

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Layla Law-Gisiko, representing the City Club of New York, expresses concerns about the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity proposal. While acknowledging the commendable intent to increase housing, she argues that the proposal falls short in addressing affordable housing needs and may have negative impacts on housing quality and urban infrastructure.

  • Law-Gisiko emphasizes that increasing housing supply alone will not necessarily result in more affordable housing, calling for mandatory affordable housing provisions.
  • She raises concerns about potential reductions in housing quality standards and the lack of planning for additional infrastructure to support new developments.
  • The City Club opposes the proposal as drafted, urging reconsideration to better serve all New Yorkers and ensure local oversight, particularly by the City Council.
  • The proposal fails to address affordable housing needs
  • Increasing housing supply does not automatically result in more affordable housing
  • The initiative may reduce housing quality by allowing reduced standards
  • The proposal lacks assessment of environmental impact and infrastructure needs
  • Concerns about the transfer of development rights from landmarks potentially creating disproportionately large towers
  • Urges for mandatory affordable housing provisions
  • Calls for protection of housing standards and local oversight
  • Emphasizes the need for planning community infrastructure

[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

"The city of yes may be a housing proposal, but it is not really an affordable housing proposal."

This quote indicates that the speaker is discussing the affordability aspect of the proposal, which is related to the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP) element.

"Many wrongly assume that increasing housing supply will automatically result in more affordable housing. This is a dangerous misconception."

This quote directly addresses the affordability aspect of the proposal, which is a key component of the UAP element.

"New York must mandate affordable housing."

This statement suggests that the speaker is critiquing the proposal's approach to affordable housing, which is directly related to the UAP element.

Small and Shared Housing

"This proposal threatens also to reduce the quality of housing by allowing reduced set standards and housing quality such as solar setbacks and no minimum unit size, we risk free except standard living conditions."

This quote suggests that the speaker is discussing aspects of the proposal that relate to small housing units, which is part of the Small and Shared Housing element of the City of Yes For Housing Opportunity 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?
Layla Law-Gisiko
1:00:11
Thank you very much, Gerard, Nick.
1:00:17
Sorry.
1:00:17
I'll hold on to it.
Sara Penenberg
1:00:20
Good morning, members of the City Planning Commission.
1:00:22
My name
Layla Law-Gisiko
1:00:22
is Layla Logizico.
1:00:23
I'm the president of the City Club of New York.
1:00:26
While the intent of the city of yes for housing opportunity to increase housing is commendable, very commendable actually.
1:00:33
The proposal as it stands fails to meet the urgent need of our city, particularly in terms of affordable housing.
1:00:40
The city of yes may be a housing proposal, but it is not really an affordable housing proposal.
1:00:45
Many wrongly assume that increasing housing supply will automatically result in more affordable housing.
1:00:51
This is a dangerous misconception.
1:00:54
Housing economics are very complex.
1:00:56
Research actually shows that solely relying on the market and failing to address the various submarkets will predictably fail to address affordable housing needs.
1:01:06
Benefits for the wealthy do not trickle down to everyone else in the unregulated housing market.
1:01:12
For the same reason, the gourmet food store does not solve hunger.
1:01:17
Other jurisdictions have recognized this and mandate affordable housing without relying on zoning incentives.
1:01:24
New York must mandate affordable housing.
1:01:27
This proposal threatens also to reduce the quality of housing by allowing reduced set standards and housing quality such as solar setbacks and no minimum unit size, we risk free except standard living conditions.
1:01:40
Jacob Reece and historic advocate for improved living conditions would be deeply disappointed.
1:01:46
The initiative also fails to assess the environmental impact of new housing development, there is no planning for the additional infrastructure needed to support these developments such as hospital beds, school seats, parts and other essential services.
1:01:59
So we very much look forward to the final EIS to actually see what these mitigations will be.
1:02:04
And oversight could lead to strained resources and diminished quality of life.
1:02:09
The transfer of development rights from Landmars also raises significant concerns.
1:02:13
This mechanism could result in the creation of disproportionately large towers.
1:02:17
We know what happens when with unregulated law assemblage, We've seen the damage caused by the super toll towers, mega large apartments with a super wealthy international real estate collector and certainly not housing for the middle class.
1:02:32
These Frankenstein buildings could erode our urban fabric often at the expense of existing middle income housing.
1:02:38
We are faced with a proposal that aims high, but unfortunately, fell short.
1:02:43
It seeks to increase housing, but neglects affordability and quality.
1:02:47
The goal is laudable.
1:02:49
But the policy will inevitably collapse under its own contradictions.
1:02:53
It is not fatal though, so we must demand mandatory affordable housing provisions protect our housing standards, ensure local oversight, especially by the city council, and plan for the Nizu community infrastructure.
1:03:06
The City Club opposes this proposal as drafted.
1:03:09
Instead, we urge you to reconsider the text and strive for zoning changes that truly serve all New Yorkers.
1:03:14
I want to quickly add that saying no is not a punishing reflection on the department or inactive facility.
1:03:21
Please see it as a Civil Act.
1:03:24
Part of a participatory democracy and a firm nudge to you to improve the text.
1:03:29
Please show us that our voice matters.

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